MadSci Network: Physics |
I have a few unanswered questions about gyroscopic precession. I looked thought the archive but I haven’t found anything that directly answers my question. I understand if you spin up a gyroscope, put It down at an angle, its axis will precess around in a cone. I further understand (and correct me if I am wrong about this) that in a completely frictionless environment it will precess forever around its center of mass. This strikes me as similar to a spinning an object in space. Spin it once and it goes forever baring friction and outside influence. However in the case of the gyroscope where does the initial energy come from to start in precessing? Does it tilt slightly more upon release thereby lowering its center of mass and make use of some potential energy? Does the gyroscope itself reduce speed slightly? If we assume one of these things is true than it would seem the energy would have to go somewhere once the gyroscope stops precessing. For instance say we built a half circular frictionless tack that is the correct height such that it supports the gyroscope once it gets to it, without lifting it. Now, when the gyroscope reaches the track it should stop precessing because there is no longer a tilting force applied to it. However if the gyrocope initially derived energy for precession from a slight drop or a decrease in rotation, does the reverse happen? It would seem that it could not rise back up because then it would then have a tilting force again. Does the gyroscope gain rotational speed?
Re: Where does the energy for gyroscopic precession come from?
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