How does a Gyro work?
Answer:
The most important part of a gyro is the meat. The best to me is the lamb that's cut off the vertical rotisserie. the pita should be fresh and of course the cheese and sauce are all also important. Great greek sandwich, I highly recommend them.
the spinning mass is the only important piece as it is the angular momentum that makes a gyro work. The greater angluar momentum (mass * velocity) the more force that it will take to over come the 'righting' force
A gyro works through the mechanism of the conservation of angular momentum. A spinning gyroscope as a certain amount of angular momentum, which is a vector quantity. Its magnitude is given by m*omega (the rotation speed, in rad/sec). Its directions is given as the direction of the spin vector, by the right hand rule. So the spin vector of a horizontally mounted gyroscope spinning counterclockwise about a vertical axis is in the "up" direction.
Technically, the gyro does not work against a torque to move its axis. If one attempts to change the axis of rotation (by rocking the ship, say), then the conservation of angular momentum causes a second torque at right angles to the two other vectors (the angular momentum vector and the applied torque vector). So, if you have a gyro stabilized ship and you try to change its pitch (forward to back rotation) the conservation of momentum will attempt to induce a resultant yaw change. BUT, since the ship has a long keel in the water that resists that yaw change, this results in a counter torque to the pitch which keeps the ship stable.
A bicycle wheel works the same way -- the wheel rotates and so has angular momentum. When you tilt the bike (torque the spinning wheel) it reacts with a counter torque which causes the wheel to turn into the direction of tilt, which means that by leaning the bike you can cause it to turn (hence, you can ride with no hands).
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