Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How a gyroscope resists a tilt
A spinning wheel answers a tilt with a turn, not with a simple fall.
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From the opening
A gyroscope resists a tilt because a spinning wheel already has angular momentum, and a twist tries to change the direction of that momentum. The wheel responds by precessing, turning about a third axis, instead of simply flopping over. The opening covers angular momentum along the axle, why the answer is a precession, and what happens when the spin dies.
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Inside
- Angular momentum along the axle
- Why the answer is a precession
- What happens when the spin dies
- Why a bike wheel fights a twist
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Torque as the rate of change of angular momentum
- Precession of a spinning rigid body