Thames & Kosmos Gyroscopes & Flywheels Experiment Manual

EXPERIMENT MANUAL

Franckh -Kosmos Verl ags-GmbH & Co . KG, Pfizer str. 5-7, 70184 Stut tgart, Germ any | [phone] | www.ko smos.de
Thame s & Kosmos, 301 Frie ndship St., P rovidence , RI, 02903, USA | 1-800 -587-2872 | www.th amesandkos mos.com
Thame s & Kosmos UK Ltd, G oudhurst, K ent, TN17 2QZ , U nited Kingdo m | 01580 212000 | www.th amesandko smos.co.uk

665106-02-040117

› › › TIPS AND TRICKS

There are eight possible insertion slots in the
rip-cord gyroscope for the rip cords. Use only
one at a time. Please note the markings on the
top and bottom of the gyroscope housing which
indicate the direction in which to insert the rip
cords. Do not insert the rip cord into a slot if the
gyroscope is still spinning.

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

BUILDING TIPSUSING THE GYROSCOPE

ANCHOR PINS AND CONNECTORS

Take a careful look at the different assembly
components. Blue short anchor pins, purple joint pins,
red shaf t plugs, and purple 30-mm tubes can look
pretty similar at fir st glance. When you assemble the
models, it’s important to use the right one s.

CONNECTING
FRAMES AND RODS

Use the anchor pins to connect
frames and rods.

ANCHOR PIN LEVER

When you want to take your model apart again, you
will need the anchor pin lever. Use the narrow end of
the lever to remove the anchor pins. You can use the

wide end to pry out shaft plugs.

USING THE FLYWHEEL
ENGINE

The wheel with the rubber ring is the drive
wheel. This is the wheel that provides the final
driving force for the vehicle. This wheel is driven
by the flywheel inside the device.

There are six possible insertion slots in the
flywheel engine for the rip cords. Use only one
at a time. Do not insert the rip cord into a slot if
the flywheel is still spinning. Try the rip cord in
different slots to see which way the drive wheel
turns and which direction the vehicle moves for
each slot.



› › › KIT CONTENTS

GOOD TO KNOW!

parts, please contact Thames & Kosmos

customer service.

US: [e-mail]
UK: [e-mail]

If you are missing any

What’s inside your experiment kit:

1 2 3 7 854 6 9 10 11 12

13 14 15

22

26

23

29

16 17 18

24

25

30

Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check off

No. Description Qty. Item No.

1 Short anchor pin 19

2 Joint pin 3

3 Cone pin 1

4 Sphere pin 1

5 Shaft plug 2

6 Two-to-one converter 6

7 Tube, 30 mm 3

8 5-hole rod 4

9 Curved rod 4

10 90-d egree conver ter - X 2

11 90 -degree conve rter - Y 2

12 Small pulley 2

13 Head 1, fro nt 1

14 Head 2 , neck 1

15 Head 3, back 1

16 Gyro cover plate 2

7344-W10-C 2B

1156-W10-A1P1

7128-W10-E2TB

7128-W10-E1TB

7026-W10-H1R

7061-W10-G1P

7400-W10- G1P

7413-W10-K2D

7061-W10-V1D

7061-W10-J1D

7061-W10-J2D

7344-W10-N3G

7396 -W10- G1TD

7396-W 10-G2TD

7396-W 10-G3TD

7395-W10 -E2TD

19

20

21

27

31

28

No. Description Qty. Item No.

17 Rod-to -tube connector 1

18 5-hole du al rod B 1

3-hole wide rounded

19

rod, black

3-hole wide rounded

20

rod, green

21 3-hole cross rod 3

22 7-hole flat rounded rod 2

23 7-hole wide rounded rod 2

24 Anchor pin lever 1

25 13x3 Frame 2

26 Arm flat rod 2

27 45-degree curved track 4

28 Sloped track 4

29 Rip-cord gyroscope 1

30 Flywheel engine 1

31 Rip cord 2

7395-W10-E3TD

7026-W10-S2D

7404-W10-C1D

5

7404-W10-C1G2

3

7026-W 10-X1D

7404-W10-C3G2

7404-W10-C2G2

7406-W10-A1D

7395 -W10- E1TD

7395-W10- D1D

7061-W10-B1Y

7395-W10 -F1

7395-W10 -F2

7395-W85-A

7395-W85-B



› › › TABLE OF CONTENTS

Safety Information .......... Inside front

A Word to Parents ............ Inside front

Tips and Tricks ..................................... 

