🚀 go-pugleaf

How about this:
When you make a turn the outside headlight experiences more acceleration
than the inside headlight. (By inside/outside, I mean it in the sense of
"ouside/inside" of turning circle" ) Therefore the outside headlight
experiences more mechanical stress.  If you assume that people take more
right-handed turns, you might assume that the left headight burns out more
rapidly.  Of course since you drive on the right side of the road (an
assumption, but then again we're talking about NC drivers), right handed
turns have a greater difference in centripetal acceleration of the headlights
than a left-handed turn.  Therefore, again, even if you take an equal amount
of right-hand and left-hand turns, the left headlight comes out for the worse.

Any stats on which headlight is burned out?

Of course, this could be complete hogwash (actually, I'm sure it is), and
I make a lot of intuitive assumptions that a Mech or Elec Eng. (or physicist,
or NC driver or Dale Earnhardt or you) might laugh at.

yuji

testcoop@brtph400.bnr.ca wrote:
: In article <32r4p4$93g@news.duke.edu> surendar@tamil.cs.duke.edu writes:
: >This may sound weird, but has anyone else noticed the amazingly high 
: >numbers of drivers from NC driving with only one head lamp. Yesterday 
: >I even noticed one Porsche with just one parking lights working. Could
: >this be coincidence or did God actually curse NC to drive around 
: >with one lamp :-(
: >

: Actually the question is:  Automobile headlights are made in the same
: plant at the same time using the same specs and installed in your car at
: the same time.  The same voltage is applied to each headlight an equal
: number of times for an equal amount of time.  Yet, one headlight always
: burns out YEARS before the other.  Why is this?

: The answer is simple:  Headlights are actually manufactured in TWO different
: lots -- the A lot and the B lot (these aren't the technical terms), the
: B-group headlights being DESIGNED to burn out more quickly than the A-group
: headlights.  The reason is that having one headlight burn out on a long trip
: at night is not a serious problem, but having BOTH of them burn out would be
: a catastrophic failure.  By equipping cars with a headlight from each group,
: the driver has plenty of time to replace the burned out headlight before
: the second one goes.  Even if the replacement light is the same group-type
: as the remaining headlight, the fact that they were put in at different times
: will keep them both from failing simultaneously.  This is why you don't see
: an A-lot/B-lot designation on headlights at auto-parts stores -- the
: distinction is no longer important.





: The problem with this story is that it is, in fact, complete nonsense, but
: try it out on an electrical engineer sometime -- I guarantee you won't be
: disappointed.


: Paul Denisowski (MSEE student)

: padeniso@eos.ncsu.edu
: or
: Paul.Denisowski@bnr.ca


--
Yuji Shinozaki              Computer Systems Manager
(919)660-1514               Box 90347 / Dept of Chemistry
yuji@chem.duke.edu          Duke University
http://www.chem.duke.edu    Durham, NC 27708-0347