GYRO STATIC ACTION 



27 



front wheels FF of the automobile are pushed against the ground with 

 excessive force by the gyrostatic reaction of the fly-wheel in Fig. 15. 

 When the automobile is turning to the left, as shown in Fig. 16, the 

 gyrostatic reaction of the fly-wheel causes the rear wheels BB of the 

 automobile to be pushed against the ground with excessive force. 



When an automobile runs over a bump in the road, no gyrostatic 

 action is produced if the engine shaft is crosswise of the car, but 

 very severe gyrostatic action may be produced if the engine shaft is 

 fore and aft, as shown in Fig. 17. In the vector diagram of Fig. 17, 



bump 



side view 



Fig. 17. 



S represents the spin-momentum of the fly-wheel at a given instant, 

 S' represents the spin-momentum at a later instant, AS represents the 

 increment of spin-momentum, and the arrow T represents the torque 

 which must act upon the fly-wheel shaft. In order to produce the 

 torque T, the bearing a must push the front end of the engine axle 

 to the left (with reference to the driver), and the bearing b must push 

 the rear end of the engine axle to the right (with reference to the 

 driver) ; or, in other words, the front end of the engine axle pushes to 

 the right against the bearing a, and the rear end of the engine axle 

 pushes to the left against the bearing b. Thus, there is a tendency for 

 the front end of the car to be suddenly thrown to the right, when the 

 car rises upon the bump, and the supporting springs of the car body 

 are subjected to a skew action which is apt to break them. 



There has been designed and placed upon the market an automobile 

 in which the engine shaft is vertical. This obviates all gyrostatic 

 action in the turning of curves, but it does not reduce the severe gyro- 

 static reactions when the car runs over a bump. 



Gyrostatic Action on Board Ship 



Fig. 18 is a top view of a side- wheel steamer which is represented 

 as turning to the right as indicated by the curved dotted arrow. The 

 arrow 8 in the vector diagram represents the spin-momentum of the 

 paddle wheels and shaft at a given instant, 8' represents the spin- 

 momentum at a later instant, AS represents the increment of spin- 