Kit Contents .......................................... 

Table of Contents ................................ 

The Gyroscopic Effect ......................... 

The amazing gyro ................................ 

Introduction to the gyroscope

Balancing top ....................................... 

The gyroscope as a spinning top

Gyroscopic forces ................................ 

More exploration of the gyroscope’s
effects

The spinning robot .............................. 

This robot spins around and around

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

TIP!

You will find supplemental

information in the “Check It

Out” sections on pages , ,

, and .

Momentum ........................................... 

Balancing robot ................................ 

Introduction to friction and inertia

Rip-cord gyrobot and track ............ 

Build a model that uses the
gyroscope and flywheel engine to
move along the track

Additional track designs ................ 

Breakdancer ...................................... 

Exploring angular momentum

Headspinning breakdancer ............. 

Conservation of angular momentum

Flywheels ............................................

Motorcycle ..........................................

Introduction to flywheels

Trike motorcycle ............................... 

Another flywheel experiment



The Gyroscopic Effect

How is a spinning top able to balance on one small point?
How does your smartphone know to change the orientation of
its screen when it is turned on its side? Both of these things
work because of gyroscopes and gyroscopic forces!

In the following experiments, you will investigate how a
gyroscope works and how gyroscopes are used in many
different ways.

A gyroscope is a spinning wheel

Gyroscope parts

Spin axis

Frame

Rotor

or disk that is mounted in such a
way that it can rotate freely and
assume any orientation on its
own. The wheel or disk is usually
mounted inside of two rings
which are free to rotate in all
three directions.

A gyroscope is like a spinning
top held inside a frame by its
axis. Gyroscopes were invented
as tools to help scientists
study Earth’s rotation. Today

Gimbal

gyroscopes are used in many
applications such as compasses,
flight instruments, and
stabilization devices.



The Gyroscopic Effect

EXPERIMENT 1

The amazing gyro

YOU WILL NEED

1 2 76 11 23

10 x 1 x 2 x 2 x

1 x

1

2 x

29

1 x

19 21

5 x 3 x 2 x

3124

1 x

HERE’S HOW

1

to 7 Assemble the gyroscope model.

8

Place one of the rip cords through the rip

cord slot in the side of the gyroscope. Pull
the rip cord quickly and forcefully to start
the gyroscope’s rotor turning. Hold the
gyroscope in your hand and turn it upside
down.

9

Turn the gyroscope from side-to-side,

both with and against the direction that
the rotor disk in the gyroscope is spinning.
Try balancing it on its corner.

2 3

Flip over

4

5

6

x

7

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Do you feel the force that makes it so difficult to tip the

gyroscope? What you’re experiencing is something called

the gyroscopic effect. It arises when an object (the rotor

disk, in this case) spins very rapidly. The force that you

feel when you tip the gyroscope is the gyroscope trying

to maintain the disk’s axis of rotation, the invisible line

about which the disk is rotating.



EXPERIMENT 2

Balancing top

YOU WILL NEED

1 3 6 23

16 172419

1

2

6 x 1 x 1 x

1 x

2 x

29

1 x

1 x

1 x

31

2 x

HERE’S HOW

1

to 4 Assemble the model first with the

purple two-to-one converter piece on
the bottom.

5

Place one of the rip cords on the table. Insert

the other rip cord into the gyroscope. Pull the
rip cord to start the gyroscope spinning.

6

Place the gyroscope on the first rip cord. Then

lift the cord up in the air with two hands. Can
you get the model to balance on the rip cord?

