Scrutable

I always thought it was. Wikipedia seems to agree with me:

Wikipedia wrote:the rowlock acts as a fulcrum

But from the letters page in today's Guardian, a third of the way down:

Somebody named David Jackson in Cheshire wrote:Quick crossword No 15,527 (G2, 12 February) perpetuates a common misconception: the rowlock is not the fulcrum; it’s the load (it’s the boat that is moved). The fulcrum is the water.

I think the Guardian letter writer is right and wiki has used fulcrum in the sense that the oar pivots around that point in terms of the frame of reference of the boat at least, but that's not the right sense for understanding why the boat moves.

Half the time it's a fulcrum, half the time it's the load.

I have always found the classification of levers into the different orders to be utterly pointless; It does not aid understanding and gives no new insight into the things and dates from a time when science was in the "stamp collecting" phase. It's a beam with three point loads, end of.

Is the boat the load or is the water? It's all relative.

Short version: Who gives a feck?

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jimbob wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:01 pm

Don, your ideas intrigue me - may I subscribe to your newsletter?

There is only one edition per however long it takes, hand carved into buckboards and bound in chains.

Gfamily wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 2:56 pm

Half the time it's a fulcrum, half the time it's the load.

Exactly. While the blade is in the water and the rower is pulling, it's the load; when the rower lifts the blade out of the water to come forward, it becomes a fulcrum.

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:05 pm

It's a beam with three point loads, end of.

Nice. Also illustrates the difference between civil and mechanical engineering (the other difference being if it moves/is stuck it’s mended/broken)

plodder wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 16, 2020 4:57 am

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:05 pm

It's a beam with three point loads, end of.

Nice. Also illustrates the difference between civil and mechanical engineering (the other difference being if it moves/is stuck it’s mended/broken)

Iconic Architecture, Tower Bridge, London, England. by David Millican (Photoshop free zone), on Flickr

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:05 pm

I have always found the classification of levers into the different orders to be utterly pointless; It does not aid understanding and gives no new insight into the things and dates from a time when science was in the "stamp collecting" phase. It's a beam with three point loads, end of.

So the whole discussion is a load of rowlocks?

sTeamTraen wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 19, 2020 12:52 am

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:05 pm

I have always found the classification of levers into the different orders to be utterly pointless; It does not aid understanding and gives no new insight into the things and dates from a time when science was in the "stamp collecting" phase. It's a beam with three point loads, end of.

So the whole discussion is a load of rowlocks?

Possibly a load of sloblocks

In my little corner of the Meccanosphere the rowlock is obviously the fulcrum because it is the obvious pivot.

But consider the jemmy, it has the applied force at one end and two close together points of contact; one right at the end, the other an inch in. You use it to lever open a gap; which is the fulcrum and which is the load, does it matter? No. Do I care over muchly? No.

Stanley Fubar, the best named tool ever and a type of jemmy.

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 19, 2020 11:30 pm

In my little corner of the Meccanosphere the rowlock is obviously the fulcrum because it is the obvious pivot.

It all depends on what your frame of reference is, I suppose.

If your frame of reference is just the boat, the rowlock is the fulcrum.
If your frame of reference is the boat and the river then the rowlock is the fulcrum for moving the oar once it leaves the water. But when in the water the fulcrum is the blades of the oar, which are also the point of load.
If your frame of reference is the boat, river and immediate environs, then as the blades put a load on the water, the water moves backwards, and the pivot is some distance up the blade; the skill of the oarsman is to try and keep the pivot as close to the blades as you can.

This stuff matters if you want someone to design a tool or device, therefore it matters.