MOTnews 20 (16/07/2001)

DID YOU KNOW...?

Up we go!

As cars are becoming increasingly powerful, it is no longer so difficult, but those who tootle around in a somewhat older model are familiar with the problem: driving up a fairly steep slope in the car can sometimes be troublesome. The first cars that came onto the market certainly had this problem and a Brussels firm came up with an odd solution. In 1914 they issued a publication, called the 'Guide Routier Métallurgique', which indicated Brussels' street together with their gradients. This meant that drivers could bypass difficult streets.

TRUE or FALSE

Perhaps you drink your tea with a lump of sugar or a little milk, but can you also drink it with a lump of butter? You will find the answer in the next MOT NEWS

ANSWER to "TRUE or FALSE" in MOT NEWS no. 19 (22/06/2001)

The vanes of a windmill can turn in both directions, according to the direction in which the wind is blowing.

FALSE

The vanes of a mill always turn in the same direction, to the left, against the direction of the sun. We cannot be sure why this is the case, but an old miller from Heurne suggested the following explanation. Wood fibres grow in a spiral, against the direction of the sun, from the base of the tree to the top. As a result, a beam is much stronger if a load is placed on it in the direction in which its fibres grow, rather than the reverse. With torsion the fibres are then simply pressed together - like a cord - rather than being pulled away from one another. The thickest part of wood used for the vanes - the base of the tree - is used in the centre, where the vanes come together and the thinnest part is at the top of the vane. To ensure that the vanes can absorb the wind pressure as well as possible, they are turned to the left, in the direction in which the fibres grow. This tradition simply persisted when metal vanes came into use.

SAY WHAT? In this MOT-NEWS item we try to explain proverbs and sayings that have their roots in our technical history. Similar proverbs are found in different languages, but each language has it's own typical sayings. Therefore we do not translate this item in English.

KIDS NEWS: something to do with the children this evening Make your own quark! In MOT NEWS 16 (see www.mot.be) we said that cheese is simply a means of being able to keep milk longer. You can put this theory into practice and make your own quark. Quark is 'fresh' cheese, and making quark is the first stage in the preparation of all sorts of cheeses. What do you have to do? (Tip: use fresh milk, not pasteurised or other treated milk). Leave a glass a fresh cow's milk to stand at room temperature for a day or two, until it becomes sour and crumbly. Place a clean cloth (e.g. a cotton dishcloth) in a sieve and hang this on the edge of a bowl. Pour the crumbly, sour milk into the muslin and let it drip through for two or three hours. The substance left in the cloth is quark. Now you can make sandwiches with your own homemade spread cheese.