In cargoland there are numerous tall buildings, many being 50 floors and greater in height. Although most of these vertical monstrosities are vulgar eyesores, they nevertheless present the perfect opportunity to facilitate the idea of having A Long Slow Comfortable Swing.

To complete the proposal, all that's required is an area of obstacle free public space immediately adjacent to a very tall building. A substantial horizontal girder can then be added to one of the uppermost floors, projecting outwards and overhanging the space below. Attached to this girder are pairs of hanging chains, each of which terminates in a very comfortable seat positioned a few feet from the ground.

This are the seats that provide for their relaxing occupants the full experience of A Long Slow Comfortable Swing, as they lazily oscillate backwards and forwards, confirming the periodic time of the most satisfying of equations: T = 2 x pi x the square root of L / G
-- xenzag, Aug 23 2016

The perfect cocktail to serve https://makemeacock...-up-against-a-wall/
[xenzag, Aug 28 2016]

Make it just hang from one cable, and have a time- pendulum. Of course now you need a mich stiffer girder, and a circular footprint.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 23 2016


If two buildings are near each other and both are at least a suitable height (they don't have to be the same height; they just need to be a minimum height), then some sort of girder spanning the gap between the buildings could be installed, and several swings hung from it.
-- Vernon, Aug 24 2016


Better make it pretty heavy or basically rigid because otherwise the slow and comfortable is going to be replaced with violent harmonics and lethal responses to slight breezes, breezes found to be frequent near large structures.
-- WcW, Aug 24 2016


This is one way to measure the height of very tall buildings...height in m = 1/4 of time squared.

20secs -> 100m
-- Ling, Aug 24 2016


An interesting way to commute.

Like George of jungle without the tree.
-- popbottle, Aug 26 2016


Oh the options for vandalism...
-- pashute, Aug 28 2016


Is the cocktail served while I relax in the motion?
-- wjt, Aug 28 2016


How will the swingth be generated?

Some time ago, I built a super-duper swing suspended from the branch of a beech tree - it was about 40ft long. It then transpired that it is almost impossible to generate swingth with such a long rope, unless either someone pushes you or you can scrabble your feet along the ground.

I suspect that this problem could be overcome by having some sort of motorized cam that moved the attachment points back and forth at exactly 2 x pi x root L / G
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 28 2016


Maxwell, I suspect that you needed around 3/4 ton to get a smooth swing at that distance.
-- WcW, Aug 28 2016


^ So, lose weight Max?
-- AusCan531, Aug 29 2016


Slightly more that's required: an arc of flooring beneath the path of the swing - even with a small angle of deviation, the occupants would be a very long way above the ground.

Also, I think you'd need rigid supports for the seats, or the swing will end up swinging from only part way up and you'll just wibble around like a fish on a line.

The supports would need to be very inelastic so that the weight of the occupant didn't make the seat drop significantly when they got in, or on hot days.

I like to imagine that it would be a whole swinging platform, since the rest of the structure is so large, and because you couldn't possibly have several swings which didn't collide.

Maybe we put the bandstand on the platform, then the band can REALLY swing.
-- imagin8or, Jun 16 2020


//3/4 ton//

Shouldn't that be measured in Newtons? Oh, you mean you need 675 kilograms of weight on the platform? And then it would swing smoothly?
-- Voice, Jun 16 2020


Elegant. A more complicated way to build this might be a gently curved pair of rails supporting the ends of the swing seat, so the seat moves through the same arc as if it were attached to a 50-story cable. Bearings would need to be low friction.
-- sninctown, Jun 17 2020


//Shouldn't that be measured in Newtons?//

New tons? I just got used to the switch from Imperial Tons to Metric Tonnes. No Voice wants to bring in 'New Tons'
-- AusCan531, Jun 17 2020



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