There have been many reinventions of the merry-go-round that reduce the effects of centripetal force
and the ability for children to trample each other.
Centripetal Force = mv^2/r.
Using this equation you can see that smaller masses feel less centripetal force and do not need to
use as much strength as more massive people do. Also the centripetal force can be reduced by
increasing the radius of the merry-go-round, but that's impractical and expensive (Breedlove).
Newer merry-go-rounds are still use a spinning platform but have applied some of the following for safety:
1. Rings overhead that kids grab onto and remove their feet from the ground while spinning.
2. A two person ride that has a central pole to hang onto and speed is controlled by squatting to increase the radius.
3. There's the ride that kids sit around a wheel and spin themselves by turning the wheel in one direction together.
4. Finally, there are single person seats that are poled into the ground at an angle so that gravity pulls you down
toward the center and momentum keeps you spinning (Breedlove).
This image prevents kids from jumping, or being flung
off the ride. However it produces new dangers such
as climbing the outside and being thrown from a much
more dangerous height. Also from 1982 to 2008, 18
Canadian children died from playground injuries. Seventeen
of these deaths involved strangulation. This new ride
can surely cause strangulation in multiple ways (Amber).
http://www.bluegrassplaygrounds.com/merry-go-round.html
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Bibliography |
Here is a spinning chair that is
listed above as number 4
listed above as number 4
http://www.offenburger.com/alongourway.asp?link=20080922
This is a picture of the teacup
merry-go-roundthat's listed as number 3 above.
http://www.strocel.com/merry-go-round/