🔍 Key Concepts

• Gyroscopic inertia vs. precession and how each property behaves • What makes a gyroscope turn toward a direction it was not originally pointed at • The difference between a free gyroscope and one used as a gyrocompass on a ship

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: If a gyroscope’s spin axis "tends to remain fixed in space," what has to happen for it to slowly align with true north instead of just staying where it started? • Think about whether the Earth’s rotation alone is enough to make a perfectly free gyroscope point north, or if something else must act on it. • Consider how a gyrocompass system actually makes the spin axis tilt or turn—does it rely only on natural properties, or are additional forces applied in a controlled way?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify how precession works: a gyroscope changes direction only when a torque (force) is applied at a right angle to the spin axis. • Check whether a free gyroscope in space would ever become north seeking by itself just from Earth’s rotation. • Think about real gyrocompass mechanisms: do they include devices (like weights or control systems) that intentionally apply forces to the gyro to make it seek north?