Nagoya City Science Museum
TOP > Exhibition Guide > Keyword Search > Starting with "A" > Astronomy > Foucault Pendulum
Foucault Pendulum
Purpose of Exhibition
The Foucault pendulum was installed using the atrium in the Life Science Bldg. It is 27.9 meters long. This device shows the rotation of the earth. The pendulum is 27 centimeters in diameter and weighs 81 kilograms, and comes into operation at the beginning of each day. Please look at this swinging pendulum, which gradually change its direction of rotation.
Additional Knowledge
How Did Foucault Experiment using a Pendulum?
[Open Experiment at the Pantheon]
In France in 1851, Foucault started his experiments with pendulums in his basement. The pendulum swings in a given direction to space. But the earth is rotating and changing its direction to space, so that on the earth, looking at the pendulum it seems as if it's changing its direction little by little.
In March the same year, Napoleon III let Foucault install a pendulum into a place which has a high dome, in the Pantheon in Paris, and allowed him to conduct an experiment on it.
Article by Astronomy Section