The surprising gyroscope.
Why doesn’t a spinning wheel fall?
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Why doesn’t a spinning wheel fall?
Fit the wheel and axle first.
Gravity exerts a torque on the wheel. When it spins quickly, that torque changes the direction of its angular momentum, making the axle precess around the pivot. Faster spin means slower precession. Without spin, the wheel falls.
Precession formula is a fast-spin approximation; withhold precision at low spin.
Build a spinning gyroscope with a precession rate below 0.25 rad/s.
Compare precession with opposite spin directions.