t i m e f o r k i d s . c o m
Get the inside scoop on elevators.
Facerum remodit,
eiuntiisSum non perem.
Um repudi blaborro
inctium autam ea vellaut
GOING UP?
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TECHNOLOGY
These mechanics are standing in an elevator shaft. They are fixing the elevator.
This glass elevator gives passengers a ride with a view.
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2 TIME FOR KIDS May 2020
NEW HEIGHTSNEW HEIGHTSElevators can feel like magic. Step
inside. Select your floor. Poof! The elevator quickly takes you where you want to go.
But an elevator doesn’t run on magic. It’s a machine. And it’s made up of several smaller machines. These machines work together to make the elevator move. An electric motor powers the elevator. A pulley system hoists the car up and down through an elevator shaft. The controller is the “brains” of the elevator. When you push a button, the controller tells the car which floor to go to.
The Sky’s the LimitElevators are an important part of
the modern world. “They make taller buildings possible,” Dot Mynahan told TIME for Kids. She works for the
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HEAR THE STORY READ ALOUD IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH AT TIMEFORKIDS.COM.
Power Words
PULLEYS
COUNTERWEIGHT
ELEVATOR
CABLE
Most elevators run with the help of a simple machine called a pulley. A pulley is a wheel with a cord around it. An elevator car is attached to one end. A counterweight is attached to the other. Take a look!
A HISTORIC MOMENT Elisha Graves Otis was an inventor. He created the
world’s first safety elevator. In 1854, he gave a daring
demonstration of how it worked. Crowds gathered at the
World’s Fair, in New York. Otis rode his elevator high into the
air. A man cut the rope that was lifting it. The crowd gasped.
The elevator should have fallen, but it stayed in place. “All
safe, ladies and gentlemen,” Otis said, “all safe.”
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Otis Elevator Company. “Elevators are also important for handicapped people,” Mynahan says. “They make buildings more accessible to everyone.”
The first passenger elevator was installed in 1857, in New York City. Since then, technology has improved. Elevators have become more energy- efficient. They are also much faster . Have you heard of the Empire State Building, in New York City? Its elevators whisk visitors from the ground floor to the 86th floor in less than a minute.
What’s next for elevators? “The possibilities are endless,” Mynahan says. —By Rebecca Katzman
accessible adjective: able to be entered or
reached by all
hoist verb: to raise something with a rope and
pulley
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GET MORE AT TIMEFORKIDS.COM.
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4 TIME FOR KIDS May 2020
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TIME for Kids Edition 2 (ISSN 2156-9169) is published weekly and mailed monthly from October through May, except for a combined December/January issue, by Time USA, LLC. Volume #10, Issue #26. Principal Offi ce: 3 Bryant Park, New York, NY 10036. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offi ces. © 2020 Time USA, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Subscribers: If the postal authorities alert us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TIME for Kids, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508. Subscription queries: 877-604-8017. TIME for Kids is a registered trademark at Time USA, LLC. For international licensing and syndication requests, please email [email protected].
The world’s
fastest elevator
is in SHANGHAI
TOWER, in China.
This elevator can
go 67 feet per
second. That’s
almost as quick as
the top speed of a
cheetah, the world’s
fastest land animal.
Whoosh!
Introducing the
world’s tallest
outdoor elevator.
The BAILONG
ELEVATOR is on
the side of a cliff,
in China. It’s in a
national park. The
elevator rises 1,070
feet into the air.
Would you have the
courage to ride in
it?
The BURJ
KHALIFA is the
world’s tallest
building. It’s in
Dubai. Tall buildings
need fast elevators.
The Burj Khalifa’s
elevators are the
third-fastest in the
world. They go from
the ground to the
roof in a minute
and 22 seconds.
This fi rst-ever SIDEWAYS
ELEVATOR is being tested
in Germany. It’s propelled by
powerful magnets. It can travel
up and down, too! Some people
say it’s the elevator of the future.
The world is full of incredible elevators. Here are a few of TFK’s favorites.
Would you like to ride in any of these?
’s favorites.
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HIGH-RISE RIDES