mdp,
I'm not sure if you worry most about a lack understanding of the basic principles of a gyro, or how the principles are used inside the instruments.
Some years ago I spent some time worrying about how to teach what a gyro is actually doing and how it's characteristics can be explained in very simple terms. It dawned on me one day that it's actually all down to the phenomena we know as inertia, often noted as "Newton's First Law". Namely, a moving body will tend to continue in a straight line unless acted on by an external force.
The "moving body" in the example of a gyro is the mass of the "flywheel". It helped me to understand what is happening when I considered each molecule of the wheel as an independent moving object wanting to continue in a straight line, but can't because it's forced to turn in a circular path instead. Suddenly I saw why the flywheel has rigidity.
Imagine heavy washing in a spin drier, or a conker on a string being whirled around a boy's head. These objects want to continue in a straight line due to inertia, but are forced to follow a circular path instead. On a gyro/flywheel, the intermolecular bonds replace the washing machine tub, or the string.
Can you understand this so far or is this too basic?
Last edited by ShyTorque; 27th November 2008 at 14:28.