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Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (UK: / ʒ ɒ̃ ˈ b ɛər n ɑːr ˌ l eɪ ɒ̃ ˈ f uː k oʊ /, US: / ˌ ʒ ɒ̃ b ɛər ˈ n ɑːr l eɪ ˌ ɒ̃ f uː ˈ k oʊ /; French: [ʒɑ̃ bɛʁnaʁ leɔ̃ fuko]; 18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868) was a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of Earth's rotation.
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 ...
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.
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 ...
Paul-Michel Foucault (UK: / ˈ f uː k oʊ / FOO-koh, US: / f uː ˈ k oʊ / foo-KOH; [9] French: [pɔl miʃɛl fuko]; 15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984) was a French historian of ideas and philosopher who was also an author, literary critic, political activist, and teacher.
In 1850 he measured the relative speeds of light in air and water, using a rotating mirror, however Foucault independently achieved the same result seven weeks earlier. [8]: 129 Fizeau was involved in the discovery of the Doppler effect, [9] which is known in French as the Doppler–Fizeau effect.
Foucault is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Jean-Pierre Foucault (born 1947), French television host; Jeffrey Foucault (born 1976), American songwriter; Léon Foucault (1819–1868), French physicist; Michel Foucault (1926–1984), French philosopher; Steve Foucault (born 1949), former Major League Baseball pitcher
Fizeau–Foucault apparatus may refer to either of two nineteenth-century experiments to measure the speed of light: Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in air , using a toothed wheel Foucault's measurements of the speed of light , using a rotating mirror