How an Inertial Governor Works

Episode 6: Inertial Governor Physics
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There is a very interesting physics principle at play behind the inertial governor. As the scoop drops, it accelerates due to the force of gravity. This increases the the rotational velocity of the governor, causing the arms to swing out. As the arms swing out, it increases the rotational inertia of the system. Since the angular momentum of the governor has to be conserved, an equilibrium is met where the rotational velocity can’t keep increasing. This causes the falling scoop to stop accelerating and continues to drop at a constant rate.
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#physics #momentum #conservationofenergy #learnphysics #engineeringphysics #engineering #mechanicalengineering #mechanicaldesign

[SayonR]

The inertial governor is me going round pushing away all the people who say learning about gears is not fun... ;")

[Crstin]

These are actually where the saying “balls out” comes from. The saying is well over 100 years old, it stems from these fly ball governors that were commonly found on steam engines, hit and miss engines and machinery. If you were running the equipment as hard and as fast as it could, the fly ball governed would be “balls out”!

[john.f.chamberlain]

Normally the swing arms are attached to a brake so the farther out the balls want to go the more braking force is applied. In your case, without any brake added, having the weights in a fixed, outward position, would work just the same.

[malwareinc]

Bros teaching us more than school ever did.

[KpDKGaming]

This is probably my favorite mechanism I've learned from this channel

[Geaxuce]

This is how elevators work. One model of governors had this same idea with ball weights. Most models use weights that are parallel with the wheel that a line rolls through. If the elevator falls too fast, the weights are forced outward and hit a breaker which shuts off the elevator. So, any cheeky kids out there with the temptation to jump in an elevator.... Don't. You'll turn it off xD

[nd-place]

I love how this has been slowly transitioning from a 3D printing channel to a science education channel.

[publiusii]

Governors are some of my favorite clockwork mechanisms. Close second for escapements i love looking at slow motion of watches ticking

[spenzr]

The more i learn about angular momentum, the more i love it!

[Angryeddie]

Takes me back to when science class was fun, keep up the great work!

[ducque]

I understood about 5% of that but it works, so i aint complaining

[Devnci]

If I’m not mistaken, the inertia governer is similar to the component that inspired the saying balls-to-the-wall. That’s right, it’s actually an innocent expression 😄

[theBATgoesUPoh]

My guy got through an entire explanation of the moment of inertia without mentioning the moment of inertia. Nicely done lol

[grapetoad]

To make the fall smoother, you could make the arms longer, or increase the weight at the end of the arms.
Or increase the gear ratio, but arm length is probably easier.

[yoong___]

I’m a commercial pilot and been flying for 5 years and never knew exactly how a constant speed prop worked so thank you lol

[bet]

@Engineezy. TRY THIS. Instead of a governor, use a rare earth magnet in a copper or aluminum tube to see if it slows it down enough. Im sure you’ve seen how a magnet slows down when dropped through a copper tube, so this is a good place to try it as a governor.

[SantanuProductions]

I remember my old mechanical gramophone had precise speed control from wound spring using such inertia balls.

[MultiHunterOne]

You should have a ratchet mechanism that allows the governor to keep spinning after the lever bottoms out to prevent putting excessive stresses on the gears. It's gonna break a tooth over time like this.

[darrell-h]

Getting the ball to go back up to the starting point and continue the cycle would be cool

[bluematter]

thats not the only thing happening,
there is also air drag proportional to the velocity squared, which is a huge deal