Well as the title saids my physics project is done, and the website is complete. It has actually been done for a long time, and I did make the deadline. It was due a week after that original post. I worked almost non stop the entire weekend on the actual site part. I had no idea how hard making a website actually was. But I will say Angelfire is a good place to do it at. Aside from that, it was one of the easiest projects I’ve ever done. Because I was so interested in unicycling and was always just learning about it I really enjoyed it. I was up till 4:30 am Sunday night/ Monday morning and I seriously wasn’t tired at all. I didn’t post about it because I wanted to clarify all the pics and links, I wanted to get a guestbook first and for some reason I didn’t want to post until I got my mark. I still need to know if I can use that Scott Cooper “Coker in the mist” pic. I’m very sorry about that I wasn’t sure who took it and thus had trouble contacting them.
The picture you have of the big wheel uni in the section titled “What is the biggest size they can be?” is not the 73" big wheel that has the record. There is a picture of Intense Hortense, the 73" big wheel that has the record, at the Been There, Done That - Unique Unicycles page.
I’m not sure what unicycle is in the picture that you have on your site. John Foss would know since it’s one of his pictures.
Nice looking site, especially for a first effort! Comments:
Pop-up ads. Evil. If possible, find a hosting company that doesn’t use pop-ups.
Kudos to Mozilla Firefox for not allowing any of the pop-ups to pop; it just told me they were there.
Along with the big wheel, your photo of the tall, tall unicycle appears to be of Sem’s 72’ unicycle, which he rode in Tokyo in early 1980. At that small size I can’t tell for sure though.
“Custom” wheel sizes range down to less than 1".
To answer the fastest speed question, the hour record is not the best example. Unicycles have been ridden over 25 mph, but most results in this area are not in the form of speed records or heavily substantiated instances. I think Christian Hoverath has the highest speed I’ve ever heard of, which I can’t remember exactly, but this was just a top speed reached during a much longer ride.
You answered this question: “Is it easier to ride a tall unicycle or a short one?” with “Yes.” If you want you can make a slight edit to either the question or answer.
On whether it’s easier to go faster on a bike or unicycle, the other big advantage of a bike is the generally better aerodynamics. The faster you go, the more this matters.
As to all your physics questions and equations, I have no idea. Never took a physics class! However I will cast my doubts on the usefulness of the data on question #3, the drop onto a new rim. Unless your rider is made out of concrete or some other non-yielding material with no joints, how do you figure the impact based on the flex in the rider, as well as compression of the tire?
Anyway, from the look of the site you should have earned a pretty nice grade for all that!
> As to all your physics questions and equations, I have no idea. Never
> took a physics class! However
I didn’t post because I couldn’t think of a nice way to explain all
the mistakes in the physics.
One repeated mistake is the attempt to apply centripetal force to
objects which aren’t moving in a circle. Another is trying to compute
the force applied during a hard landing based on energy, but not time
(energy is absorbed, force is withstood, knowing time may allow one to
calculate one from thge other). But more fundamentally, there are no
explanations alongside calculations consisting of lines full of
symbols and numbers - a good explanation will include text describing
how and why each equation is chosen, and units along with quantities.
I hope this criticism doesn’t sound harsh. Physics is a wonderfully
fascinating field. I would happy to help explain concepts and direct
you towards better solutions and improved technical presentation. You
can reach me at cline@frii.com.
I’m fairly confident it is, but you would no more than me. I can’t find where I got it so I’ll just change it.
Good to know. Changed.
Thank you, I will change that in the near future.
Yeah I was really confused on that one. Can you give an explanation assuming you have experience. I’ll quote it and give credit.
I will add that. Thanks.
Ken Cline/Last point of John Foss
The questions really were just for my teacher. That’s what we were taught and they were good enough for him. In #3, I tried to make it clear all the force was on the rim. Centripetal I had to teach myself and I ran some questions by my teacher and he seemed okay with it. As you may or may not have noticed most of the questions weren’t the physics of a unicycle questions but really physics questions with a unicycle on the side. It did not sound to harsh at all Ken, in fact i thank you for being honest. This was my first year in a physics course and you’re right it was fascinating.
I think I may just take that entire section out now that it was already marked.
Johnfoss,
I got a 9.2 out of ten.
Brock,
I bet you forgot the /un/ between .com and unicyclephysics.
Sorry I don’t have something more concrete on Christian’s high speed ride. I think it was during Unicycle Across Europe in 2001 or so. Up to 40 kph? Otherwise you could mention that speeds of up to 25 mph have been reached, generally on larger-wheel unicycles (or downhill gliding, but that’s another story).
The short answer I give is that a tall one is easier to balance, but scarier to ride. Once you get over the fact that you’re much higher off the ground, you have much more time to react and make balance corrections on a giraffe.
