MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS:

1. When a ship travels in sea, which of the following effects is more dangerous
a) steering
b) pitching
c) rolling
d) all of the above
2. The axes of spin, precession and gyroscopic couple are contained in
a) one plane
b) two planes perpendicular to each other
c) two parallel planes
d) three planes perpendicular to one another
3. The gyroscopic couple is introduced in a ship whose spin axis is parallel to starboard, when it is
a) rolling
b) pitching
c) pitching or rolling
d) neither pitching nor rolling
4. The effect of gyroscopic torque on the naval ship when it is rolling and the rotor is spinning about the
longitudinal axis is
a) to raise the bow and lower the stern
b) to lower the bow and raise the stern
c) to turn the ship to one side
d) no effect
5. If the propeller of an aeroplane rotates clockwise when viewed from the rear and the aeroplane takes
a right turn, the gyroscopic effect will
a) tend to raise the tail and depress the nose
b) tend to raise the nose and depress the tail
c) tilt the aeroplane about spin axis
d) have no effect
6. What is the primary principle on which a gyroscope operates?
a) Pascal’s Law
b) Bernoulli’s Principle
c) Conservation of Angular Momentum
d) Newton’s First Law
7. In a gyroscope, precession refers to:
a) The rotational speed of the gyroscope
b) The resistance to changes in orientation
c) The gradual change in the direction of the gyroscope's axis due to an external torque
d) The vibration of the gyroscope's axis
8. A gyroscopic couple is generated when:
a) The gyroscope is in static equilibrium
b) The axis of the spinning wheel is suddenly moved
c) The gyroscope moves in a straight line
d) The gyroscope stops spinning
9. Which of the following is NOT a typical application of a gyroscope?
a) Inertial navigation systems
b) Stabilization of ships and aircraft
c) Power generation in hydroelectric plants
d) Motion sensing in smartphones
10. The direction of precession in a gyroscope is determined by:
a) The right-hand rule
 b) The left-hand rule
c) Newton’s Second Law
d) The Bernoulli equation

SUBJECTIVE QUESTIONS:

1. Define gyroscope and a gyroscopic couple.

NUMERICAL PROBLEMS:

1. Determine the gyroscopic couple of a 3 m diameter solid aluminium alloy four-bladed propeller in
which each blade has a mass of 20 kg. The test manoeuver of the airplane is a power-on flat spin in
which the propeller speed is 1500 rpm and the rotation of the flat spin is 1 rad/s. The radius of gyration
of the propeller with respect to the propeller axis is approximately half of the propeller radius.
2. A boat is propelled by a steam turbine. The moment of inertia of the rotor, shaft and propeller is 60
kg-m2. The turbine runs at 3000 rpm in clockwise direction looking from the front. The boat describes
a circular path towards the right making one revolution in 10 s. Find the magnitude and direction of
the couple acting on the boat hull.
3. A uniform disc of 100 mm diameter and 5 kg mass is mounted midway between bearings 100 mm
apart, which keeps it in a horizontal plane. The disc spins about its axis with a constant speed of 1200
rpm, as shown in Fig.13.8(a). Find the resultant reaction at each bearing due to the mass and gyroscopic
effects.
4. An aeroplane makes a complete half circle of 60 m radius towards left when flying at 210 km/h. The
rotary engine and the propeller of the plane is of 50 kg mass having a radius of gyration of 300 mm.
The engine rotates at 2400 rpm clockwise as seen from the rear. Find the gyroscopic couple on the
aircraft and its effect on the plane.
5. A ship is propelled by a turbine rotor of mass 500 kg and has a speed of 2400 rpm. The rotor has a
radius of gyration of 0.5 m and rotates in clockwise direction when viewed from stern. Find the
gyroscopic couple in the following cases:
(a) The ship runs at a speed of 15 knots (1 knot = 1860 m/h). It steers to the left in a curve of 60
m radius.
(b) The spin pitches ±5° from the horizontal position with the time period of 20 s of simple
harmonic motion.
(c) The ship rolls with angular velocity of 0.04 rad/s clockwise when viewed from stern. Also
calculate the maximum angular acceleration during pitching.
6. An aeroplane makes a complete half circle of 60 m radius towards left when flying at 250 km/h. The
rotary engine and the propeller of the plane have a mass of 450 kg with a radius of gyration of 300
mm. The engine runs at 1800 rpm clockwise when viewed from the front. Find the gyroscopic effect
on the aircraft.
7. The mass of a turbine rotor of a ship is 8000 kg and has a radius of gyration of 0.75 m. It rotates at
1800 rpm clockwise when viewed from the stern. Determine the gyroscopic effects in the following
cases:
(a) If the ship traveling at 100 km/h steers to the left along a curve of 80 m radius.
(b) If the ship is pitching and the bow is descending with maximum velocity. The pitching is with
simple harmonic motion with periodic time of 20 s and the total angular movement between
extreme position is 10°.
(c) If the ship is rolling with an angular velocity of 0.03 rad/s clockwise when looking from stern.
In each case, determine the direction in which the ship tends to move.
8. The rotor of the turbine of a ship makes 1500 rpm clockwise when viewed from stern. The rotor has a
mass of 800 kg and its radius of gyration is 300 mm. Find the maximum gyro-couple transmitted to
the hull when the ship pitches (bow rises and stern dips) with maximum angular velocity of 1 rad/s.
What is the effect of this couple?
9. A diesel locomotive moving at a speed of 100 km/h turns around a curve of radius 400 m to the right.
The driving wheels are 2 m in diameter and along with the axle has a mass of 2000 kg. The radius of
gyration of the wheels together with the axle may be taken as 0.6 m. Find the gyro effect on the pair
of driving wheels.
10. A small high-speed ship is driven by a turbine, the rotor of which is rotating at 12,000 rpm in a
clockwise direction, when viewed from the bow. The moment of inertia of the rotor is 15 kg-m2 and
the ship is travelling at 20 m/s in a curve of 600 m radius, the direction being clockwise viewed from
the above. Determine the gyroscopic couple acting on the ship and its effect on the ship.
11. The propeller shaft of an aero-engine is rotating at 1800 rpm. If the distance between the two bearings
of the propeller shaft is 1 m, and radius of gyration of propeller is 0.75 m, find the extra pressure on
the bearings, when the aero-plane is whirling round in a horizontal circle of 300 m radius at a speed
of 300 km/h. The mass of the propeller is 60 kg.
12. A turbine rotor of a ship which rotates clockwise when viewed from aft has a mass of 1500 kg, radius
of gyration 0.7 m, and a speed of 2400 rpm. The ship pitches 5° above and below the horizontal
position with simple harmonic motion of period 24 s. Determine the maximum reaction couple exerted
by the rotor on the ship and the direction in which the bow will turn when falling.