The Four-Ball Gyro and Motorcycle Countersteering

Autor/inn/en	Galli, J. Ronald; Carroll, Bradley W.
Titel	The Four-Ball Gyro and Motorcycle Countersteering
Quelle	In: Physics Teacher, 55 (2017) 4, S.238-239 (2 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0031-921X
DOI	10.1119/1.4978726
Schlagwörter	Science Instruction; Physics; Teaching Methods; Motion; Scientific Concepts; Transportation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Physik; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Bewegungsablauf; Verkehrswesen
Abstract	Most two-wheel motorcycle riders know that, at highway speeds, if you want to turn left you push on the "left" handlebar and pull on the "right" handlebar. This is called "countersteering." Countersteering is counterintuitive since pushing left and pulling right when the front wheel is not spinning would turn the wheel to the right. All good motorcycle instructors teach countersteering but few understand the physics of why it works, even though there is considerable discussion about it among motorcycle riders. This paper gives a simplified explanation of gyroscopic precession and then applies this to the front wheel of a motorcycle using two steps: (1) explaining how the wheel's lean is initiated, and (2) explaining how the lean will cause the wheel to turn. To assist with this discussion and to demonstrate the conclusions, a "wheel" was constructed using copper pipe, a bicycle wheel hub, and one pound of lead in each of four "balls" at the end of the spokes (see Fig. 1). (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://aapt.scitation.org/journal/pte
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01