Spinning The World: The Science Behind Gyroscopes
- Science Holic
- May 31
- 3 min read
Author: Eric Lin
Editor: Ethan Tai
Artist: Yahe Song
How do airplanes, boats, and cell phones know where you are? The answer is gyroscopes. Gyroscopes are devices that use the principle of angular momentum to maintain stability. They have numerous applications, from stabilizing vehicles and aircraft to navigating systems. The gyroscope’s invention is attributed to French physicist Jean-Bernard-Leon Foucault. Foucault constructed a device consisting of a rapidly spinning wheel mounted within a set of gimbals, which he used to help him visualize the rotation of the Earth through the principle of angular momentum.
A gyroscope works by spinning itself to maintain its orientation. This works because of the principle of angular momentum, which states that when an object rotates around its axis, it possesses angular momentum, which resists orientation changes due to inertia. The law of inertia, more well known as Newton’s First Law of Motion: an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This phenomenon allows gyroscopes to maintain their position even when an outside force acts upon them. Put simply, when they spin, they resist changes in their direction. A great comparison is bicycle wheels–when they spin quickly, it's easier to stay balanced because of inertia, making the wheels act like gyroscopes. Another concept is torque, the rotational force applied to an object. When torque is applied to a gyroscope, it moves perpendicular to the external force, a phenomenon called gyroscopic precession. This helps prevent the gyroscope from falling over and explains why bikes and motorcycles stay upright when moving.
A basic gyroscope includes a rotor, a frame, and a gimbal system. The rotor inside the gimbal is a spinning disk that maintains the angular momentum, and the frame holds the gyroscope in place. The gimbal system is a series of circular frames or rings that allow the gyroscope to move in different directions. This lets the gyroscope remain stable even if the base tilts or moves, like in an airplane. Gimbal systems often come in two variants: two-axis gimbal systems and three-axis gimbal systems. A two-axis gimbal system allows for movement along two perpendicular axes, like up and down or left and right. The system consists of an outer and inner frame. The inner frame holds the gyroscope, and the outer frame consists of two gimbals mounted inside each other that help prevent external forces from acting on the gyroscope. A 3-axis gimbal adds an additional gimbal to the outside frame, which allows the gyroscope to maintain stability across all three spatial dimensions.
Gyroscopes, as previously mentioned, have a variety of applications. For example, on a plane, there is a gyroscope that keeps track of the plane’s attitude by maintaining a reference of the airplane’s orientation relative to the horizon. The gyroscope spins rapidly, which fixes its orientation so when the plane tilts or goes up and down, it resists the motion which is picked up by the plane’s systems and displayed to the pilots. Gyroscopes are also in your phones. Let's say you're playing a racing game that requires tilting your device in a certain direction to turn your car in the game. The gyroscope in your phone spins and resists the movement, which is picked up by your phone’s sensors and relayed to the game. In conclusion, gyroscopes are the backbone to many of our technologies and operate by spinning. They are found in our vehicles, phones, and even satellites. Without gyroscopes and the principles behind gyroscopes, life wouldn’t be able to even exist as our Earth, while more complex is very similar to a gyroscope.
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