- #1
jpswensen
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I searched through the forums and couldn't find a topic or answer, so I will pose it (possibly again). I can work through deriving the equations of motion (either through Euler-Lagrange methods or Hamilton methods) for the spinning book problem and it is obvious that there *is* an unstable axis, but I am wondering if there is a more fundamental explanation as to *why* this occurs. I guess I can see that it happens in the equations and experiments, but don't have any intuition or understanding as to why this occurs.
I have searched the internet and various mechanics books that show derivations of this problem, but haven't seen an explanation of why. If someone could point me to a good book or article that tries to explain it, I would appreciate it.
I have searched the internet and various mechanics books that show derivations of this problem, but haven't seen an explanation of why. If someone could point me to a good book or article that tries to explain it, I would appreciate it.