A weather vane will point in the direction from which the wind is blowing. It is placed in the highest, most unobstructed location on a structure. It only works properly if the wind flows freely and is not blocked by trees or other buildings. For those who did not have our modern instruments for measuring wind direction and speed, weathervanes had great significance.
The first weather vane was built in Ancient Greece by Andronicus, A Greek astronomer. It was built out of bronze in honor of Triton, a Greek god. A wand in his hand indicated wind direction from the top of a tower in Athens. Its head and torso were that of a man and it had the tail of a fish.
With the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, a rooster began to appear on church steeples. It reminded believers of the need to be watchful because Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him before the cock crowed three times. The tail of a rooster is just the right shape to catch the wind and its force is greater on the tail than the head. It gets pushed away so the head turns into the wind. This is probably why the rooster design remains so popular to this day. It also has symbolic relevance in that it welcomes the dawn and the triumph of light over darkness.
On a wind vane, the free-swinging directional pointer or arrow is thicker at the one end and thinner at the other. The larger end with the greater surface area catches the breeze. The small end turns to point in the direction from which a wind is coming, and the larger end turns to point where it is going.
A wind vane must be precisely balanced in order to be able to turn freely. Otherwise, it can topple or not move at all. To spin freely, weight has to be distributed equally on both sides of its axis. Some modern weather vanes are made purely for ornamental reasons and do not have this type of balance. They do not show wind direction because they lack this balance.
Beneath the point on a wind vane, it usually has fixed markers. There are four markers for each direction of the compass. If the arrow points toward the marker for south on the vane, it shows that wind is blowing from the south. If it is pointing to the west, wind is blowing from the west and towards the east.
By looking at wind patterns and changing directions, observers may be able to make simple predictions about the weather. Knowing that the west is wet and the east is dry, they know what to expect when a wind comes from either of those areas.
Farmers relied on weather vanes to help them know more about the weather. This was important when making such decisions as to when and where to plant crops and whether to plant windbreakers. They put the information about the wind together with other knowledge to make these decisions. Today, we do not use weather vanes in the same way. They are still popular and many people have them on their houses or barns but they are used more for ornamental and sentimental reasons.
The first weather vane was built in Ancient Greece by Andronicus, A Greek astronomer. It was built out of bronze in honor of Triton, a Greek god. A wand in his hand indicated wind direction from the top of a tower in Athens. Its head and torso were that of a man and it had the tail of a fish.
With the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, a rooster began to appear on church steeples. It reminded believers of the need to be watchful because Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him before the cock crowed three times. The tail of a rooster is just the right shape to catch the wind and its force is greater on the tail than the head. It gets pushed away so the head turns into the wind. This is probably why the rooster design remains so popular to this day. It also has symbolic relevance in that it welcomes the dawn and the triumph of light over darkness.
On a wind vane, the free-swinging directional pointer or arrow is thicker at the one end and thinner at the other. The larger end with the greater surface area catches the breeze. The small end turns to point in the direction from which a wind is coming, and the larger end turns to point where it is going.
A wind vane must be precisely balanced in order to be able to turn freely. Otherwise, it can topple or not move at all. To spin freely, weight has to be distributed equally on both sides of its axis. Some modern weather vanes are made purely for ornamental reasons and do not have this type of balance. They do not show wind direction because they lack this balance.
Beneath the point on a wind vane, it usually has fixed markers. There are four markers for each direction of the compass. If the arrow points toward the marker for south on the vane, it shows that wind is blowing from the south. If it is pointing to the west, wind is blowing from the west and towards the east.
By looking at wind patterns and changing directions, observers may be able to make simple predictions about the weather. Knowing that the west is wet and the east is dry, they know what to expect when a wind comes from either of those areas.
Farmers relied on weather vanes to help them know more about the weather. This was important when making such decisions as to when and where to plant crops and whether to plant windbreakers. They put the information about the wind together with other knowledge to make these decisions. Today, we do not use weather vanes in the same way. They are still popular and many people have them on their houses or barns but they are used more for ornamental and sentimental reasons.
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