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A Lariat chain is a loop of chain that hangs off, and is spun by a wheel. It is often used as a science exhibit or a toy.
The original Lariat Chain was created in 1986 by Norman Tuck, as an Artist-in-Residence project at the
Exploratorium in San Francisco.
Lariat Chain was developed from an earlier Tuck piece entitled Chain Reaction (1984). Chain Reaction was hand cranked, and utilized a heavy chain attached by magnets onto an iron flywheel. As in Lariat Chain, Chain Reaction used a brush to disrupt the motion of the traveling chain.
The speed of the chain is arranged to equal the
wave speed of
transverse wave
In physics, a transverse wave is a wave whose oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of the wave's advance. This is in contrast to a longitudinal wave which travels in the direction of its oscillations. Water waves are an example of t ...
s, so that waves moving against the motion of the chain appear to be standing still.
normantuck.com
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See also
*Belt (mechanical)
A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically, most often parallel. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys ...
*Foucault pendulum
The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. A long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular ...
*Launch loop
A launch loop, or Lofstrom loop, is a proposed system for launching objects into orbit using a moving cable-like system situated inside a sheath attached to the Earth at two ends and suspended above the atmosphere in the middle. The design conce ...
has similar potential instabilities
References
External links
*
Coilgun info: Lariat Chain Introduction
Kinetic Chain sculpture built from a bicycle
Instructables how-to
Simulation of a Lariat chain
Physics experiments
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