Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #03209
To: Dennison dennlill@buffnet.net
From: Bruce Robinson Bruce_Robinson@bc.sympatico.ca
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 16:37:02 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Inertial Rotation
Dennison wrote:
> ... Which ever is the lighter object will spin first.
Even better, it's not the relative weights of the objects, but the
relative moments of inertia. In plain english, if both objects are the
same weight, but one has most of the weight further away from the axis
of rotation, it has a greater moment of inertia and will be more
resistant to turning.
This can give you a lot of design flexibility. Want to keep one of the
objects almost stationary, but don't want a lot of extra weight? Use a
lightweight disk or some such thing and attach the weights at the outer
edges (which is how gyroscopes are designed).
Regards,
Bruce
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