{"id":124,"date":"2020-04-13T19:17:32","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T19:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/?page_id=124"},"modified":"2026-05-13T06:30:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:30:03","slug":"foucaultpendulummodel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/exhibits\/mechanics\/foucaultpendulummodel\/","title":{"rendered":"Foucault Pendulum Model"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\" class=\"is-style-mini-bar wp-block-post-title\">Foucault Pendulum Model<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-base-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignnone is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-b4b75a54 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained has-global-padding wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"288\" src=\"\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/FoucltPen-1c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Important Setup Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li>Do not pull the pendulum bob back past the &#8220;U&#8221; shape support frame. The bob will hit the frame when platform is rotated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Demonstration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a pendulum is suspended so that it may swing freely, it will maintain a constant plane of oscillation, relative to an inertial frame of reference. This is the result of the force which act on a pendulum. These forces act in the direction of the path of the pendulum and along the string. There is no force acting perpendicularly to the path of the pendulum. If a pendulum were suspended at the north pole of the earth, it would continue to oscillate, unperturbed, in it&#8217;s original plane of motion, while the earth revolved beneath it, making one revolution in twenty-four hours. To an observer on the earth at the north pole, who is unconscious of the earth&#8217;s rotation, it will appear the the pendulum&#8217;s plane of motion is constantly changing, completing 360 degrees of rotation in twenty-four hours. This horizontal rotation will appear to be in the opposite direction of the earth&#8217;s rotation, that is, in the clockwise direction. At the equator, no such rotation takes place. At a point between the pole and the equator, the period of this rotation varies between twenty-four hours and infinity, depending on the latitude. In Madison the period is 35 hours, 8 minutes, 8 seconds. In 1852, Leon Foucault suspended a pendulum from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris. This pendulum, now known as the Foucault Pendulum, showing the apparent rotation of a pendulum&#8217;s plane of oscillation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/Demonstrations\">Physics Lecture Demonstration Database<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/FoucaultPendulum\">Foucault Pendulum, 1E20.10<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/FoucaultPendulumModel\">Foucault Pendulum Model, 1E20.09<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Important Setup Notes Demonstration If a pendulum is suspended so that it may swing freely, it will maintain a constant plane of oscillation, relative to an inertial frame of reference. This is the result of the force which act on a pendulum. These forces act in the direction of the path of the pendulum and &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":50,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uw_migration_status":"complete","_uw_gutenberg_post_content_before_migration":"","_uw_seo_meta_title":"","_uw_seo_meta_description":"","_uw_seo_twitter_card_type":"","_uw_seo_meta_image":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_url":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_sizes":[],"_uw_seo_custom_meta_tags":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-124","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":983,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124\/revisions\/983"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}