Foucault pendulum Foucault pendulum The Foucault pendulum ( ; ) or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault and conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. The pendulum was introduced in 1851 and was the first experiment to give simple, direct evidence of the earth's rotation. Today, Foucault pendulums are popular displays in science museums and universities. The first public exhibition of a Foucault pendulum took place in February 1851 in the Meridian of the Paris Observatory. A few weeks later, Foucault made his most famous pendulum when he suspended a 28-kg brass-coated lead bob
Foucault pendulum vector diagrams velocity that is imparted to the pendulum bob in comparison to the angular velocity of the Earth. The statements above are thus equivalent to the inverse sine law for the observed time for a full rotation of the pendulum in relation to the rotation of the Earth. There is only one point of connection to the Earth for the swinging pendulum and that point of connection doesn't move in relation to the Earth. To approach the Pendulum Sine Law in basic steps: If it is proposed that; Then it follows that, For the 45° North pendulum with longitudinal swing (Figure