Insert surname: 1

Name:

Instructor:

Course:

Date of submission:

Foucault pendulum

Way long before the 18th century, people already knew that the earth could rotate though

no proof of this existed, at least not before the invention of a Foucault pendulum. Named after

Leon Foucault (a French Psychiatrist) a Foucault pendulum can be described as a piece of

equipment that demonstrates earth’s rotation without having to rely on any astronomical

observation. Apparently, a Foucault pendulum will behave quite differently at different locations

in the world. This is particularly so in places such as in the North Pole and South Pole, as well

as, at the equator. For instance, once the Foucault pendulum is poised at the earth’s equator, the

oscillation plane stays fixed relative to the earth while at either the South Pole or north the same

plane stays fixed relative to distant universe masses whilst the earth rotates below it, thereby

taking a single sidereal day in completing the rotation. In a nutshell, relative to the earth, at the

North Pole, the oscillation plane of a pendulum undergoes a clockwise rotation in the given day,

while it undergoes a counterclockwise rotation at the South Pole.

I have only seen a Foucault pendulum on a video clip at a museum. This pendulum is

poised at the museum of science and industry in Chicago and can be accessed from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpV1236_Q0. From the clip, it is clear that its pendulum

swings in the constant (XY) plane, whilst, the museum building and the rest of the earth rotates

along another plane (XZ). Owing to the reality that this Foucault pendulum is separated at its

attachment by a pivot it is not subjected to the same rotation as the earth.