The physics problems I am doing now inspire me to shop for work boots. Heavy, black, waterproof, oilproof, steel-toed kickers suitable for an environment in which work like this is done:

"A set of pulleys operates a lever that pushes on a hydraulic press that operates another lever. To make the last lever arm move 12 centimeters, it is necessary to pull 15 meters of rope through the pulley…"

Actually, such things exist in the back of the gourmet store and I have used them, for instance the chain pulley that opens the garage door. You would think that signage in a gourmet store would be a genteel sort of affair, artistic ladies doing swirly calligraphy on lacy decorative tags for smoked salmon and petit fours. But my work often involves big flat boards, spray paint, suspension cords and chains, and power tools (though I don't operate the latter, due to safety restrictions). I have the opportunity to exert mechanical advantage (or be stuck behind a negative mechanical advantage) every day I work there.

Just as with my trigonometry problems last year, these simple machine problems bring with them their own vivid atmosphere. With trig, I was out on the ocean in the mist and sunlight, sighting with my instruments the angles of the landmarks by which I plotted my course. Here with machines, I am in a brawny industrial world of pulleys and winches and cranks and gears and bolts and hydraulic jacks. It is putting hair on my metaphorical chest. And I would much rather wear construction boots than tiny little fashionable sandals.

Posted at 4:16 am | link