Why do we need bearings?

[Channing_Idaho_Banks]

What I want to know is why do we use this word for navigation?

[TriPolar]

@Machine_Elf

Something’s getting lost in translation; I’m still not understanding the issue. Certainly the outer/inner races have different diameters, but why would the balls have difficulty rolling on both surfaces? Can you point to a picture or YouTube video or something?

I better make sure I’ve got this right first, and jz78817 is making me think I don’t.

[Machine_Elf]

@jz78817

if that was true, planetary gears wouldn’t be possible.

That’s kind of what I was thinking - there are even gear bearing units that serve both purposes simultaneously.

[msmith537]

Come on guys. It’s so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It’s all ball bearings nowadays.

[Duckster]

@Channing_Idaho_Banks

What I want to know is why do we use this word for navigation?

You cannot get where you want to go without your bearings!

[TriPolar]

@Machine_Elf

That’s kind of what I was thinking - there are even gear bearing units that serve both purposes simultaneously.

Yeah, makes sense. Don’t know what I was thinking of.

[Machine_Elf]

@Channing_Idaho_Banks

What I want to know is why do we use this word for navigation?

Same etymology: to “bear” is to carry/convey. Thus, “bear west” means to carry/convey/move west. A more active expression might be to say “we are bearing west.” Not too big a stretch to then simply use the gerund form to refer to the direction in which you bear as a bearing.