gyrostat

A gyrostat consists of a disk or wheel with a massive rim, which revolves within a case or framework, by which the whole arrangement can be moved about, or supported, without interfering with the wheel.

Figure 15 shows one form of gyrostat mounted on a horizontal frame, held in the hands of an experimenter.

If the fly-wheel be not in rotation, the experimenter can carry the arrangement about, and the fly-wheel and case move with it as if the gyrostat were merely216 an ordinary rigid body.

But now remove the gyrostat from the frame, and set the wheel in rotation.

The gyrostat is now replaced on its pivots in the frame, with its axis vertical, and moved about as it was before.