what is gyroscopic effect
What is Gyroscopic Effect?
What is a gyroscope? What is a gyroscopic effect? Read on to find the answers.
A gyroscope is a devise that can be used to maintain orientation based on the principles of angular momentum. It is a mechanism by means of which a rotor is journaled to spin around an axis.
The gyroscopic effect can be best explained by the principle of behavior of a gyroscope. According to the equation that describes gyroscope behavior, the torque on the gyroscope applied perpendicular to its axis of rotation and also perpendicular to its angular momentum causes it to rotate about an axis perpendicular to both the torque and the angular momentum. This rotational motion is referred to as precession.
If a spinning gyroscope is placed such that its axis is horizontal and loosely supported from one end, the gyroscope does not fall. It rather maintains its horizontal axis and the unsupported end starts moving in a circular manner about the horizontal axis. The resultant rotation is perpendicular to the gravitational torque and the axis of rotation. The speed of precession of a gyroscope inversely varies with its angular momentum.
A gyroscope can be considered as having three axes. The spin axis is the one defining the gyroscope strength. If the spin axis lies along a vertical line, the other two axes lie in the plane of the page. The gyroscope spins around its spin axis, the torque is applied to the primary axis and the secondary axis is the axis of precession. The spin axis gives rise to the gyroscopic effect. The gyroscopic effect is commonly used in toys like the yo-yos and tops.