Re: Olympics and the Physics of Sports

[roger haar <haar@soliton.physics.arizona.edu>]

HI,

	Think for a moment about how you steer a bike.  It is not by 
turning the wheel, but by leaning.  A bike by itself, if it starts to 
lean turns, and the turn corrects the lean ( at least to some extent.)
	But for any distance, the rider make small shifts that are the 
central stabilizing cause.

Thanks
roger haar
********************************************

On Mon, 29 Jul 1996, Delissa Souder wrote:

> > "Bicycles and Tricycles - an elementary treatise on their design
> > and construction" by Archibald Sharp, B.Sc.:
> > This 1979 reprint of the 1896 edition of this classic is a treasure.
> > It is a mechanics textbook which chooses its examples from bicycle
> > technology. For example, in his treatment of stability he puts to
> > rest the myth that bicyles are stabilized by the gyroscopic action
> > of their wheels....
>
> 	Oh really!  I'm a bit surprised by this.  What explanation do 
> they give for the reason for the stability of the bicycle?