gyroscope defying gravity?

[buzzz_kill]

Quite a while ago (on the Discovery Channel) I saw a piece about physicists working on the problems of a “Maglev” system. During the show they interviewed a Professor and he demonstrated how a certain type of gyroscope apparently “defies gravity”. It was a crude experiment using a 4’ steel pipe with a 25 lb. plate attached to the end of the pipe, along with some type of motor that would rotate this disk independent of the pipe. He then demonstrated that with the motor turned off, (while grasping the pipe on the opposite side of the disk and motor) this object was too heavy for him to lift off the ground. When he turned the motor on however (and the disk started spinning), he showed that with apparent ease he could lift the object up over his head with one hand. The Professor didn’t have an explanation on how or why it worked. Did the gyroscope defy gravity? What the hell was going on? I can’t find any info on the WWW. Stumped!

[astro]

Anti-gravity may be just around the corner

Pegs the BSometer

NEWS
Energy is high at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where after almost two years of waiting scientists are finally about to receive a working anti-gravity machine. At the heart of the machine is a concept that would turn the world on its ear. The combustion engine, for example, would be immediately obsolete–we would have “gravity-powered” cars–and the space shuttle’s current locomotion would be laughable. NASA has paid almost US$600,000 to Ohio-based Superconductive Components, Inc. (SCI), a company specializing in ceramics and superconductors. SCI Vice President James R. Gaines, Jr. enthuses, “If it works, what a hoot!”

Many physicists are incredulous, though. This anti-grav revolution started in 1992, when Evgeny Podkletnov published the results of an anti-grav experiment in science journal Physica C. He had displaced gravity within a field enough to reduce the weight of an object by 2%. The submission was quickly a hotly debated topic because gravity is key to the current paradigm in physics. If someone were to bend gravity the world of physics would be sent back to the drawing board, much like it was when Newton devised his theory or when Einstein gave his two cents.

---

So in 1999, NASA commissioned SCI to build a replica of Podkletnov’s original experiment. The device consists of a superconductive disc (the exact makeup of which is kept secret by Podkletnov–this is the area of SCI’s expertise, though) about 6 inches in diameter and one inch thick cooled to under –233 degrees centigrade and levitated with a magnetic field. The disc is then spun with an electric field. Podkletnov says an object placed above the disc when it’s spinning at more than 5,000 RPM will weigh less. Gravity, in the area above the disc, is being overruled. While it may seem a simple thing to spin a special disc very quickly with special methods, Podkletnov insists the setup must be done exactly right.

SCI’s project is a year behind schedule, but Gaines says his team is nearly done. SCI won’t do the testing, however, since its expertise is ceramics, not physics. NASA will do the testing, and if the experiment is a success the field of superconductors would certainly receive new attention.

[Mangetout]

That doesn’t sound like the same experiment.

When a gyroscope is spinning, it’s as if the centre of mass can be anywhere along the axis (I’m sure this isn’t actually the case, it just seems that way when you try to lift it) - lifting the gyroscope is just a case of picking it up by the end.

When it’s not spinning, picking it up is a matter of gripping the end and applying a turning force; if the lever is long enough, this can be very difficult.

Consider; you may be able to pick up a 5kg weight and a 12 foot pole and carry them both in one hand, but attach the weight to the end of the pole and try lifting it while just holding the opposite end - not quite so easy.

[Epimetheus]

Doesn’t sound right. Gravity is overruled? How about circumvented? Sounds like a crock to me. How reliable is Geek.com?

[Mangetout]

I’m sure I’m on the right track here; when you pick up the end of the pole with the gyroscope spinning, you pick up the whole system because the gyroscope resists rotation about the spin axis; the system isn’t too heavy to lift, but attempting to lift it by the end of the pole without the gyroscope spinning is much more difficult because of the leverage.

[Mangetout]

Here’s what I hope is an explanation; gravity is not being defied.

Slide 1 - attempting to lift the system when the gyroscope is stationary

Slide 2 - attempting to lift the system when the gyroscope is spinning

[buzzz_kill]

An interesting tid-bit that accompanies the piece on the experiment, was the narrator commenting something to the effect of how the well-respected Psysics Professor thought he was onto something big here. He actually thought he had demonstrated an interesting new phenomenon. He pushed the issue by giving numerous demonstrations and lectures and how “outside pressures” forced him to put his research on the back shelf.

I must say that Mangetout’s explanation sounds plausible, but would this stump a Physics Professor?

[Mangetout]

I don’t know why he would be stumped; 25 pounds is not too heavy to lift unless it is at the end of a 4ft pole. There’s no big mystery here.

[DrFidelius]

Return of the spindizzy!

[buzzz_kill]

It “was” at the end of a 4’ pole!
It was as if the entire apparatus seemed to lose about 1/2 its original weight.

[Mangetout]

That’s exactly my point; lifting 25 pounds is not impossible, unless you try to do so with a 4 ft pole as a lever and your own hand as the fulcrum.

When the gyroscope is spinning, it resists rotation about the spin axis and the system behaves as if the centre of mass is right there in your hand - 25 pounds is not impossible to lift in such circumstances.

[Dave_D]

Actually I think I’ve seen the program the original poster is talking about. From what I saw his answer was BS but I saw a much simpler answer. Yes the gyro was at the end of a pole, the gryo perpendicular to the pole. When he picked it up when the gyro wasn’t spinning the pole was vertical.(Like an upside down ‘T’) When it was spining he had orientated the pole so it was horizontal.(Like the picts magetout put up.) From what I saw just the way the pole was oriented would have made it way more difficult to pick it up when it wasn’t spinning.(But of course the idiot probably didn’t understand the concept of a control for an experiment.)