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12 May 2024 15:07
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Welcome to the gyroscope forum. If you have a question about gyroscopes in general,
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Question |
| Asked by: |
Alex Perevedentsev |
| Subject: |
Where does the force that resists gravitational pull on the gyroscope come from? |
| Question: |
Hello guys!
I am in my final year in school and have recently observed the mystifying (at least for me) working of a gyroscope. The question that eludes me is: if a gyroscope rotates on axis parallel to the Earth's surface and is only supported on one end (e.g. see http://www.gyroscopes.org/showfull.asp?imagename=9.jpg) -- where does the force that resists *mg* acting on its centre of mass come from? I'm sorry if I worded it poorly.
If it is too basic and "boring" a question then would you be so kind as to direct me to somewhere where it is already explained.
Thank you,
Alex |
| Date: |
8 December 2005
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Answers (Ordered by Date)
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| Answer: |
Rodrigo Queiro - 09/12/2005 13:37:18
| | | By simple linear resolution, you can see that the forces on the wheel are balanced - the tension in the string lifts it, countering the weight.
The reason that it doesn't rotate as expected is that the spinning wheel has a large angular momentum. As it is hard to change the direction of a fast moving large mass with a lot of linear momentum, it is hard to rotate an object with a lot of angular momentum.
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