Torque to rotate spinning gyroscope

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the torque required to precess gyroscopes in the Hubble Space Telescope. The initial calculations yielded incorrect torque values due to errors in the moment of inertia formula and angle conversion. The correct moment of inertia should use the radius, not the diameter, leading to I = 2(0.025^2). After correcting the angle from degrees to radians, the final torque value was determined to be 3.17×10^-12 Nm. The thread emphasizes the importance of accurate conversions and using the correct formulas in physics problems.
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Homework Statement


The Hubble Space Telescope is stabilized to within an angle of about 2 millionths of a degree by means of a series of gyroscopes that spin at 1.92×104 . Although the structure of these gyroscopes is actually quite complex, we can model each of the gyroscopes as a thin-walled cylinder of mass 2.00 and diameter 5.00 , spinning about its central axis.
How large a torque would it take to cause these gyroscopes to precess through an angle of 1.30×10−6 degree during a 5.00 hour exposure of a galaxy?

Homework Equations


L=I*ω
torque = Ω*L
I=mr^2
Ω=Δθ/Δt

The Attempt at a Solution


ω=1.92*10^4rpm
=2010.62rad/s

I=mr^2
=2(0.005)^2
=0.005

Δθ=1.3*10^6deg
=7.4484*10^-5rad

Δt=5 hours
=18000s

torque = Ω*I*ω
=(7.4484*10^-5/18000)*0.005*2010.62
=4.1*10^-8 Nm

This is the wrong answer and I feel as if the torque shold be rather larger by intuition. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: 3.17*10^-12 Nm turned out to be the correct answer, but i'd still like to know how to do this question.
 
Last edited:
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Check this again:
Δθ=1.3*10^-6deg
=7.4484*10^-5rad
 
sorry, i made a mistake in my original post, the given angle is 1.3^-6deg.

ok, so now i get
Δθ=2.2*10^-8deg

torque=(2.2*10^-8/18000)*0.005*2010.62
=1.27*10^-11
 
I think 1.27*10^-11 is not the correct answer , how is the question being solved in the correct way ?
 
The problem with your solution, in case you are still wondering,
is I= mr^2
not I=md^2
therefore you take the diameter of 5 divide it by 2.
So I=2(0.025^2)
and that would be the last error after the conversion of degrees to radians which you fixed.
I just had to do the same problem so I decided to answer your question.
 
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