Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-02-14
A NEW LAW OF MOTION.
An Exposition of the Mysteries of the
GyrOscOpe.
New York IIeraI.

New lpfk Herald.
The discovery Of new law Of motion
at this time of day might be considered
apochryphal, and that clear solution
OF the mysteries of the gyroscope was
not within the grasp of the ordinary
man of letters. And yet one of our cit
liens of Irish birth, Mr.. James McCar-
roll, appears to have demonstrated the
one and to have accomplished the 9TH
err, the proofs of which, so far as we are
able to Judge from 4 hasty glance, now
lie before us. Mr.. McCarrolI AYERS that
all bodies moving in right lines change
their distance from the center of grayity,
and, consequently, their weight, at ev-
cry moments and that, when moving in
curves, whether eoncentric with the cir
cles of the earth or otherwise, the tan
genital force, antagonizlng with that of
gravity, serves to change their weight
also. Hence he lays it down as fourth
law of motion, that 6 A body is OF uni
form weight when at rest only"
In relation to the mysterious problem
of the gyroscope-which has, we be-
lieye, never been satisfactorily solved
previously solution is seemingly
quite clear. In fact, he appears to
demonstrate that vertical wheel III
motion does not press upon the same
points of its bearings that it does when
it is at rest, from the fact. as he alleges,
that all the particles of matter in the
periphery on one side ofthe wheel have
tendency to fly off at various angles j.
the line of the earth's gravity, and one
of them directly IN that line; while all
the particles in the other half Of the per-
iphery have a tendency to tly off in
contrary direction, establishes an une-
quail distribution of force upon the axis,
and minus and plus side of the wheel
rs on the one side We have the earth's
gravity, plus the tangential force of the
wheel, and on the other its gravity mi
nus that force. This once admitted, the
motion of the horizontal ring ON which
the vertical wheel revolves is apparent
at once; for the ring, being free to obey
any impulse given it in its own plane,
simply retires before the plus side of
the wheel and in direction contrary to
the revolution of the wheel itself. In
explanation pf the mysterious manner
in which the whole weight of the gyro-
sIOJC 10 SllotdlnCo O1l OlG oldC VI llIC
upright pivot upon which the small pro-
lection from the horizontal ring rests
freely, Mr.. McCarroll says that when
the vertical wheel is made to rotate SO
rapidly that the tangential force is in
excess Of that of gravitation in the whole
mass, both ring and wheel will remain
suspended without any material sup
port on one side of the upright, and be
carried around the pivot upon which
the projection from the ring rests, re-
volving more rapidly as the tangential
force Of the wheel decreases and is more
readily bent out of its plane. until, fall
ing below the force exercised upon the
whole mass by the gravity Of the earth,
both ring and wheel begin to gradually
describe downward the arc of a circle
vertical to line tangent to the earths
surface, with the pivot for its centre,
and the axis of the wheel, together with
the projection Of the ring, for its radius,
until, at last, the exhausted mass tum-
bles to the ground.