How does a top move in the gravitational field of the earth. A top turns on a pivot as per Fig.1.1
![]()
We would expect that the top does fall. By experiment, it does not fall under the action of gravity, but moves sidewise instead. Nobody knows it why. The movement of a top, which called precession, is well known but there is no answer yet why it happens. Why does a top have such motion? To understand this, let's consider about why a rotating ball curves.
1.4 Why does a rotating ball curve