noun
- A device consisting of a rapidly spinning rotor mounted in gimbals so that its axis can turn freely in any direction, used to demonstrate the principles of angular momentum and gyroscopic motion.
Usage: technical; physics
Examples
- The physics teacher demonstrated angular momentum using a gyrostat in class.
- A gyrostat maintains its orientation in space due to the conservation of angular momentum.
- The gyrostat's spinning rotor resists changes to its axis of rotation.
- Engineers use gyrostats to study rotational dynamics and stability.