Angular Momentum and Gyroscopes

Have you seen a gyroscope before, or played with one? 

They are like a top and can spin in one place using angular momentum.  The special part about a gyroscope is that the insides are free to spin where ever they want. 

A gyroscope can steadily rotate and keep its balance...anywhere.

What are gyroscopes used for?  They are used in airplanes, space shuttles and jets to name a few.  What a gyroscope does is help these vehicles manage different forces while flying in "space".  It's kind of like this:  You've been in a car, buckled in and traveling in a straight line.  Your car can take you places at 80 miles per hour.  You can't really tell that you are going that fast because you are "part of the car".  When the driver slows and makes a turn while moving, if you didn't have your seat belt on you would lean or slam into the driver.  Many cars have handles on the passenger doors that you can hang onto so that you can pull yourself the other way and not fall into the driver.  Well a gyroscope, in a more complex way, does the same thing.  During travel, a gyroscope helps the object make turns without the object being over taken by those forces you feel in the car when you turn and you want to lean into the driver.  While the gyroscope is spinning it is buffering or redistributing that force.

Watch this video to see how a gyroscope works, using angular momentum, and what it is useful for:

And now you know what kind of gift to ask for this Christmas!  Thank you very much!