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Bicycle Riding on Square Wheels

Posted by Hemos on from the larnin'-more dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Before starting our long working week, let's relax with this story of a bicycle with square wheels. No, it's not a joke. And it even rides smoothly. But there is a trick: the road must have a specific shape. The Math Trek section of Science News Online tells us more about this strange bicycle -- actually a tricycle with two front wheels and one back wheel. Read this overview for some excerpts and a picture of the tricycle, or the original article for an additional animation."

5 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Woohoo! by spellraiser · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Great!

    Now all we need is to lay some curved roads all over the place, make loads of these bikes, and we can all ride bicycles with square-shaped wheels!

    I'm calling my Senator right now!

    --
    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  2. So much for by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1, Redundant
    So much for reinventing the wheel.

    And I was always told that was the wrong approach to use.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  3. Road-and wheel combinations by Psychic+Burrito · · Score: 0, Redundant

    From the article:
    So far, no one has found a road-and wheel combination in which the road has the same shape as the wheel. That's an intriguing challenge for mathematicians

    Well, how about a road that goes straight around the globe. Ride it with normal tires and you get the same shape for road and wheel: a circle.

    Ok, next please :-)

  4. Wheel / Road Same Shape? by SlipJig · · Score: 1, Redundant

    So far, no one has found a road-and wheel combination in which the road has the same shape as the wheel. That's an intriguing challenge for mathematicians.

    Seems to me you could ride a bike with circular wheels on the inside (or outside) of a circular track (2001 space odyssey-style). The wheels and road would have the same shape then, right?

    --
    Read my keyboard review.
  5. From the overview article by $exyNerdie · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Here is the conclusion of the article.

    So far, no one has found a road-and wheel combination in which the road has the same shape as the wheel. That's an intriguing challenge for mathematicians.

    Well, if you consider earth circular (albeit spherical), bicycle wheel and earth already have same shape....just different scale!