7

Replace the purple piece with the cone pin to

turn the gyroscope into a top!

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Gravity is a force of attraction between objects. The more massive an object, the

stronger its gravity. Earth’s gravity acts so strongly on us because it is so large

compared to us. Earth’s gravity pulls all objects near Earth toward its center of

gravity.

The spinning top stays balanced because of the gyroscopic principle, which says

that a spinning object tends to stay in its plane of rotation unless an external force

acts on it. The gyroscopic effect counters the force of gravity and keeps the top

from falling over.

Friction between the top and the tabletop as well as between the top and the

air eventually causes the top to slow down and fall over. That’s why a top

can’t stay spinning forever! How long can you get your top to spin?

1 x

2

3

4

7



Gyroscopes & Flywheels

EXPERIMENT 3

Gyroscopic forces

YOU WILL NEED

1 74

10 x 1 x 2 x

23

1 x

HERE’S HOW

1

7

8

16 17 182419 22

1 x

2 x 1 x

29

1 x

1 x

to 6 Assemble the model.

First, without starting the

rotor inside the gyroscope
spinning, try to balance it
on the stand a few times.

Insert one of the rip

cords into the slot in
the side of the gyroscope.
Pull the rip cord. Now try
to balance the gyroscope
while the rotor is spinning.
What do you observe?

1

2

2 x

3 x

31

1 x

32

4

5

WHAT’S HAPPENING

A top spins so fast that as soon

as its weight becomes

unbalanced and it starts to

fall to one side, the imbalance

has spun around to the other

side. As long as it is spinning

fast enough, it’s like the top

is falling to all sides evenly

and therefore it stays

balanced.

6

Stand



CHECK IT OUT

Electronic Gyroscopes

Precession

You saw in the previous experiments that the
gyroscopic effect keeps the spinning gyroscope
from falling over. However, the gyroscope
will react to external forces applied to it by
changing the direction of its axis of rotation.
This change in the orientation of the rotational
axis is called precession. Even as the rotor is
spinning around the axis of rotation, the axis
of rotation itself is rotating
around a second axis.

Precession

Axis of
rotation

A Brief History of Gyroscopes

MEMS
gyroscope

Smartphone circuit board

How does your phone know to change its

screen’s orientation when the phone is turned
on its side? How do cameras and video

game controllers detect shaking? They use
gyroscopes!

Gyroscopes are used in phones and other

electronic devices to detect movement in three
dimensions. The gyroscopes in smartphones are

much smaller than the gyroscope in this kit.

These microchip gyroscopes
are small enough to fit on the

phone’s printed circuit board

along with all the other sensors
and electronics. Microchip

gyroscopes are called MEMS

(micro electro mechanical
systems) gyroscopes.

Although tops have been around for hundreds of years,

the gyroscope is a more recent invention.
The first known instrument that was similar to a

gyroscope was made by John Serson in 1743. It was
used as a way to locate the horizon in foggy conditions

at sea.
The first gyroscope was made by Johann

Bohnenberger in 1817, who called his invention the
“machine.”
It was Léon Foucault who gave the gyroscope

its name. He used a gyroscope to demonstrate the
rotation of Earth, which is why gyroscope’s root

words are the Greek words skopeein for “to see” and gyros for “rotation.”
With the use of electric motors gyroscopes were able to spin almost indefinitely. This
allowed them to be used in important navigational instruments such as heading indicators
and gyro-compasses.



EXPERIMENT 4

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

The spinning robot

YOU WILL NEED

1 5 6 9 10 12 13 14 15

6 x 2 x 4 x 4 x

16 18 24

2 x

26

2 x

22

1 x

29

1 x

2

2 x 1 x

1 x 1 x

1 x

31

1 x

Determining location with

gyroscopes

Image a robot in a factory assembly line needs

to turn its arm to pick up a part, and to do

so, the robot needs to know exactly where in

1 x 1 x

space its arm is located. A gyroscopic sensor

helps the robot do this. The sensor works based
on the principle of how gyroscopes respond

to forces (pushes and pulls). This experiment
demonstrates how this works in principle.

