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Seeking help with gyroscope math and physics


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I have a weird art project in mind involving spinning tops, but I have no idea what the physical requirements are to make it work. The Internet has been no help -- a lot of the sites either describe how to build one particular gyroscope or they're fairly advanced physics books that assume you already know the basics. Here's what I'm hoping someone on LAVA can answer:

 

A spinning disk or top resists being knocked over. Assume that the spin is motor powered so it doesn't stop spinning. Is there some formula that relates the mass of the disk and the rate of its spin to the height of the stand that it will support on its own? Are there other relevant physical quantities that affect height?

 

 

To some degree, the spinning disk resists being knocked over by a sideways force. How do you compute how much force the disk will resist and then right itself?

 

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