Facing South
by Marcia Lee Jones
Title
Facing South
Artist
Marcia Lee Jones
Medium
Photograph - Photography- Digital Artwork
Description
he design of a wind vane is such that the center of gravity is directly over the pivotal axis, so that the pointer can move freely on its axis, but the surface area is unequally divided. The side with the larger surface area is blown away from the wind direction, so that the smaller side, with the pointer, is pivoted to face into the wind direction. For example, in a 'Nor-Easter' (a wind that blows from the north-east), the pointer will point toward the north-east. Most wind vanes have directional markers beneath the arrow, aligned with the geographic directions.
Wind vanes, especially those with fanciful shapes, always show the real direction of a very gentle wind. This is because the figures are light enough to achieve the necessary design balance: an unequal surface area but balanced in weight.
To obtain an accurate reading, the wind vane must be located well above the ground and away from buildings, trees, and other objects which interfere with the true wind direction. Changing wind direction can be meaningful when coordinated with other apparent sky conditions, enabling the user to make simple short range forecasts. From the street level the size of many weathercocks is deceptive.
Uploaded
November 13th, 2013
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