What term describes the number of axes the rotor of a gyroscope can move along?

The term that describes the number of axes along which the rotor of a gyroscope can move is "degrees of freedom." In the context of gyroscopic motion, degrees of freedom refer to the various independent directions in which the rotor can rotate. Specifically, a gyroscope typically exhibits three degrees of freedom, allowing it to tilt, spin, and change its orientation relative to the surrounding environment.

This concept is crucial in understanding how gyroscopes maintain balance and orientation in applications such as navigation, aerospace, and robotics. Each degree of freedom corresponds to a specific rotation about an axis, meaning the gyroscope can adjust its position in three-dimensional space effectively.

The other terms, while related to movement, do not accurately capture the concept of rotational axes. "Degrees of rotation" refers more specifically to the amount of rotation around a given axis, "degrees of movement" does not have a standard definition in the context of rotational mechanics, and "degrees of alignment" does not specifically relate to the axes of rotation that a gyroscope can utilize. Thus, "degrees of freedom" is the precise term used to describe this attribute of gyroscopic motion.