At 12:57 AM -0500 2/1/02, Michael Daly wrote: >From: "robert werner" <cryocycle_at_hotmail.com> > >> My daughter and I are thinking of doing a science fair project on gyroscopic >> stabalization of kayaks. We are building small models for this and testing >> them in a wave tank. Has anyone ever done this before or have any ideas if >> it would work? > >Sounds interesting! > >Ever notice that a top, if it isn't spinning perfectly vertically, starts >to rotate in a circle about its point? This motion, called precession, >is due to conservation of momentum. The same thing will happen to a >gyro-stabilized kayak. > >Imagine this scenario. You are sitting in the kayak, gyro spun up and >in perfectly calm water. A boat crosses your bow at a distance, creating >a wake. The first wave strikes your bow and the kayak pitches up. You >have created the same situation as a spinning top. The kayak will >precess. The result will be that the kayak will heel over. If the gyro >is spinning clockwise as seen from above, the kayak will roll to port >(I think that's correct, having done the vector analysis with my hands >here - the physics equivalent of counting on one's fingers :-) (Wait, >I have a gyroscope here... hmmm can't get enough force to feel it, >ok - it remains an execise for you). > This also assumes the gyro spins around a vertical axis. This is not necessary for stabilization. You could also mount the gyro on a transverse (side to side) axis. In this case if a wave comes along from the front it would not cause any procession problem. A tipping force from the side would try to force the boat to turn. And any turning force would tend to make it tip. -- Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 (860) 659-8847 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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