Wheels

          The wheel originated around 3,500 BC in

Mesopotamia. The wheel was first used to hook on animals.
They wheels were attached to a cart on a horses back. The
carts were used to hawl goods through out the city. They
were also used as a chariot for the wealthy.
          In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution came
about. There were many inventions during this period. The
wheel was improved like many other inventions. They wheel
was built with stronger material.
          The resistance to the motion of the wheel depends
greatly on the surface in which it travels for example grass vs.
cement. On a rouch surface it is difficult to travel. On a
smooth surface it is easier.
This tire had
grips which
allow better
traction on
between the
ground and the
tire.

The
acceleration of
the bicycle is
called
centripetal
acceleration.
A=V/T =V2 / T
Centripetal acceleration always points to the center of the
wheel thus ousting the wheel in a forward motion.
Size of the wheel
          The wheel size has everything to do with the
distance traveled and the force needed to perform this
work. More force is needed to move a smaller wheel a
certain distance than a larger wheel.
W=Fd D=W/F
          With each rotation of the gears on the bicycle the
wheel turns once. The larger the wheel the greater the
circumference the longer the distance.

FRICTION AND BREAKS

Breaks are the biggest area where friction is seen.
  
     All breaks no matter what type have one purpose: To increase the amount of friction
on the wheel allowing the bicycle to slow or stop.
  
     Breaks are usually made up of a lever that pushes a rubber pad up against the side
of the tire.  this creates friction between the two which opposes the motion and slows
the bicycle down.  The harder the lever is pulled, the tighter the pad is pressed against
the wheels metal rim.  This would create greater friction and a quicker stopping time.

     Friction is also found occuring between the bicycle wheels and the surface of the
ground.  Different surfaces have different mu's. 

     On a smooth surface less friction would be created resulting in less force needed to
accelerate.

     A bumpier surface would be much more difficult to ride along because of the greater
amount of friction between the ground and the tires.

                                     F friction = mu * F normal

Drives...
Drives
          
          Da Vinci's development of the chain drive is exactly what has made the
bicycles of today a possibility. Before the invention of the drives and chains,
people could only ride a bike if they were sitting directly above the
wheel. A single gear would be attached to the side of the wheel and rotated by the
force of the rider against the petal. This spun the tires and, doing so, moved the
bicycle in a forward motion.
          
          What the "chain drive" did is allowed the cyclist to be in a much more
comfortable position while riding the bike. The rider now could be sat between
the two wheel which resulted in much better balance all around. Without gears,
chain drives are only effective on flat surfaces or going downhill. Power is
needed to move these transportation machines and the use of gears make it
much easier to handle.

          Chains were used to connect the two gears or sets of gears on the bike. The
first gear would be attached to the center of the back wheel, and the second gear
attached to the spinning petals. The bike's chain is one of the most crucial parts
of the entire machine for this reason.
FRAMES
   The materials use to make various bicycle frames have come a long way....

PAST FRAME MATERIAL

CAST IRON
WOOD

PRESENT MATERIAL
TITANIUM
ALUMINUM
CARBON FIBER

          The difference between the types of frame material is that today's are an enourmous amount
stronger and lighter as well.

The stronger materials help to support the weight of the cyclist.

The more the bike weights, the more

force is  needed to do work on the machine.

**Work = force x distance**

W=fd
** Force = mass x GRAVITY**

F=mg
The less the bike weighs, the less energy/force has to be put into doing actual work on the bicycle
so that it can travel a greater distace. In other words....
Breaks
Breaks are one of the most important parts of a bicycle.

Friction is most present in the breaks and it is here where friction has most
influence.

Types of Breaks
Coaster Break
When the motion of the petals is reversed, this break creates friction on the
hub of the wheel causing the bike to come to a stop.

Caliper Break
The break works by pulling on a lever which pulls cables forcing pads against
the rim of the wheel to create the needed amount of friction.

