🚀 go-pugleaf

"Dan Bloomquist" <public21@lakeweb.com> wrote in message 
news:7tdAj.5709$7d1.5641@news01.roc.ny...
> daestrom wrote:
>>
>> Whilst I don't agree with any of the OP's junk science, if you arrange 
>> the gyro's shaft so that it is perpendicular to the earth's axis, and the 
>> shaft is limited to a track that is also perpencidular to the earth's 
>> axis (on the equator it would be vertical, at other latitudes it would be 
>> tilted away from the pole by the degree of latitude), then as the earth 
>> rotates each day, the gyro's shaft would make one complete revolution 
>> around the track. This revolution of the shaft around the track could be 
>> harnessed to draw some power.
>
> Hi daestrom,
> This is about converting angular momentum to energy. But, angular momentum 
> is conserved. i.e., you can't slow the rotation of the earth from a closed 
> system.
>
> I'm sure the details would bare this out.
>

On the 'big picture' I can see what you mean, but if we put the gyro on the 
equator with the shaft pointing straight up at noon, six hours later the 
shaft is horizontal, six more hours and it points straight down, etc...

If we attach some mechanism to capture that 'revolution' of the shaft around 
the track, we transfer some angular momentum (AM) from the earth to the 
mechanism (albeit a tiny amount).  Momentum is conserved but kinetic energy 
is transferred from one rotating body (the earth) to another (the 
mechanism).

Interestingly, when we first erect the gyro, its mass is part of the earth 
and it revolves around the earth's axis with you and I.  As we spin it up 
and it starts to remain oriented in one direction in space (say with the 
shaft pointing towards some distant star at the equator), the component of 
angular momentum represented by the originally stationary gyro is no longer 
a part of the earth's AM.  Since we know AM must be conserved, we deduce 
that the act of 'spinning up' the gyro causes the earth's rotation to 
increase slightly.  This is born out by examining the torque of the spin 
motor.  Obviously as it accelerates the gyro rotor, it applies a reaction 
torque to the planet.  This torque tends to shift the poles of the planet 
but it's moment of momentum turns that into a tiny precession.  This 
procession creates a tiny moment of angular momentum of the planet along the 
line *from* the distant star (vector quantity in the opposite direction) of 
the gyro's moment of angular momentum as it accelerates.

It's all an interesting 'thought experiment', but the amount of equipment to 
get even the tiniest energy is a non-starter.  Of course, if we were on a 
rotating space station such that the total moment of inertia was several 
orders of magnitude smaller, it could make for some interesting experiments. 
(but no energy generating device).

daestrom