1

3

4 5

Flip over

Flip over

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE



EXPERIMENT 4

HERE’S HOW

1

to 8 Assemble the model.

9

Pull the rip cord so that the rotor disk

in the gyroscope turns clockwise. Does
the rest of the model rotate clockwise or
counterclockwise? Repeat this with the
wheel turning counterclockwise.

7

6

Flip over

8



WHAT’S HAPPENING

When the rotor disk rotates clockwise, the

body rotates clockwise. Then when the rotor

disk rotates counterclockwise, the body also

rotates counterclockwise. When the disk

spins, the model is experiencing what is

called a torque. Torque is a force that causes

something to rotate. When you turn a bolt

using a wrench, you are applying a torque.

This is why the model spins in the direction

that the disk is spinning.

So, how is the factory robot able to use a

gyroscope to find its arm’s position? It

does this by measuring the amount of

torque that a gyroscope inside the arm

experiences when it turns and using the

torque measurements to calculate the

distance and direction the arm moved.

Momentum

Why does a figure skater spin faster
when they move their arm closer to
their body? How does the Earth
behave like a top?

In the following experiments you will
learn about another property of
gyroscopes and flywheels called
momentum.

Gyroscopes & Flywheels



EXPERIMENT 5

Balancing robot

YOU WILL NEED

6 13 14 15

4 x

24 26 29

30

HERE’S HOW

1

5

6



1 x

1 x

1 x

to 4 Assemble the model.

Insert one rip cord into the slot

in the flywheel engine. Pull the
rip cord and place the model
down on a flat smooth surface.
See how far the model travels.

Now insert rip cords into both the

gyroscope and flywheel engine. Pull
both rip cords at once (or start with the
gyroscope) and place the model down.
How does the distance it travels this
time compare to before?

3 4

1 x

1 x

2 x

16 17

1 x

1 x

Forces of resistance

If you roll a ball on the ground and it does not
bump into anything, why does it stop rolling?

The reason the ball stops rolling is because of
friction. Friction is a force that resists motion by

converting that motion into heat. If you rub your

1 x

31

2 x

hands together you will feel them heat up due
to friction. If there was no friction and the ball

could roll forever, would it ever stop rolling?

2

1

WHAT’S HAPPENING

From your previous experiments you saw

that a gyroscope resists changes in its

axis of rotation. This resistance to change

is due to a property of all materials
called inertia. You feel the effects of

inertia when a car stops suddenly and

your body continues moving forward,

pressing into your seatbelt. Inertia was

formulated by Newton in his first law

of motion, often called the law of
inertia. It states that an object at rest

stays at rest, while an object in motion

stays in motion unless it is acted upon

by a force.

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

EXPERIMENT 6

Rip-cord gyrobot
and track

YOU WILL NEED

1 2 7 86 9 10 11

17 x 3 x 6 x 3 x 4 x 4 x

13 14 15

1 x

20

21

3 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 1 x

25

2 x 2 x

29

30

16 17 182419

1 x 1 x

2 x

22

1 x 1 x

23

26 27

28

1 x

1 x

4 x

31

Note: This model is intended to be used with
the track included in the kit. Instructions for
track assembly start on the next page.

Objects in motion

If a large truck is traveling very fast it would

take a large force to bring it to a stop. Is that

2 x 2 x

due to the inertia of the truck? The inertia of

an object is only related to its mass. Since the

object is moving, this requires another important

5 x

concept from physics called momentum.

HERE’S HOW

1

to 5 Assemble

4 x

2 x

the rip-cord
gyrobot model.

1

2 3

4

5

Test this model by spinning both
the gyroscope and flywheel
with the rip cords. Does it
balance and move forward?

