Rotating air table, support rods, pendulum
Plexiglas Foucault Model
pit pendulum

 

Code Number: 1E20.10

Demo Title: Foucault Pendulum

Condition: Good

Principle: Planes of Oscillation

Area of Study: Mechanics

Equipment: 

Rotating Air Table, Support Rods, Pendulum, Plexiglas Foucault Model for Overhead Projector, Book - "Pendulum", written by Amir D. Aczel.

Procedure:

Set the demonstration up as shown. The swing of the pendulum will have to be limited to the distance of the support rods. Works best if the demonstration is as level as possible. 

Consult the instruction booklet in the 1E20.10 File in the Mechanics Section before using the overhead model. 

This pendulum is stored at 3A80.10 in the "Oscillations / Acoustics" section.  The wooden sand pendulum will have some limited applications as a Foucault pendulum.   Consult the instructions for info on how to spread the sand into a concave shape.

References:

  • Alpha E. Wilson, "Applying the Coriolis Effect to the Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol. 62, #6, Sept. 2024, p. 508.
  • Don Olson, "A Foucault Pendulum Pilgrimage in Paris", TPT, Vol. 59, #4, April 2021, p. 232.
  • Manfred Euler and Gert Braun,  "Hands-On Earth Rotation",  TPT, Vol. 40, # 7, p.  432, Oct 2002.
  • Alpha E. Wilson, "Foucault's Pendulum as Ellipse Tracer", TPT, Vol. 35, # 5, May 1997, p. 261.
  • Joseph D. Romano, "Foucault's Pendulum as a Sprirograph", TPT, Vol.  35, # 3, p. 182-183, March 1997.
  • Haym Kruglak, "Foucault Pendulum Revisited", TPT, Vol.  35, # 4, p.  256, April 1997.
  • John E. Horne, "Classroom Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol.  34, # 4, p.  238- 239, April 1996.
  • Charles A. Eckroth,  "Astro Notes: A Simulated Foucault Pendulum",  TPT, Vol. 34, # 7, p.  462, Oct. 1996.
  • H. Richard Crane,  "The Foucault Pendulum As a Murder Weapon and a Physicist's Delight",  TPT, Vol. 28, # 5, p. 264, May 1990.
  • Glenn Green, Peter Insley, "Rotator Demonstration", TPT, Vol. 23, # 8, Nov. 1985, p. 510.
  • Richard B. Minnix and D. Rae Carpenter Jr.,  "Apparatus for Teaching Physics: A Very Short, Portable Foucault Pendulum",  TPT, Vol. 21, # 7, p.  477, October 1983.
  • Haym Kruglak, "A Very Short, Portable Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol. 21, # 7, Oct. 1983, p. 477.
  • "How the Housefly Uses Physics to Stabilize Flight", TPT, Vol. 21, # 8, Nov. 1983, p. 544.
  • A. P. French, "Is g Really the Acceleration Due to Gravity?", TPT, Vol. 21, # 8, Nov. 1983, p. 528.
  • R. D. Edge, "Foucault Pendulum and the Coriolis Effect", TPT, Vol. 20, # 2, Feb. 1982, p. 116 - 117.
  • Scott McClatchey, Neal Flint, James H. Kraakevik, "A Sustained Demonstration Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol. 19, # 2, Feb. 1981, p. 134.
  • Byron E. Leonard, "A Short Foucault Pendulum for Corridor Display", TPT, Vol. 19, # 6, Sept. 1981, p. 421. 
  • Gary E. Young, Anthony P. French, "The Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol. 16, # 1, Jan. 1978, p. 61.
  • Francis Lestingi, Projection Foucault Pendulum", TPT, Vol. 12, # 5, May 1974, p. 311.
  • Thomas F. Jordan, J. Maps, "Change of the Plane of Oscillation of a Foucault Pendulum From Simple Pictures", AJP, Vol. 78, # 11, p. 1188, Nov. 2010.
  • Joseph Priest, Michael J. Pechan, "The Driving Mechanism for a Foucault Pendulum (revisited)", AJP, Vol. 76, # 2, p. 188, Feb. 2008.
