GYROSCOPE

Expt No. :
Date:

Aim:
1. To Understand The Working Of The Gyroscope.
2. To Compare The Active And Reactive Gyroscopic Couples.
3. To Measure The Moment Of Inertia Of The Gyroscopic Disk.

Apparatus Required:

1. Motorised Gyroscope
2. Electronic Motor Speed Controls
3. Tachometer
4. Stop Watch.
Theory:

Gyroscopic couple

If we have a stationary flywheel, of moment of inertia I, on a shaft mounted in a trunion frame such that it is
supported but free to rotate about an axis, then couple applied to the system will cause the shaft to move in
the plane of application of the couple.

Now consider the case shown in the figure:

Where the flywheel disc is spinning with angular velocity , and the axis of spin simultaneously rotating in
the horizontal plane ZOX with angular velocity p. The angular momentum of the disc can be represented
by the vector Oa at one instant, and Ob after a short interval of time t. The momentum vector lies along the
axis of rotation, in a direction such that the roatation is clockwise when viewed in the direction of the vector
(right hand screw rule). From Fig 2.1 it is clear that there is a change in angular momentum, as represented
by the vector ab. This change in momentum must be produced by the action of a couple in the disc. This
change in momentum must be produced by the action of a couple in the disc. The applied couple is equal to
the rate of change of angular momentum, so the torque is given by:

( I )

t
The change of angular momentum is represented by the vecor ab, so we can write (I) = ab = Oa. is the
angle through which the axis of spin rotates in time t.

Oa I
t t

in the limit when t ----- O,

d
1 Ip
dt

where:
p is the precession velocity in rad / s
is the angular velocity of the disc in rad/s
I is the moment of inertia of the deisc in kgm.

From Fig 2.1 the vector ab lies in the XOZ plane and in the limit when is very small, its direction
is perpendicular to Oa, that is to say, perpendicular to the XOY plane. The direction of the vector lies along
the axis about which the couple acts, so the applied couple must there-fore act in the XOY plane. To
conform with the right hand screw rule, its sense must be clockwise when viewed in the direction abn, that is
viewed in the direction OZ.

The applied couple represents the couple required to keep the axis of the disc rotating in the XOZ
plane. By roatating the axis of the disc, the disc therefore produces a couple which acts in the opposite
direction to the applied couple, that is to say, anti-clockwise about the OZ axis. This is termed the
gyroscopic couple. Thus, if no restoring couple were applied, any attempt to rotate the axis of the disc in the
XOZ plane would result in the axis tipping in the anti-clockwise direction about the OZ axis.
Moment of Inertia

In order to investigate the the validity of equation 2.1 it is necessary to determine the moment of
inertia of the gyroscope rotor. In the experiment, this is done by suspending the rotor on two wires as shown
in Fig 2.2

If the rotor is of mass M and the wires are of length L and distance d apart, then the tension in each
wire is Mg/2. If the rotor is rotated through a small angle about its vertical axis, then an angular
displacement is produced at the wires. If both angles are small, we may write L = d /2. The restoring
force due to the tension in each wire is:

Mg sin /2 = Mg / 2 (for small )

Substituting for = d / 2L we obtain the restoring force as,

Mgd
4L
The restoring couple is thus:
Mgd . d
4L
The equation of motion is therefore
Mgd 2
I
4L

Mgd 2
Re-arranging this equation we have: . 0
4 IL

This represents simple harmonic motion in which the periodic time T is given by,

Mgd 2
. 0
4 IL

This represents simple harmonic motion in which the periodic time T is given by,
 4 IL
T 2
Mgd 2

The moment of inertia I is therefore

MgT 2 d 2
I
16 2 L

Determination of Moment of inertia

Lift the spare armature and rotor assembly from its clips and fold out thbifilar support arm.
Hang the assembly from the arm as shown in Fig 2.2, then twist it about the vertical axis about 10 and
release it. Use a stop-watch to measure time for, say, 50 oscillations of the rotor assembly. Measure the
length L of the wires and the distance d between them. The mass of the rotor assembly is nominally 1.09 kg.
You can check this value by weighing the assembly on suitable scales if you wish to do so. These
measurements provide the information required to calculate the moment of inertia 1 from equation 2.2.
Check that you have recorded the correct readings, then fold the arm away and replace the rotor assembly in
its clips.

record the results are as follows.

