SOLAR POWERED GYROSCOPE

Just add sunlight!

Days and Days Full Of Gyroscopic Action

“OUR OBSESSION IS PRECESSION”

Lots of science- lots of fun

This Gyro’s Rotating Motions varies throughout the day with changing light conditions

The inner race quickly turns clockwise, the outer race counterclockwise

Just needs sunlight, or bright direct incandescent light, the brighter the better.

Demonstrates Newton’s laws and Gyroscopic Precession

Educational on so many levels, and no maintenance required

This gyro’s Motion is caused by an internal electric motor attached to a solar panel

This gyroscope Will work through a window, unless the window’s tinted.

Watch it defy gravity: the gyro will not hang straight in full action

Group of several gyros in motion

*Ages; 10 years and up

*Fun, interesting, full of action.

*Scientific

*Hangs and gyro’s actions change with the changing light

*Made of aluminum, stainless steel, a laminated silicon solar panel, and some plastic

Weight 3.2 oz --- 90 grams

Approximate dimensions 5” x 4” x 2.25” --- 128mm x 100mm x 62 mm

Silent, at least usually.

*Weather resistant - Inside or outside

Do not touch or press rotating disk

Do not submerge in water.

It’s sturdy, but Dropping will damage gyro and void warranty. Do not drop!

Any alterations or abuse will void the Warranty.

Do not leave children unattended with gyro

Do not touch, or allow others to touch, the turning portions of the gyro.

FIRST

Hang this gyroscope in the sun by it’s swivel. Do not bend the stainless wire. Use a string or wire that will support a weight of at least 30 lbs (14kg).

Make sure that swivel is not tangled on itself. You want your gyro to hang straight down.

Close and lock the swivel so the gyro cannot accidently fall from its string or wire. Never operate this gyroscope without the swivel in its locked position.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Hang this device in a sunny place. It is self-starting.

The gyro’s center rotor section will immediately start rotating clockwise. Release your hand from the now supported gyro.

In the sun, the outer race portion will start rotating counter-clockwise.

The outer race portion is being driven by the opposing torque created by the gyro’s internal motor, which is now powered by the sun. This is an example of Newton’s 3^rd law: EVERY ACTION HAS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION.

All of Newton’s laws clearly come into play in the action of this device. For more information, check out “Wikipedia\gyroscopes”. also check out “Newton’s laws”.

When you first hang the gyro, it is a “body at rest”. When exposed to bright light, the motor inside this device will create a force, attempting to turn the center rotor.

Because the spinning center rotor section weighs more (has greater mass) than the outer spinning section, the outer race section will initially spin faster. This will change in moments as the center section continues accelerating.

At some point during the outer and inner races of the gyro contra accelerating, the entire gyro will start to wobble. This wobble is caused by two bodies turning in opposite directions and the opposing gyroscopic forces (precession) created by their respective rotations.

Nothing is ever balanced perfectly, and the spinning structures of this gyroscope will also vibrate from slight imbalances. These imbalances will vary depending on the amount of light. This is separate from the initial wobble caused by competing gyroscopic actions.

This device is always subject to multiple forces in addition to gravity. It is always changing depending on these varying forces. The descriptions of these forces mentioned here are far from exhaustive.

You will see several transition points. As the rotor accelerates, the flat solar cell on top will stop being parallel to the ground.

Depending on the time of day, the time of year, your latitude from the equator and other variables, the solar panel will be exposed and shaded from the sun as the entire gyro rotates. This is normal.

This cyclic exposure to the sun will cause yet more variation.

When the sun is strong enough, the counter rotation of the outer race will slow as the angle of the tipping solar cell becomes steadily less than the resting position (no sun) of parallel to the ground to almost ninety degrees to the surface of the earth. This is partly because the torque of the center rotating race is no longer at the best angle to cause rotation in the outer rotor. This declining alignment is not without other effects. It could enable the inner rotor to go faster.

There will be a point of near equilibrium, but it won’t last long. There is always something affecting and changing this device.

Depending on the length of the supporting string, the gyro may also swing in a circle on it’s string.

*An interesting experiment is to block the light when you think the gyro has reached some sort of equilibrium.

The first thing you’ll notice in this experiment is the outer race changing direction, and a new form of vibration and wobble occurring. This is caused by the outer race no longer being driven by the motors reactive torque, and both the inner and outer races will soon be turning in the same direction.

The gyro is no longer driven, but will continue spinning on the swivel bearing due to the accumulated inertial energy from the spinning center race section. The circular solar cell is now acting like a flywheel, using stored kinetic energy from the sun to spin the entire gyro. This will last a little while.

You will see the rotation of center rotor and the outer race supported by the center swivel slowly match up in speed, hampered by the slight friction of the internal motor’s bearings.

This is a group of several gyros, they are hanging in a line, outside in the sun.

Use as a light intensity detector. Outer race counterclockwise, light the same or getting stronger, outer race clockwise, the light’s getting weaker.

Solargyros.com

805-964-2767