Originally posted by iamatiger Ok, after some thought my view is this: It is important to make sure that the rider is not sloping backwards when the escalator flattens out as he will then try to regain his balance by taking a step backwards into the person or step behind him, will then fall over, and will probably be sucked into the machinery and die.
If the handrail goes slower than ...[text shortened]... they can take a step forward to correct their balance, which is the way they want to go anyway.
When they take a step forward, they bump into the person there, who will inadvertably get stuck in the machine.
Originally posted by mattb5 I'm guessing it's the same reason the outside of a tire travels a longer distance than the inside. They both make one revolution in the same amount of time, but the outside has further to travel in that time frame, so it has to go faster.
That's my theory . . .
Wh yare we still guessing this guy has the right answer! With the revolution speed, velocity increases with distance from the center
Originally posted by yesno Wh yare we still guessing this guy has the right answer! With the revolution speed, velocity increases with distance from the center
There is still a problem. The handrail and the stairs are connected to the drive via different gear wheels, which one could have thought could be easily adjusted to make the handrail move at the same speed as the stairs on the straight bits.
what irks me most about escalators is when the person in front of me invariably wants to stand still, blocking my way, as i prefer to walk.
because i walk, though, i've never noticed a difference in speed between the handrail and the steps.
Originally posted by BarefootChessPlayer what irks me most about escalators is when the person in front of me invariably wants to stand still, blocking my way, as i prefer to walk.
because i walk, though, i've never noticed a difference in speed between the handrail and the steps.
I just pounce on them from behind and eat them if they do that!
I think it's to prevent people from getting on the escalator going in the wrong direction. If someone were not paying attention and inadvertantly began to walk onto an escalator going the opposite direction than they thought, usually they would reach out to touch the handrail for balance before stepping on. Escalators t steps themselves must maintain a safe speed for the elderly and such. But if you grab a handrail rapidily travaling in the opposite direction, you will immediately realize your mistake before you even step on. The faster the handrail is going the harder it would be to get on going the wrong way.
Escalators
15 Sep '03 15:43
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