Length of wires L = m

Distance between wires Mass of rotor d = m

Mass of rotor m = kg

Time for 50 oscillations Periodic time t = s

Periodic time T = s

Substituting these values in equation 2.2 gives the moment of inertia as :

Therefore I =

Investigation of Gyroscopic couple direction:

Ensure that the power supplies to the unit are switched OFF. Remove the safety cover and
check that the rotor assembly is balanced, so that with no weights added to the mass at the end of the torque
arm, the torque arm lies betwen the marks on the retaining plate. If necessary, slacken the knurled retaining
screw on the torque arm balance weight and position the balance weight to obtain the balanced condition.
When the rotor assembly is satisfactorily balanced, re-tighten the knurled re-training screw and re-fit the
safety cover.

Check that the cover is correctly in position, then set the rotor and precession motors running.
Note the direction of rotation of the rotor, the direction of precession of the gyroscope and whether the
torque arm rises or falls. By interchanging the motor input connections on the front panel, determine the
direction of the gyroscope couple for each combination of rotor and precession directions.

The results should be as shown in Fig 4.1

It will be seen that the gyroscopic couple produced by processing the gyroscope always acts
about an axis which is perpendicular to both the gyroscope rotor and precession axis. The couple direction
depends on the direction of precession and rotor rotation. Notice that the couple always acts to tip the
gyroscope in the same direction as the leading edge of the rotor. For example, in diagrame (a) the leading
edge is moving downwards and gyroscopic couple acts to tip the rotor downwards.

Magnitude of Gyroscopic couple

The object of this part of the experiment is to investigate the relationship between the
gyroscopic couple, the angular velocity of the rotor and the precession velocity. The results provide the data
necessary to check the validity of equation 2.1, that is Gyroscopic couple, T = I p

Ideally the tests would involve measuring the gyroscopic couple for two sets of conditions:- (i)
varying rotor velocity at a constant precession velocity, and (ii) varying precession at a constant rotor
velocity. However, the gyroscopic couple can only be set at a limited number of discrete values (as
determinded by the balance mass on the torque arm), so a slightly different procedure has to be used. This
involves measuring the precession velocity for a range of rotor speeds and values of balance mass. The
procedure is as follows.

1. Screw a 50g mass onto the end of the torque arm and replace the safety dome. Connect the rotor and
precession motor supplies so that the gyroscopic couple will raise the torque arm. Use the results
obtained under fig 4.1 to determine the correct electrical connections to achieve this.

2. Vary the precession velocity until the torque arm rises to a level at which the scribed line and the arm
lines up with the indicating strips on the bracket. This is the point of balance at which the gyroscopic
couple is equal to the moment produced by the mass on the torque arm.
 3. At this condition, measure the precession speed by timing a suitable number of revolutions of the
assembly using a stop-watch. The number of revolutions you will need to time depends on the test
condition. To obtain good accuracy, always use a timed period of at least 30 seconds. Record the
exact value of rotor speed.

4. Decrease the rotor speed in steps of 500 rev/min and determine the precession speed at the balance
point for each different rotor speed down to 500 rev/min.

5. Add additional masses to the torque arm and obtain similar sets of results for each value of mass. It
is best to obtain results for 50g increments in mass, so giving a total of 7 sets of results up to a value
of 350g. However, if time is limited it is sufficient to use values of 50, 150, 250, and 350g.

6. Record the results in the given tabular form.

S. Balance Rotor speed Precession speed Active couple Gyroscopic Percentage of

No Mass (w) (wp) couple error
(Nm)
r/min rad/s r/min rad/s (Nm)

Result