radii 2.9067; and adding to this the depth of the
paddle board, we have 4.9067, the fourth power of
which is 579.64, which, divided by four times the depth
of the paddle board, gives us 72.455, the cube root
of which is 4.1689, which, diminished by the difference
of the radii of the wheel and rolling circle, leaves
1.2622 feet for the distance of the centre of pressure
from the upper edge of the paddle board in the case
of light immersions. The radius of the wheel
being 9.6667, the distance from the centre of the wheel
to the upper edge of the float is 7.6667, and adding
to this 1.2622, we get 8.9299 feet as the radius,
or 17.8598 feet as the diameter of the circle in which
the centre of pressure revolves. With 22 strokes
per minute, the velocity of the centre of pressure
will be 20.573 feet per second, and with 10.62 miles
per hour for the speed of the vessel, the velocity
of the rolling circle will be 15.576 feet per second.
The effective velocity will be the difference between
these quantities, or 4.997 feet per second. Now
the height from which a body must fall by gravity,
to acquire a velocity of 4.997 feet per second, is
about .62 feet; and twice this height, or 1.24 feet,
multiplied by 62-1/2, which is the number of Lbs. weight
in a cubic foot of water, gives 77-1/2 Lbs. as the
pressure on each square foot of the vertical paddle
boards. As each board is of 20 square feet of
area, and there is a vertical board on each side of
the ship, the total pressure on the vertical paddle
boards will be 2900 Lbs.
557. Q.—What pressure is this equivalent
to on each square inch of the pistons?
A.—A vessel of 200 horses power
will have two cylinders, each 50 inches diameter,
and 5 feet stroke, or thereabout. The area of
a piston of 50 inches diameter is 1963.5 square inches,
so that the area of the two pistons is 3927 square
inches, and the piston will move through 10 feet every
revolution; and with 22 strokes per minute this will
be 220 feet per minute, or 3.66 feet per second.
Now, if the effective velocity of the centre of pressure
and the velocity of the pistons had been the same,
then a pressure of 2900 Lbs. upon the vertical paddles
would have been balanced by an equal pressure on the
pistons, which would have been in this case about
.75 Lbs. per square inch; but as the effective velocity
of the centre of pressure is 4.997 feet per second,
while that of the pistons is only 3.66 feet per second,
the pressure must be increased in the proportion of
4.997 to 3.66 to establish an equilibrium of pressure,
or, in other words, it must be 1.02 Lbs. per square
inch. It follows from this investigation, that,
in radial wheels, the greater part of the engine power
is distributed among the oblique floats.
558. Q.—How comes this to be the
case?