
392 Classical Mechanics
© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
A gyroscope consists primarily of a small heavy flywheel and an axle that can be set into rapid
spinning. The end of the axle rests on a support (a free pivot), allowing the axis to take various ori-
entations without constraint. If the spinning wheel is released horizontally with one end supported
by the pivot, it wobbles horizontally and then settles down to uniform precession, in which the axle
slowly rotates about the vertical with a constant slant angular velocity,
, as shown in Figure 12.12.
If the gyroscope is released with the flywheel spinning rapidly, it will precess. In this case, ...