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Rip-cord

gyrobot



EXPERIMENT 7

Launch chute assembly

6

to 12 Now assemble the launch

chute. This structure acts as
a chute to help you quickly
load the rip-cord gyrobot
onto the track, so it’s easier
to get the gyrobot perfectly
positioned and running
on the track before its
gyroscope rotor or flywheel
run down too much.

7 8

6



9

EXPERIMENT 7

10

11

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

12

Launch chute

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE



EXPERIMENT 7

“U-turn” track assembly

13

to 18 Now assemble the track. Follow the instructions here to build the “U-turn” track

design. There are nine other track configuration suggestions on pages 18–20.

13

14 15



16

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

EXPERIMENT 7

17

18

16

14

15

“U-turn” track

19

Inset rip cords into the

gyroscope (top) and flywheel
engine (bottom) components of
the rip-cord gyrobot model.

20

Hold the model by the

underside of the gyroscope.
Place the gyrobot on the
track in the launch chute,
making sure that the wheels
are centered on the ridge of
the track. Pull the rip cords
at the same time (or start
with the gyroscope rip cord)
and immediately release the
gyrobot. How is the gyrobot
able to move up an incline
without assistance?

WHAT’S HAPPENING

The gyroscope keeps the gyrobot from falling off

the track and the flywheel engine transfers power

to the wheels to move the model forward along

the track. You added energy to the system with

your pull of the rip cords. The energy is then used

to spin the gyroscope and flywheel, which keep

spinning due to their momentum. Momentum is a

measure of an object’s mass multiplied by its

velocity (which is its speed in a specific

direction). Momentum keeps the gyrobot model

moving along the track. Read more about

momentum on the next Check It Out page.



EXPERIMENT 8: ALTERNATE TRACK

“S-turn” track

1 2

3



4

“S-turn” track

4

5

3

2

EXPERIMENT 9: ALTERNATE TRACK

“Himalaya” track

1

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

2

7

3 4 5 6

8

“Himalaya” track

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE



EXPERIMENTS 10–16: MORE TRACK IDEAS

Go to this web address for step-by-step assembly
instructions for these track configurations:

http://goo.gl/xIQ9Ow

(“I” i s a capital “i” not a l owercase “l”,
and “O” is a c apital “o” not a zero “ 0”.)

“Zigzag” track

“Waterfall” track

“Seesaw” track

“Half pipe” track



“Bridge” track

“Slash” track

“Turn by turn” track

CHECK IT OUT

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

Conservation of
Momentum

The momentum of an object is directly related to the
amount of mass of the object and how fast the object is
moving in a specific direction, or its velocity. The faster
and heavier the object, the more momentum it has. When
an object is moving in a straight line it has what is called

linear momentum.

The momentum of an object is conserved. This means

that the amount of momentum in a closed system — a
system in which no energy is lost or converted — always
stays the same. For example, when two billiard balls
collide, momentum is transfered from one of the balls to
the other in the form of a change in their velocities, but
the total amount of momentum of the two balls stays
the same. However, it is not a perfectly closed system, so
some momentum is lost to the friction between the balls
and the table and the balls and the air, and even to the
sound waves released when they hit.

Gyroscopes in nature

Have you ever wondered how a

fly can buzz around a room and
instantly change direction many
times without losing control

of itself? Flies have an organ
called a haltere that acts like a
gyroscope allowing the insects

to detect their rotation during
flight.

Momentum is transferred between

the balls in a Newton’s cradle.



EXPERIMENT 17

Breakdancer

YOU WILL NEED

1 2 76 10

10 x 3 x 2 x 1 x

21 22

2 x 1 x 2 x 2 x 1 x

25 26

1 x

2

3

16 17 18

2 x

2 x

23

2 x

1 x

2419

29

1 x

Spinning around

How about when an object is spinning — does it
have momentum? Yes! However, when an object

is spinning the momentum is called angular
momentum and the physics becomes more

complex.

1 x

1

31

1 x

4



EXPERIMENT 17

5

7

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

6

HERE’S HOW

1

to 7 Assemble the model.

8

Insert the rip cord into the slot

in the gyroscope. Hold the base
of the model and pull the rip
cord. What do you observe?

