Expert: Steve Nelson - 10/17/2009

Question
Imagine a machine that consists of three perfectly balanced concentric spheres. (ie one iside the other russian doll fashion). Each of these spheres has a magnetic ring around its equator. Using electromagnetic techniques these spheres are suspended in a vacum space and using some form of electromagnetic coupling it is possible to rotate each sphere independently around a seperate axis x,y,z. If the spheres are each independently accelerated to a very hich rpm and the electomagnetic field is maintained to stabilise their seperation somehow. What would happen if the whole unit was moved?

My question is that each of these spheres would be acting as a form of gyro and any attempt to move in any direction would cause a pre-sessional force that must be reacted against, how would this force materialise? would it appear as increased electrical load? increased spin in certain spheres?

maybe I have missed the obivious but thanks you for your time

Answer
Sure, there might be some tiny precession of the individual spheres during acceleration, but the bigger thing that would be happening here would be the ridiculous interference of the alternating E&M fields as you spun levitated spheres which I can't even tell you about because you use "techniques" and "some form of electromagnetic coupling."  The precession would reverse itself when you decelerated the objects to rest, so there would be no net effect from just moving the object.