| daestrom 2005-10-12, 6:21 pm |
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"Dan Bloomquist" <public21@lakeweb.com> wrote in message
news:_0b3f.9636$cg.2728@news02.roc.ny...
>
>
> Scott A Crosby wrote:
>
> Hi daestrom, Scott,
> It doesn't work. When you restrain precision there is no counteracting
> force. The gyro will move freely. If you have a toy gyro try it. There is
> a counter torque at first and then it will suddenly break free.
>
What you say doesn't make any sense to me. Restraining the east-west
direction generates a force on the axis, perpendicular to the axis, as the
earth rotates during a day. If left un-restrained in the north-south
direction, the axis would simply tilt north/south. If this motion is
restricted, but allowed through some resistance, you have a north/south
motion through a resistance (i.e. work).
Are you saying there is no significant force available in the north/south
directions when completely restrained in the east/west?
This system doesn't require gravity, it merely taps into the kinetic energy
of the earth's rotation. Again, I don't know that it is 'practical', but I
see no reason why it wouldn't at least 'work'.
The one problem I see is that if the axis is allowed to move so far that it
parallel's the earth's axis of rotation, then further rotation of the earth
will not cause any further precesion. You would have to stop the spinning
rotor, reset the axis, then spin up the rotor again.
daestrom
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