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.
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