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Foucault's Pendulum

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Descriptive Information

Title
Foucault's Pendulum
Description
  • the apparent movement of plane of swing is ten degrees per hour.
  • The Foucault Pendulum hangs suspended via a sixty-four foot, six inch length of thin cable, has a sixteen-inch diameter brass sphere, filled with lead shot and weighs 650 pounds. Situated underneath the pendulum is a terrazzo platform inlayed with a compass rose, time scale and a circular degree scale. The length of time per swing is 8.9 seconds
Interpretation
In 1851, Jean-Baptiste Foucault (1819-1868) suspended a sixty-two pound pendulum with 228 feet of piano wire from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris, France to demonstrate that the Earth rotates on its axis. The ball or 'bob' was held to one side by a string until it had come perfectly to rest. Then, the string was burned to start the pendulum swinging. This careful starting procedure was used to eliminate any extraneous forces, allowing only gravity to affect the weight, thus producing a pendulum swing in a true plane. A light stylus on the bob traced the path of the swing in a layer of fine sand on the floor. The apparent hourly deviation of a Foucault Pendulum depends on the latitude. The deviation is fifteen degrees at the poles, zero degrees at the equator, and ten degrees in Chicago. Once started, the pendulum's swing was fixed by its inertia in a constant plane in space. Since the pendulum was free to swing in any direction with respect to the building (and therefore the earth), Foucault knew that the Earth's rotation would cause an apparent movement of the plane of swing, which could be seen if the pendulum would swing long enough. The pendulum did swing for a long time. Although air resistance continually reduces the amplitude of a pendulum's swing, Foucault's heavy bob had sufficient speed to greatly reduce the effect of air resistance on each swing. The extremely long length of the wire made the period of the swing very slow, about 250 swings per hour. Time passed and those present could see by the marks in the sand that the pendulum did swing in a different direction with respect to the floor. Foucault's Pendulum experiment confirmed Nicolaus Copernicus' (1473-1543) theory that the Earth rotates on an axis. Copernicus theorized that the planets revolve around the Sun, in contrast to Claudius Ptolemy who theorized that the planets and Sun revolve around the Earth.
Lesson Plans / Themes
How We Learn About Communities  
Learning Standards
  • 13 Science, Technology and Society  
  • 10-12 Science  
  • 16 History  
Author or Creator
Foucault, Jean-Baptiste, 1819-1868  
Source
Abbott, David Ed. Physicists, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1984. Edward De Bono. Eureka! Illustrated History of Inventions From the Wheel to the Computer. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974  
Subject / Keywords
  • World's Fair  
  • A Century of Progress  
  • Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543  
  • Astronomy  
  • Equipment  
  • Mechanical tools  
  • Pendulum  
Temporal Coverage
1939
Collection Publisher
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Rights
Copyright Not Evaluated
Resource Identifier
39.179
Date Created
37487
Collection Title
Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
Collection
Teaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
TitleFoucault's Pendulum
Description
  • the apparent movement of plane of swing is ten degrees per hour.
  • The Foucault Pendulum hangs suspended via a sixty-four foot, six inch length of thin cable, has a sixteen-inch diameter brass sphere, filled with lead shot and weighs 650 pounds. Situated underneath the pendulum is a terrazzo platform inlayed with a compass rose, time scale and a circular degree scale. The length of time per swing is 8.9 seconds
InterpretationIn 1851, Jean-Baptiste Foucault (1819-1868) suspended a sixty-two pound pendulum with 228 feet of piano wire from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris, France to demonstrate that the Earth rotates on its axis. The ball or 'bob' was held to one side by a string until it had come perfectly to rest. Then, the string was burned to start the pendulum swinging. This careful starting procedure was used to eliminate any extraneous forces, allowing only gravity to affect the weight, thus producing a pendulum swing in a true plane. A light stylus on the bob traced the path of the swing in a layer of fine sand on the floor. The apparent hourly deviation of a Foucault Pendulum depends on the latitude. The deviation is fifteen degrees at the poles, zero degrees at the equator, and ten degrees in Chicago. Once started, the pendulum's swing was fixed by its inertia in a constant plane in space. Since the pendulum was free to swing in any direction with respect to the building (and therefore the earth), Foucault knew that the Earth's rotation would cause an apparent movement of the plane of swing, which could be seen if the pendulum would swing long enough. The pendulum did swing for a long time. Although air resistance continually reduces the amplitude of a pendulum's swing, Foucault's heavy bob had sufficient speed to greatly reduce the effect of air resistance on each swing. The extremely long length of the wire made the period of the swing very slow, about 250 swings per hour. Time passed and those present could see by the marks in the sand that the pendulum did swing in a different direction with respect to the floor. Foucault's Pendulum experiment confirmed Nicolaus Copernicus' (1473-1543) theory that the Earth rotates on an axis. Copernicus theorized that the planets revolve around the Sun, in contrast to Claudius Ptolemy who theorized that the planets and Sun revolve around the Earth.
Lesson Plans / ThemesHow We Learn About Communities  
Learning Standards
  • 13 Science, Technology and Society  
  • 10-12 Science  
  • 16 History  
Author or CreatorFoucault, Jean-Baptiste, 1819-1868  
SourceAbbott, David Ed. Physicists, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1984. Edward De Bono. Eureka! Illustrated History of Inventions From the Wheel to the Computer. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974  
Subject / Keywords
  • World's Fair  
  • A Century of Progress  
  • Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543  
  • Astronomy  
  • Equipment  
  • Mechanical tools  
  • Pendulum  
Temporal Coverage1939
Collection PublisherMuseum of Science and Industry, Chicago
RightsCopyright Not Evaluated
Resource Identifier39.179
Date Created37487
Collection TitleTeaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)
CollectionTeaching with Digital Content (Cultural Heritage Community)

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