WHAT’S HAPPENING

The gyroscope stays spinning due to conservation

of its angular momentum. But as it spins, the

gyroscope’s momentum is transferred to other

parts of the model, which is what causes the

model to move. The gyroscope eventually stops

spinning.

Just like linear momentum, angular momentum

is a product of an object’s mass and speed. But

when calculating angular momentum, the speed

of the object’s rotation around its axis as well as

how the mass is distributed relative to its axis

of rotation must be considered. These factors

have important effects as you will discover in

the next experiment.



EXPERIMENT 18

Headspinning
breakdancer

YOU WILL NEED

1 2 6 10 13 14 15

10 x 1 x 4 x

3 x 2 x 1 x

29

2 3

2 x

1 x

23

2 x

1 x

1 x

1 x

2419 20 2621

1 x

2 x

31

1 x

Conserving angular momentum

If you have ever seen figure skaters spin around

with their arms outstretched and then bring their
arms in close to their bodies, you will see that
when they bring their arms close to their bodies,

16

2 x

they start spinning faster. Why do you think that

happens?

1



4 5

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

EXPERIMENT 18

HERE’S HOW

1

to 8 Assemble the

model.

9

Place the arms of the

breakdancer stretched
out as far away from
the center of its body
as possible.

10

Hold the model

upside down by the
top surface of the
gyroscope. Insert one
of the rip cords into the
slot in the side of the
gyroscope. Pull the
rip cord and place the
breakdancer down on
the tabletop standing
on its head.

11

Repeat the previous

step, but this time
move the arms of
the breakdancer as
close as possible to
the center of its body.
What differences do
you observe in the way
the model moves?

87

6

WHAT’S HAPPENING

The breakdancer model and the ice skater spin faster when

their arms are close to their bodies.

This can be explained by the conservation of angular

momentum. As described in the previous experiment,

angular momentum is the product of how fast something

is spinning and how its mass is distributed around its axis

of rotation. The measure of how an object’s mass is

distributed around its axis is called its moment of inertia.

Since angular momentum is conserved, when the

moment of inertia is changed — for example, by moving
an object’s mass in toward its axis of rotation — the

other factor in calculating angular momentum must

change too: the speed of rotation. So, in order to keep

angular momentum constant, if the moment of inertia

changes, the speed of rotation must change too!

You can try this out yourself if you have a rotating
desk chair. Sit in the chair with your arms out straight

to the sides. Have a friend or family member give you

a push to start you turning. Immediately pull your

arms in close to your body. You will speed up! Put
your arms out again, and you will slow down.



CHECK IT OUT

Galileo Galilei, Isaac
Newton, and Inertia

People once believed that a continuously applied force
(a push or pull) was required to keep an object in motion,
even with no other forces resisting its motion. We now
know that an object in motion will stay in motion
unless forces act on it to stop its motion. For example,
an object will stop moving because of friction with its
environment, like the ground it’s moving on or the air or
water it’s moving through.

In an experiment to understand inertia, Galileo rolled
marbles down two inclined planes (ramps) that were
positioned in a “V” shape. He found that when he rolled
a marble down one incline, the height that the marble
would reach on the second incline was about the same
as the height from which the marble was released on the
first incline, only just a little lower.

Even when Galileo made the inclined planes as smooth
as possible, he found that the marble never rose as
high on the second plane. He reasoned that there must
be something acting on the marble preventing it from
reaching the same height. He had discovered friction.



Galileo reasoned that if the second inclined plane was
horizontal and there was no friction, then the marble
would roll forever.

Sir Isaac Newton added to the work of Galileo by stating
that the idea of inertia applies to all objects. He also
found that the amount of inertia an object has depends
on its mass: A more massive object will be harder to
move while a less massive object will be easier to move.

The marble rolls to
almost the same height
on the second incline,
but friction keeps it from
getting all the way up to
the original height.

