A carousel, also known as a merry-go-round, is a ride found in an amusement park or on a playground. It includes a circle-shaped rotating platform. A carousel found in an amusement park has seats made to look like objects such as automobiles, trains and animals. Animals that can be seen on a carousel might be horses, elephants, and swans. Carousels are often brightly decorated with lights, paintings, and animals around the outside. A carousel found in an amusement park often moves by machine power. A carousel is also a common toy on a child's playgrounds. Playground carousels are not powered by a machine. The children make the carousel spin by holding on to the handle bars that are attached to the rotating platform. The child will then run in a circle while holding on to the handle bars making the merry-go-round spin. The merry-go-round found on a playground will move faster or slower depending on how fast the child runs. In this Wikipedia article, you will be able to find other words for carousel that are commonly used, a brief history about carousels, animals that may found on carousels, and the scientific principles of how machine powered carousels work.