Hanging in St Louis

[AntonioLao]

The hanging arch in St Louis is in the shape of a catenary. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch. This is described by a simplistic idealization but nevertheless considered as one of the important solutions in the history of mathematics and classical or Newtonian mechanics. The catenary, together with the brachistochrone (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BrachistochroneProblem.html) and tautochrone (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TautochroneProblem.html) are physical problems solved using the infinitesimal calculus invented by Isaac Newton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton and later improved by Johann Bernoulli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Bernoulli and many others.
This function is given by y(x)=(T/w)cosh(wx/T)+h-T/w. Here, y gives the range and x gives the domain of the function. The functional constant h is the equal height at both ends of the catenary. T is the horizontal tension at the arbitrary point P(x.y). The functional constant w is the product of the idealized uniform linear density and the constant acceleration of gravity at point P. Wherever and whenever w is multiplied by the arc length s the product ws gives the downward force of gravity at the point P.

[mkirkpatrick]

You are a goldmine of unusual information Antonio,what about the Hanging gardens of Babylon?



regards michael.

[AntonioLao]

Mike,

What I found is the following: It was chronologically listed as the second oldest (562 BC) wonders of the ancient world; the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon was supposedly built on the banks of the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar II or by Senaherib 100 years earlier. It attested to its engineering feats especially the irrigation systems that brought large volume of water up from the river many 100s of feet above the garden terraces. The mystery lies in its pumping mechanism thousands of years before the discovery of electricity for powering electric pumps.

[mkirkpatrick]

Mike,

What I found is the following: It was chronologically listed as the second oldest (562 BC) wonders of the ancient world; the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon was supposedly built on the banks of the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar II or by Senaherib 100 years earlier. It attested to its engineering feats especially the irrigation systems that brought large volume of water up from the river many 100s of feet above the garden terraces. The mystery lies in its pumping mechanism thousands of years before the discovery of electricity for powering electric pumps.

It goes to show that there was a vast storehouse of wisdom then,much now seems to have vanished.


regards michael.

[AntonioLao]

that is because where and when geniuses passed on he or she took all the knowledge with them unless of course they wrote them down and could explain them clearly.