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Gyroscopic effect on a ship: Determine bow/stern reaction for given rotation/turn. Given: Rotor spins clockwise when viewed from the stern. The ship turns right (starboard) while moving forward. State the resulting pitching effect due to the gyroscopic couple.

Difficulty: Medium

Raise the bow and lower the stern
Raise the stern and lower the bow
No pitching; only rolling occurs
No effect (gyroscopic couple is zero)

Correct Answer: Raise the stern and lower the bow

Explanation:

Concept/ApproachAngular momentum (H) is along the shaft. Clockwise rotation seen from the stern puts H toward the bow. A right turn corresponds to a precession vector downward (−z). The gyroscopic couple is C = Ω × H, giving a couple about the transverse axis that pitches the ship.

Vector resultΩ (down) × H (forward) acts about the negative transverse axis, tending to lower the bow and raise the stern.

Gyroscopic effect on a ship: Determine bow/stern reaction for given rotation/turn. Given: Rotor spins clockwise when viewed from the stern. The ship turns right (starboard) while moving forward. State the resulting pitching effect due to the gyroscopic couple.

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