Something to think about

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FJ and G

Did you know that when you walk and chew gum at the same time, there's a slight pause as your teeth mash down on the gum and as you land on each foot?

And, all of my research shows, despite there being no mechanical connection between the two components involved, the pauses are coordinated.

[dougdagrump]

And here I thought toy trains were just toy trains ........[(-D]

[Anonymous]

I stared at Clousers animation until, now I have a headache...Tim

[baltimoretrainworks]

The side rods and any part of the wheel except the axle actually are always moving forward but in a sine wave pattern. They are travelling fastest at the top and bottom of their travels and slowest at far left and far right of the axle. Clousers diagram doesn't take into account the fact the entire assembly is moving forward faster then the siderods back and forth motion which cause them to move slightly faster then the locomotive on their forward stroke and slighty slightly slower on their reverse.
If you take a series of still photos of a locomotive moving and then plot the axle and the siderod post from the photos on a graph it becomes readily apparent, at least it did when we tackled this problem in physics class.

[lionelsoni]

Yes, but not a sine; rather, a cycloid.

[garyseven]

Holy Heisenberg!