Well, it seems that the folks who hang out in "Physics Forums" can't come to an agreement on how these things work (or if they really do) either. But there is one hypothesis presented here which may have merit:
I've also now found some new explanations that liken an out of balance wheel to an out of balance Frisbee. I'm sure that you've all done this experiment before: Put a glob of mud under the edge of one side of a Frisbee and throw it. The Frisbee precesses in an elliptical pattern with the mud cake towards the center because the center of mass has shifted towards the mud. So, in that instance at least, the light side will be pushed further out from the physical center where an axle would be.
Maybe this is the bit we've been missing. We have all assumed that the heavier side would pull itself further away from the axle by centrifugal force, but maybe the opposite is true of the fast spinning wheel due to its center of mass?
Some high speed photography would prove or disprove if that is what is happening.
If the bolded statement is true, then I can see how the beads would gravitate to that light side, it being the furthest from the axle.If you consider a rigid circular unbalanced wheel, not in contact with the ground, with the axle mounted on equal stiffness springs horizontally and vertically (i.e. a wheel on a balance machine, not on a car), the mass of the wheel and the stiffness of the springs have a natural vibration frequency. If you spin the wheel at a speed below that frequency, it will rotate so it moves with "heavy side out" (i.e.the heavy side is furthest from the point near the axle that doesn't vibrate) and the amplitude of the unbalance force will increase as the RPM increases. When the RPM equals the spring-and-mass vibration frequency, the ampllitude of the out of balance motion will be a maximum. If you increase the speed above this point, the amplitude reduces and the wheel now moves with the light side out. That may not seem intuitive, but it's a straightforward deduction from the equations of motion, and easy to confirm by experiment. One way to understand it is that a very hgih RPMs, the inertia of the wheel means the "easiest" thing for it to do is rotate about its own center of mass, not about the axle position).
I've also now found some new explanations that liken an out of balance wheel to an out of balance Frisbee. I'm sure that you've all done this experiment before: Put a glob of mud under the edge of one side of a Frisbee and throw it. The Frisbee precesses in an elliptical pattern with the mud cake towards the center because the center of mass has shifted towards the mud. So, in that instance at least, the light side will be pushed further out from the physical center where an axle would be.
Maybe this is the bit we've been missing. We have all assumed that the heavier side would pull itself further away from the axle by centrifugal force, but maybe the opposite is true of the fast spinning wheel due to its center of mass?
Some high speed photography would prove or disprove if that is what is happening.
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