  • Jens von Bergmann, HsingChi von Bergmann, "Foucault Pendulum Through Basic Geometry", AJP, Vol. 75, # 10, p. 888, Oct. 2007.
  • H. Richard Crane, "Foucault Pendulum 'Wall Clock'", AJP, Vol. 63, #1, Jan. 1995, p. 33.
  • Geoffrey I. Opat, "The Precession of a Foucault Pendulum Viewed as a Beat Phenomenon of a Conical Pendulum Subject to a Coriolis Force", AJP, Vol. 59, #9, Sept. 1991, p. 822.
  • John B. Hart, et. al.,  "A Simple Geometric Model for Visualizing the Motion of a Foucault Pendulum",  AJP, 67, Vol. 55, No. 1, January 1987.
  • Fig. 8 & 9, AJP, 1014, Vol. 55, No. 11, November 1987.
  • E. C. Reynhardt et. al.,  "A Modified Foucault Pendulum for a Corridor Exhibit",  AJP, Vol. 54, No. 8, August 1986, p. 759.
  • H. Richard Crane, "Short Foucault Pendulum: A Way to Eliminate the Precession Due to Ellipticity", AJP, Vol. 49, #11, Nov. 1981, p. 1004.
  • Haym Kruglak and René Pittet, "Portable, Continuously Operating Foucault Pendulum", AJP, Vol. 48, #5, May 1980, p. 419.
  • Klaus Weltner, "A New Model of the Focault Pendulum", AJP, Vol. 47, #4, April 1979, p. 365.
  • Wallace A. Hilton, "The Foucault Pendulum: A Corridor Demonstration", AJP, Vol. 46, # 4, Apr. 1978, p. 436.
  • Haym Kruglak, Larry Oppliger, Rene Pittet, and Stanley Steele, "A Short Foucault Pendulum for a Hallway Exhibit", AJP, Vol. 46, # 4, Apr. 1978, p. 438.
  • Michitoshi Soga, "Precessional Periods of Long and Short Foucault Pendulums", AJP, Vol. 46, # 7, July 1978, p. 725.
  • Jacques Renault, "Investigating the Physical Nature of the Coriolis Effects in the Fixed Frame", AJP, Vol. 45, # 7, July 1977, p. 631.
  • David R. Curott, "The Role of the Constraining Force in a Foucault Pendulum", AJP, Vol. 40, # 7, July 1972, p. 1007.
  • E. O. Schulz-DuBois, "Foucault Pendulum Experiment by Kamerlingh Onnes and Degenerate Perturbation Theory", AJP, Vol. 38, #2, Feb. 1970, p. 173.
  • Francis W. Sears, "Working Model of a Foucault Pendulum at Intermediate Latitudes", AJP, Vol. 37, #11, Nov. 1969, p. 1126.
  • Don W. Miller and G. Wayne Caudill, "Driving Mechanism for a Foucault Pendulum", AJP, Vol. 34, #7, July 1966, p. 615.
  • Mz- 6, 7:  Freier and Anderson,  A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.
  • S- 035:  "Foucault Pendulum Model",  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.
  • M- 209:  Richard Manliffe Sutton, Demonstration Experiments in Physics.
  • George M. Hopkins, "Pendulum with Audible Beats", Experimental Science, p. 47.
  • Cunningham and Herr,  "2.4.4: Foucault Pendulum",  Hands-On Physics Activities with Real Life Applications,  p. 102.
  • Gerard L'E Turner, "Nineteenth-Century Scientific Instruments", p. 74
  • 121-122:  Janice VanCleave, 201 Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, & Incredible Experiments.
  • Physics Demonstration Experiments: In Two Volumes,  p. 299- 305, 592- 594. 
  • # 130, "Rotation", Janice VanCleave's 203 Icy, Freezing, Frosty, Cool, and Wild Experiments.
  • Robert P. Crease, "Seeing The Earth Rotate: Foucault's Sublime Pendulum", The Prism & The Pendulum, Ch. 7, p. 126 - 139.
  • Borislaw Bilash II, “Foucault Pendulum“, A Demo A Day – A Year of Physical Science Demonstrations, p. 242.
Foucault pendulum at Colorado State University

The Hadley Pendulum at Colorado State University

1E20.10 - Foucault Pendulum