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The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. If a long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular area is monitored over an extended period of time, its plane of oscillation appears to change ...
Foucault published two papers in 1852, one focused on astronomy with the weight free to move on all three axes (On a new experimental demonstration of the motion of the Earth, based on the fixity of the plane of rotation) [8] and the other on mechanics with the weight free to move on only two axes (On the orientation phenomena of rotating bodies driven by a fixed axis on the Earth's surface.
Foucault achieved the demonstration by showing the rotation of the plane of oscillation of a long and heavy pendulum suspended from the roof of the Panthéon, Paris. The experiment caused a sensation in both the learned and popular worlds, and " Foucault pendulums " were suspended in major cities across Europe and America and attracted crowds.
The oldest Foucault Pendulum in Romania is located in pavilion B of the University of Oradea. It was installed in 1964 by Prof. Coriolan Rus, the then dean of the Faculty of Mathematics - Physics. (length: 14m; weight: 60 kg) "Vasile Alecsandri" National College in Galați (length: 9,92m; weight: 8 kg)
Foucault pendulum: Léon Foucault: Demonstration Earth's rotation: 1852 Foucault's gyroscope: Léon Foucault: Demonstration Earth's rotation: 1867 Kelvin water dropper: Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) Demonstration Electrostatic generator: 1867 Tyndall's bar breaker: John Tyndall: Demonstration Thermal expansion forces 1885 Eötvös experiment ...
In Foucault's 1862 experiment, he desired to obtain an accurate absolute value for the speed of light, since his concern was to deduce an improved value for the astronomical unit. [2] [Note 4] At the time, Foucault was working at the Paris Observatory under Urbain le Verrier. It was le Verrier's belief, based on extensive celestial mechanics ...
1851 – Léon Foucault uses Foucault pendulum to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. 1859 – Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species showing that evolution occurs by natural selection. 1861 – Louis Pasteur disproves the theory of spontaneous generation .
Foucault pendulum (1851): Léon Foucault's creates a pendulum to demonstrate the Coriolis effect and the rotation of the Earth. Michelson–Morley experiment (1887): exposes weaknesses of the prevailing variant of the theory of luminiferous aether.