Balancing Breaks
If the breaks are applied to quickly and with too much force the bike will stop too
fast causing the rider to fly off the front and over the handle bars.
        This occurs more often when the bike only has breaks on the front wheel,
balancing the breaks between the front and back wheels helps to rider to
maintain control of the bike and prevent accidents from happening.
GRAVITY..

Gravitational Force: attraction between two

objects, the bicycle and the earth

          Gravity is a force that affects everything that you do. It is

all around you. Gravity is always performing work on your body,
either for or against you.

          Gravity affects a cyclist in different ways also. When

riding on a flat surface gravity can go pretty much unnoticed but
when hills come into play its a whole DIFFERENT STORY!

          When traveling upward on a hill, gravity acts as a force

against you. It pulls you down, which without the rider, would be
so great as to change the motion of the bike to a negative
direction.

       Force = Mass x Gravity

          The mass of the bike and rider stays consist ant but at
the hill gets steeper the force of gravity gets stronger.

          To make up for this great increase of gravitational force

the rider must exert more force on the pedals to keep the
momentum (momentum = mass x velocity).

          While going downhill gravity works in the same way only

to your advantage.
 How you steer a bicycle

If you attempt to make a right turn on your bicycle before first leaning your
bicycle over to the right, centrifugal forces will cause you to crash by falling
over to the left.  (These centrifugal forces are the same ones that throw you to
the left when you drive a car around a hard right turn.)  Leaning the bicycle to
the right allows gravity to cancel the centrifugal forces.  But how do you get
the get the bike to lean to the right?  By countersteering, i.e. by turning the
handlebars to the left.  In other words to make a right turn, you first turn the
handlebars left!   The centrifugal forces will then lean you and your bicycle in
the proper direction.

Countersteering shows up in many ways.  For example, you may also have
noticed that it is surprisingly difficult to ride clear of a close, high curb.  The
difficulty occurs because you have to steer into the curb to get away from the
curb.

Once you begin a right turn by countersteering to the left,, you might think that
you would eventually turn the handlebars back to the right.  Surprisingly, it
turns out that you never need to turn the handlebars right.  Don't believe this?  
Try it.  While riding very calmly (perhaps coasting) let go with your left hand
and push the handlebars with your right hand.  With this handhold, you can
only force the handlebars left, but you and your bike will go right.

The self-steering properties of the bicycle aid the turn.  While standing still,
lean a bicycle to the right and the front wheel will automatically steer right. 
The self-steering is caused by the bicycles
"trail", the distance between the point
where the wheel contacts the ground and
the point where the steering axis of the
front wheel intersects the ground.  The
trail is the single most important
parameter in designing the bike.  If the
trail were to be negative (the wheel
contact in front of the steering axis) the
bike would be unrideable.  Racing bikes,
which need to be very maneuverable, have
relatively small trails, typically around 6cm.  Unfortunately, a small trail
makes the bike less stable.  Mountain bikes, touring bikes and lower
performance bikes often have longer trails to make them more stable and
comfortable.
 A typical right turn goes like this:
You initiate the turn by
countersteering, turning the handle
bars to the left (a,b).  This causes the
bike to start to lean over to the right. 
As it leans right, the trail forces will
try to turn the wheel to the right (c). 
Gyroscopic forces like those found
in a toy gyroscope will also try to
turn the wheel right. By (d), these
forces are larger than the force that
you are applying to wheel, and the
wheel will start to swing around to
the proper direction. Finally, in (e)
the trail and the gyroscopic forces
will have turned the wheel back to
the right, the bike will be leaning
properly, and you will be in a safe
and stable turn.
 

A "no hands" turn is similar, except

that it is initiated by throwing your
hips counter to the desired turn
direction�left for a right turn.   This
leans the bike over (to the left for a right turn), causing the trail to turn the
wheel counter to the desired direction (left).  Just as in the countersteered turn,
the centrifugal forces will then lean the bike in the appropriate direction (right),
and the turn will finish executing just as it does for the countersteered turn.
 
 

Steering in bicycles