71–80 of 80 posts
In my recollection, this is one in Austin, TX: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=119%20West%208th%20Stre... I may be wrong though. I wasn't able to find any references about it easily.
Is terminal velocity a factor in achieving a spherical shape? Is that part of the reason for the height of the tower, or is it just cooling time?
I think a falling ball of lead would have a very high terminal velocity, as it is quite dense and in a rounded shape. I doubt it has much of an effect at the height needed to make these shots.
I've lived in Dubuque, IA (there's a picture of our shot tower in the article) my entire life, and assumed that everyone knew what these were. It's a iconic symbol in our city's history. I guess I took them for granted.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
...to achieve what?
For the balls to form - the Earth isn't a perfect sphere and gravity in alaska is ever-so-slightly greater than further south. (Which means the tower needs to be taller, so the ball is in the air longer)
How many feet taller does a tower in northern Alaska need to be compared to one in south Florida? (at 0 feet above average sea level) Someone please calculate this. Thank you.
I'd imagine it would actually be shorter because the ambient temperature in Northern Alaska will be much cooler than that in South Florida, so the shot will cool faster. It also depends on the diameter of the shot you wish to produce.
I'm thinking that with more thermal mass in the way of the droplet, there's more chance to offload heat, and the difference in ambient temperatures is small compared to the difference to the melting point of lead (>300 deg C)
In the most restrained and calm way possible, I'm wondering why this is on Hacker News at the moment... A Wikipedia article, concerning a technology that is effectively ancient and indisputably outdated, seemingly with no relevance to any recent events in the tech world, or the greater world in 2013 for that matter. Occasionally it seems as if one could do "Random" Wikipedia click [0], find something marginally inter…
Just out of interest: 1) Why, exactly, should this not be on HN? 2) What makes a submission suitable to be on HN? You've said that you found it interesting. You maybe learned something? Your curiosity isn't piqued - do we still use this process, does anyone anywhere in the world use this process, could it be used for anything, what happens if you use other materials or if the air is hotter or colder, or if we try it…
I couldn't find any videos of shot towers in action, but I did find a video of a man demonstrating a handmade modern shot manufacturing machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwVvdIFyQ0Q
Earlier quoted context omitted.
...to achieve what?
For the balls to form - the Earth isn't a perfect sphere and gravity in alaska is ever-so-slightly greater than further south. (Which means the tower needs to be taller, so the ball is in the air longer)
In my recollection, this is one in Austin, TX: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=119%20West%208th%20Stre... I may be wrong though. I wasn't able to find any references about it easily.
Nope, too short. Also, The Google -> http://www.hillcountryexplorer.com/Locations/ShowLocation.as...