You know how I’ve got a thing for simple demonstrations of physical/scientific laws? Well check out this one:
I believe most people are familiar with the concept of a gyroscope: a spinning object (usually a disk) that exhibits some counter-intuitive behaviours like appearing to defy gravity. The above demonstration show cases the mechanism by which a gyroscope functions quite aptly in that the torque from the spinning wheel is applied perpendicular to its surface. This has the effect of making the heavy device seem almost weightless. It would seem to be defying gravity but in fact the act of lifting the wheel up will drain it of some its kinetic energy and as the professor alluded to it could climb about 200ft in the air before it ran out of puff.
Simply amazing, isn’t it? 😀
