Editing 2973: Ferris Wheels

{{comic
| number    = 2973
| date      = August 16, 2024
| title     = Ferris Wheels
| image     = ferris_wheels_2x.png
| imagesize = 624x280px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = They left the belt drive in place but switched which wheel was powered, so people could choose between a regular ride, a long ride, and a REALLY long ride.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BELT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic depicts an attempted connection of three {{w|Ferris wheel}}s using a belt drive, a system typically used to transfer motion between rotating shafts. By connecting the wheels at different circumferences, the relative motion is geared up or down. If the belt passes around the circumference of one wheel and is connected around the hub of another, the latter will rotate significantly faster. In this case, the second wheel's circumference is in turn connected to a third wheel's hub, resulting in even greater rotational velocity. However, this setup is mechanically unsound and possibly dangerous, as Ferris wheels are not intended to be connected in this way.{{cn}} As shown, the first wheel on the left is running at a normal speed, while the other two are rotating increasingly fast, leading to a potentially hazardous situation where passengers are flung around at various (possibly {{w|G-force#Human tolerance|quite hazardous}}) extents.

Effectively, this system converts the linked wheels into a belt-and-pulley system. For a two-pulley system with one driving pulley and one driven pulley, the system can be described by d1*r1 = d2*r2, where d1 and d2 are the radii of the driving and driven pulleys, respectively; and r1 and r2 are the rates of revolution of the two pulleys. A typical Ferris wheel has a diameter (d1) of approximately 200 ft. The speed that Ferris wheels rotate varies somewhat; many are set to complete a single rotation (r1) in about 10 minutes. It is unclear how large the central hub pulley is on the second Ferris wheel in this illustration, but a plausible estimate is that it is about 10 ft across. Plugging these numbers into the pulley formula, we conclude that the driven pulley -- the hub of the second Ferris wheel, and thus the second Ferris wheel itself -- would spin about about 2 rpm. Cars on this wheel would be traveling at about 1250 feet per minute, or about 14 miles per hour. This is almost certainly faster than the safety limits on most Ferris wheels, but would likely not be otherwise dangerous to the passengers (who would experience only about 0.15 G of force). 

However, the second Ferris wheel is then used to drive a third. Using the same diameter assumptions, this would drive the final wheel at 40 rotations per minute, or a full circle every 1.5 seconds. At this speed, the cars would be traveling at over 400 feet per ''second'', or at about 285 miles per hour. Even assuming the structure did not fail, passengers would experience instantly fatal conditions, something on the order of 54 Gs of centrifugal force.

The caption suggests that the person responsible was fired for this ill-advised modification, highlighting the impracticality and dangers of the idea. 

The title text imagines the consequences of leaving the belt drive system in place but switching which wheel is powered. If the most extreme wheel (the third one on the right) is powered, the gearing would be reversed, making for a possibly pleasant and normal ride on the right-hand wheel, but rendering the experiences of the riders on the other two wheels far too slow and seemingly interminable. This exaggerates the impracticality and unintended effects of using a belt drive system on Ferris wheels, humorously illustrating how such an idea would lead to absurdly varied ride experiences.

A cruise line fired a person due to an unsound engineering solution earlier in [[2935: Ocean Loop]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Three Ferris wheels are shown side by side, with some people stood on the ground for scale.]
:[Each of the first two wheels have a belt connecting their circumference to the axel of the respective one to the right.]
:["Agitrons" indicate that the middle wheel is turning notably faster than the left wheel, with the gondalas seen to be rocking significantly at all points round the wheel.]
:[The spokes of the right wheel are completely replaced by "motion lines", indicating that the the right wheel is turning the fastest of all. All its gondalas are hanging outwards against centripetal force, interspersed with their own motion lines.]

:[Caption below the picture:] The county fair fired me for adding a belt drive to the Ferris wheels.{{comic discussion}}