Found out the Empire State Building's elevators travel at 1,400 feet per minute

3 comments

3 Comments

Honestly, think about how that speed actually feels inside the elevator. That's like 16 miles per hour just going straight up. Most people just feel that little ear pop and a weird stomach drop when it starts slowing down. But imagine if they had windows on the roof, you'd probably get motion sick just watching the city shrink away that fast. Tbh, its wild how much engineering goes into making that smooth considering how fast it actually moves.

tyler61423d ago

Wait, do the cables themselves even make any noise at that speed, or is it all dampened somehow? @abby_king22 you're right about the smoothness, but in my experience, the real engineering feat is probably in the guide rails and the counterweight system keeping everything stable. Your mileage may vary, but I'd bet most people don't realize how much of that speed is just silently happening behind the walls.

cameron7637d ago

@tyler614 is spot on, those cables are usually greased and run on sheaves that keep them dead quiet - think of a really thick shoelace sliding through a well-oiled pulley.