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The Gyroscope Forum |
27 November 2024 10:18
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Welcome to the gyroscope forum. If you have a question about gyroscopes in general,
want to know how they work, or what they can be used for then you can leave your question here for others to answer.
You may also be able to help others by answering some of the questions on the site.
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Question |
| Asked by: |
Luis Gonzalez |
| Subject: |
Precession in Angular Terms |
| Question: |
The best explanation for precession is viewed in strictly angular terms.
A) Applying torque to an object causes it to spin (a rule for rotation).
B) Applying a tilting torque “crossway” to a spinning object changes the direction of the spin, until the object ends up spinning in the same direction as the torque (a thought provoking rule).
Precession results from purely angular causes and the 2 simple rules above explain precession well (for unencumbered objects). These rules can also extend to explain precession when spinning objects are attached to distant pivot points.
Confusion happens when people use linear terms to explain precession.
The linear perspective requires ignoring spin at moments, and this allows the explanation to drift into stating that precession moves the object at 90 degrees to the torque.
(Wrong or right this is a perception from a frame of reference.)
The object appears to move at 90 degrees when we consider only the “crossway” new motion, without taking into account the motion of spin (which occurs simultaneously).
This explanation is coherent only when thinking in purely in angular terms, without ignoring the overall dynamics and without complicating the explanation with linear factors and visualizations.
Valid linear explanations take time to digest and can cause confusion and misperceptions. Perhaps this is true of the above angular explanation too.
Best Regards,
Luis G. |
| Date: |
21 February 2009
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Answers (Ordered by Date)
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| Answer: |
rav - 19/04/2009 13:28:45
| | | luis, contact me by email.
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