Does how quickly or easily a yoyo turns during the trick Gyriscopic Flop indicate how much a yoyo is rim weighted?
It seems to me that yoyos that have less rim weight ‘flop’ easier. Is this the case?
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To the test laboratory, Horace!
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Haha. Are going to experiment on this one?
That’s a big part of it. More rim weight = more angular momentum = more gyroscopic stability = greater resistance to off-plane direction change, so it takes more tension to provide the torque necessary to turn the yo-yo counter to its spin direction. That’s assuming a heavy-rimmed yo-yo and a light-rimmed yo-yo are spinning at the same speed and have the same width. There are certainly other factors at work, but rim weight would certainly be the among the primary ones concerning stability for that reason.
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On a side note, can anyone explain [like I’m 5] how the gyroscopic flop actually works?
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A spinning yo-yo resists changes against its axis of rotation. It doesn’t “want” to flip over while it’s spinning. So you use a string mutation and pull the strings apart using tension to apply a torque - an unbalanced rotational force against the axis. If you pull apart really fast, it will be uncontrolled and the tension/friction will choke the yo-yo, bringing the spin to a stop before the torque can take effect. But if you do it slow and even, the tension will allow the yo-yo to overcome its angular momentum (its desire to ONLY spin on its one main axis) and flop over one or more times.
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I always thought it was yoyo magic
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But what exactly is being torqued?
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The yo-yo. If it’s spinning about a z-axis, then the torque you provide on the flop is about an x-axis (or y if you’re pulling vertically). When you pull the strings, they are forced to opposite sides of the gap. So one string goes from the “far” side of the gap to your left hand and the other goes from the “near” side of the gap to your right hand. When you pull apart, the uneven distribution of the strings results in an unbalanced force, and the yo-yo starts to “twist” (flop) as it continues to spin. As you reduce the tension, the force is dissipated and the yo-yo stops twisting.
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Such an awesome trick, I love it when I seldom get the angle perfect enough to complete 4-5 rotations without destroying too much spin.
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Try em FIXED! 
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damn boiiiiiiii!
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ed is the answers page
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Holy smokes Ed! That was awesome. I didnt even know that was possible with a fixed axle. You make it look so easy.
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Pulling it apart really hard/fast doesn’t make it uncontrollable. You just need to be more careful about not letting the strings touch the walls. If you pull it apart really hard and maneuver your hands so the string doesn’t touch the walls it will flop really fast.
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