Q:- Who invented the Gyroscope and when?
-> G.C. Bohmenberger in about 1810...
The first gyroscope was devised by a German, G.C. Bohmenberger but it was named by a French physicist Leon Foucault in 1852. Foucault used the device to demonstrate the rotation of Earth.
The name has its origin from the two Greek word: gyros means 'turn or revolution'; an skopein means to 'view'. Therefore gyroscope means ,''to view the turning".
The instrument is based on the same principle as that of the spinning top. A gyroscope basically has a heavy wheel. Most of its weight is concentrated in the rim. This gives the wheel a large moment of inertia. It resists attempts to change its position. If an attempt is made to tilt its it will start moving in another direction in a circle. This is known as precision.
The main application of gyroscope is in airplanes and ships. Ordinary compasses rely on Earth's magnetic field to point out the right direction. But Earth's magnetism varies from place to place. Hence the magnetic compasses are not fully reliable and extremely misleading towards the north and south poles. Here gyroscope serves a useful purpose as it is not affected by Earth's magnetism.
As the axis of gyroscope is set to point to Earth's geographical north pole no matter what direction the ship takes, helps the navigator to set the ship's course accurately by the axis.
It will be interesting to know that when a tip of gyroscope is set spinning it can be balanced on a pencil point and will not fall as long as it spins fast enough.. It wheel's axis points continuously in the direction it is first set at.
Here is a video to demonstrate the principle of gyroscope:-
-> G.C. Bohmenberger in about 1810...
The first gyroscope was devised by a German, G.C. Bohmenberger but it was named by a French physicist Leon Foucault in 1852. Foucault used the device to demonstrate the rotation of Earth.
The name has its origin from the two Greek word: gyros means 'turn or revolution'; an skopein means to 'view'. Therefore gyroscope means ,''to view the turning".
The instrument is based on the same principle as that of the spinning top. A gyroscope basically has a heavy wheel. Most of its weight is concentrated in the rim. This gives the wheel a large moment of inertia. It resists attempts to change its position. If an attempt is made to tilt its it will start moving in another direction in a circle. This is known as precision.
The main application of gyroscope is in airplanes and ships. Ordinary compasses rely on Earth's magnetic field to point out the right direction. But Earth's magnetism varies from place to place. Hence the magnetic compasses are not fully reliable and extremely misleading towards the north and south poles. Here gyroscope serves a useful purpose as it is not affected by Earth's magnetism.
As the axis of gyroscope is set to point to Earth's geographical north pole no matter what direction the ship takes, helps the navigator to set the ship's course accurately by the axis.
It will be interesting to know that when a tip of gyroscope is set spinning it can be balanced on a pencil point and will not fall as long as it spins fast enough.. It wheel's axis points continuously in the direction it is first set at.
Here is a video to demonstrate the principle of gyroscope:-
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