square wheel

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File:Thinktank Science Garden - car with square wheels (13900854766).jpg.]]

A square wheel is a wheel that, instead of being circular, has the shape of a square.{{circular definition}} While literal square wheels exist, a more common use is as an idiom meaning stereotypically bad or naive engineering (see reinventing the wheel).

A square wheel can roll smoothly if the ground consists of evenly shaped inverted catenaries of the right size and curvature.{{citation|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702094140/http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/4877/title/Riding_on_Square_Wheels|archivedate=July 2, 2008|url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/4877/title/Riding_on_Square_Wheels|title=Riding on Square Wheels|first=Ivars|last=Peterson|newspaper=Science News|date=4 April 2004|volume=165|issue=14|accessdate=2009-05-03}}{{citation |url=http://nths.newtrier.k12.il.us/academics/math/Connections/curves/sqwheels.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930172827/http://nths.newtrier.k12.il.us/academics/math/Connections/curves/sqwheels.htm|archivedate=September 30, 2006 |title=A Catenary Road and Square Wheels|publisher=New Trier High School, Winnetka, Illinois|accessdate=2009-05-03}}{{citation|url=http://faraday.physics.uiowa.edu/mech/1M20.65.htm|title=Non-Circular Wheels|volume=Physics and Astronomy Lecture Demonstrations|publisher=University of Iowa|accessdate=2009-05-03}}

A different type of square-wheeled vehicle was invented in 2006 by Jason Winckler of Global Composites, Inc. in the United States. This has square wheels, linked together and offset by 22.5°, rolling on a flat surface. The prototype appears ungainly, but the inventor proposes that the system may be useful in microscopic-sized machines (MEMS).{{Cite book|last1=Derby|first1=Stephen J.|last2=Anderson|first2=Kurt|last3=Winckler|first3=Steven|last4=Winckler|first4=Jason|date=2006|title= Volume 2: 30th Annual Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, Parts A and B|language=en|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA|publisher=ASME|volume=2006|pages=811–816|doi=10.1115/DETC2006-99140|isbn=9780791842560|chapter=Motion Characteristics of a Square Wheel Car}} In 1997 Macalester College mathematics professor Stan Wagon constructed the first prototype of a catenary tricycle. An improved model made out of modern materials was built when the original vehicle wore out in April, 2004.{{cite web|last=Wagon|first=Stan|authorlink=Stan Wagon|title=Untitled|url=http://stanwagon.com/|accessdate=19 May 2010}}

In 2012, MythBusters experimented with modifying vehicles with square tires, determining that, with speed, a truck fitted with square wheels can deliver a relatively smooth ride.{{citation

| last1 = Zavrel | first1 = Erik

| last2 = Sharpsteen | first2 = Eric

| date = April 2016

| doi = 10.1119/1.4944364

| issue = 4

| journal = The Physics Teacher

| pages = 228–232

| title = How the television show 'MythBusters' communicates the scientific method

| url = https://scholar.archive.org/work/djawgihsmvf3jfkullvrs7l3xi

| volume = 54}}