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My GPS Comes Through


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Yesterday, I was driving up to Sauble Beach to spend the day. It's about a 3.5 hour drive. About half way there I heard an unusual noise, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw one of my hubcaps spinning across the road.

 

I reached to my Magellan marked the spot, and continued on my way.

 

On the way home, I did a "GOTO POI HUBCAP" when I reached the mark, slowed down and spotted it on the side of the road.

 

I'm pleased to report, I am driving with four hubcaps.

Edited by StrikesFolks
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Similar kind of story... I was on a geocaching mountain bike trip with a friend and we were working our way up an 1100-foot-elevation hill that covered the first 2 miles of our trip. We took a rest/water stop somewhere along the way and I noticed my cell phone was missing. Turns out I'd left one of the zippered pockets on my bike carry bag open and it fell out somewhere along the road we were on. There was no going back for it right then. I waypointed the location where I noticed the phone missing, then we continued our 7 mile trek up and out across the mountain to the location where we were placing a cache. Much later that day on the way back to the car I punched in the waypoint I'd marked earlier and when I got there I began watching for my cell phone. I eventually found it in the middle of the road less than a quarter mile from the beginning of the trail.

Edited by DocDiTTo
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Ever wonder WHY the hubcap goes faster than the car when it comes off? I mean, if the car is traveling at 70 mph and it pops off, where does it pick up the extra speed to go flying past the drivers window like some UFO taking off?

Hmmmm... :sad:

 

Well if you really are interested it has to do with the diameter of the hubcap.

 

It is like when you were a kid. If you were spinning in a chair and put your arm and legs out, you would spins slower, but when you tucked them in your spin speeds up significantly.

 

The same is true for the hubcap. When it is attached to the wheel, it has a larger diameter but is spinning the same speed. When it comes off, suddenly its diameter is less and it speeds up.

 

Of course that is all a complete guess, but it seems to makes sense. Perhaps a physicist can either confirm or refute?

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Has anyone else heard the story of the guy who was pulled over by the cops, and when the cop gave him a speeding ticket the driver was able to proove that he was going the legal speed limit, and won in court. :sad:

 

I had almost the exact same thing happen. I got pulled over when I was helping a friend move. I was driving up a hill with a loaded 18 foot trailer and a state trooper pulled me over and said I was doing 75 in a 55 mph zone. After arguing with him a for a while about how there is no way a fully loaded SUV pulling a fully loaded trailer could be doing 75 up a hill I asked him to see the radar. It only showed 65. That was a little better but still faster than I had been going. Then I popped my Quest out of the craddle and showed him that according to my Quest with the roofmount antenna and 8 foot accuracy, my max speed had only been 57, and that there was no way my GPS could be off by 18mph.

 

I think it made him mad, but he just left after that. Go Garmin!

 

Robert

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Has anyone else heard the story of the guy who was pulled over by the cops, and when the cop gave him a speeding ticket the driver was able to proove that he was going the legal speed limit, and won in court. :sad:

 

I had almost the exact same thing happen. I got pulled over when I was helping a friend move. I was driving up a hill with a loaded 18 foot trailer and a state trooper pulled me over and said I was doing 75 in a 55 mph zone. After arguing with him a for a while about how there is no way a fully loaded SUV pulling a fully loaded trailer could be doing 75 up a hill I asked him to see the radar. It only showed 65. That was a little better but still faster than I had been going. Then I popped my Quest out of the craddle and showed him that according to my Quest with the roofmount antenna and 8 foot accuracy, my max speed had only been 57, and that there was no way my GPS could be off by 18mph.

 

I think it made him mad, but he just left after that. Go Garmin!

 

Robert

 

I hate dishonest (liars) people... espically cops that are "dishonest". I know I know... the bad ones are only a drop in the bucket.. but they do make cops look bad regardless...

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Ever wonder WHY the hubcap goes faster than the car when it comes off? I mean, if the car is traveling at 70 mph and it pops off, where does it pick up the extra speed to go flying past the drivers window like some UFO taking off?

Hmmmm... :sad:

 

Well if you really are interested it has to do with the diameter of the hubcap.

 

It is like when you were a kid. If you were spinning in a chair and put your arm and legs out, you would spins slower, but when you tucked them in your spin speeds up significantly.

 

The same is true for the hubcap. When it is attached to the wheel, it has a larger diameter but is spinning the same speed. When it comes off, suddenly its diameter is less and it speeds up.

 

Of course that is all a complete guess, but it seems to makes sense. Perhaps a physicist can either confirm or refute?

I don't think so. The effect you're talking about happens when the outer mass is brought towards the center. That's not happening here. The outer mass (the wheel and tire) is lost completely.

 

The hubcap will actually go slower than the car, because it has a smaller circumference than the tire, so with each revolution it travels a shorter distance.

 

The "hubcap outruns the car" phenomenon happens because it usually takes a pretty big jolt to dislodge a hubcap, such as hitting a pothole. And when you hit a pothole (or whatever) you instinctively apply the breaks, or at least let off the gas. So it's not a matter of the hubcap speeding up, but the car slowing down.

Edited by Prime Suspect
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