Flywheels

From your experiments with gyroscopes, you have seen that they
can hold a lot of energy. The energy is used to move the models in
which the gyroscopes are installed. The energy is stored in the
heavy spinning rotor disk inside the gyroscope. This spinning disk
is also called a flywheel and it has other applications in addition
to gyroscopes.

A flywheel is a heavy disk that is used to store rotational energy.
The energy can then be used to drive machines. This kit contains a
device with a flywheel that drives a pair of wheels: the flywheel
engine. In the following experiments, you can use the flywheel
engine to power vehicle models.

A flywheel

in a pumping
station in the

Neatherlands.

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EXPERIMENT 19

Motorcycle

YOU WILL NEED

1 7 9 10 11

1

2420

5 x 3 x 2 x

26

2 x

3

1 x 2 x

30

1 x

3 x

31

1 x

1 x

2

5

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4

EXPERIMENT 19

6

HERE’S HOW

1

to 7 Assemble the model.

8

Insert the rip cord into the

slot in the flywheel engine.
Hold the model, pull the rip
cord, and place the model on a
smooth tabletop. What do you
observe?

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

7

WHAT’S HAPPENING

The flywheel inside the flywheel engine is

connected to one of the engine’s wheels. When you

pull the rip code, you are adding a lot of rotational

energy to the flywheel. By setting the flywheel in

motion, you are increasing its angular

momentum. The angular momentum is stored in

the flywheel and is slowly transferred to the two

wheels to drive the model. As the two wheels

turn and make the model move forward, the

flywheel transfers its rotational energy to the

wheels. As the flywheel loses energy, it slows

down, eventually stopping.

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EXPERIMENT 20

Trike motorcycle

YOU WILL NEED

1

1 75 9 10 12

5 x 2 x 2 x

1 x 1 x

30

1 x

1 x

24

1 x

31

19 20

2 x 2 x

1 x 2 x

2621 22

2 x

1 x

2

4 5

3

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EXPERIMENT 20

6

HERE’S HOW

1

to 7 Assemble the model.

8

Insert the rip cord into the

slot in the flywheel engine.
Hold the model, pull the rip
cord, and place the model on a
smooth tabletop. What do you
observe?

Gyroscopes & Flywheels

7

WHAT’S HAPPENING

The flywheel engine works the same way in this

experiment as in the previous experiment. The main

difference is that this model has two extra wheels that

help stabilize the model so it doesn’t fall over as easily.

The drawback is that the extra wheels create more

friction with the tabletop. More energy from the

flywheel engine goes toward overcoming that extra

friction, so the model may not travel as far. However,

because of the improved stability, the model may be

less prone to skidding out, so it may actually drive

farther. See for yourself how your model behaves.

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CHECK IT OUT

Did you know?

Flywheels in Action

Flywheels are usually large, heavy wheels with a
large moment of inertia. They are designed to have
a lot of weight around their outer edges. As you
learned in the experiment with the headspinning
breakdancer, the farther away an object’s mass
is located from its axis of rotation, the larger its
moment of inertia.

A flywheel receives its energy from torque applied
to it. The flywheel’s rotational speed builds up
and thus so does its stored rotational energy. The
flywheel can then release its stored energy by
transferring torque to other mechanisms as needed.

Flywheels can be used in machines to provide a
faster rotational motion than the source of the
original torque can provide on its own. The original
energy source can slowly increase the speed of the
flywheel, which will store energy and thus
build up rotational speed. The flywheel
can then release its fast rotational energy
very quickly when needed.

Flywheels can also help provide smooth,
continuous rotational energy to a
machine when the original
energy source is jerky or
intermittent.

The gyroscopic effect is also at

play when you tilt a bicycle when
entering a curve. Of course, if you

were to tip the bicycle to the side
when the wheels were not turning,
you would simply fall over.

A steam engine
with a large
flywheel on the
left side

And of course,
flywheels can be
used in gyroscopes to
balance objects and
resist certain forces
to help control the
orientation of a machine
or device.

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Artikelnummer

66 5106 -0 3-2 70516