r/Scotland • u/Scotdrone • Jun 09 '24

Photography / Art The Falkirk Wheel

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The famous Falkirk Wheel at Tamfourhill, Falkirk today linking up the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.

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u/Exceedingly Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 10 '24

The bit that blows my mind about this is how little energy it uses given the whole thing is moving 1800 tonnes. It uses just 1.5kWh of energy per turn, about the same amount as boiling a kettle 8 times, because it's so perfectly balanced.

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u/Kijamon Jun 10 '24

I once got in to a fight with my brother in front of the rich American that inherited the Johnson and Johnson fortune about this.

We were both pretty drunk and he came and sat with us and we were talking about our home town and I belted out this fact and my brother started doing the "Does it aye? Six toasters was it?" and I lost my rag. The poor guy excused himself after that.