tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/233768920 2008-08-27 16:48:12 -0400 MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group <p>A bicycle wheel is suspended from one of end of its axie by a rope, and spun up by hand. The wheel's axle is then placed horizontally and the free end of the axle processes about the supported end. </p><p>The gyroscope seems to defy gravity because the torque created by the spinning wheel counteracts the torque due to gravity. Read more about gyroscopes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope">here</a>. Gyroscopes have been used through history for varied uses such as stabilizing spacecraft or for guidance systems on ships and missiles.</p> 89 tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/233745560 2008-08-28 14:21:12 -0400 MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group <p>A wooden ball is attached to the rim of a spinning wheel. The ball is held in place by a string. When the spring is cut, the ball flies in a straight tangent to the wheel.</p><p>In the camera's frame of reference, the ball constantly accelerates around in a circle due to the centripetal force pulling it inwards. When the string is cut, the acceleration stops, and the ball flies away in a straight tangential line. When the string is cut in the rotating frame of reference, a ficticious force (centrifugal force) accelerates the ball. </p> 79 tag:techtv.mit.edu,:Array/233724040 2008-06-16 00:45:16 -0400 wrenow MIT Physics lecture demonstration:<br />DYNAMICS - Conservation of Angular Momentum<br />The demonstrator sits on a rotating stool and holds a spinning bicycle wheel equipped with handles on each end of its axle. The wheel is held in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the stool. If the spinning wheel is turned into a horizontal plane, the stool will rotate in the opposite sense to the spin of the wheel. 66