Foucault's pendulum

English

Animation of the pendulum at the Pantheon in Paris, with the Earth's rotation rate greatly exaggerated. The green trace shows the path of the pendulum bob over the ground (a rotating reference frame), while in any vertical plane. The actual plane of swing appears to rotate relative to the Earth. The wire needs to be as long as possible.

Etymology

From the name of the French physicist Jean Bernard Léon Foucault.

Noun

Foucault's pendulum (plural Foucault's pendulums)

1. A pendulum on a long wire, free to move in any direction; the plane of its motion appears to turn (clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere) as the world turns beneath it.

Translations

pendulum free to move in any direction

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傅科擺／傅科摆 (zh) (Fùkē bǎi)

• Czech: Foucaultovo kyvadlo n
• Estonian: Foucault' pendel
• Finnish: Foucaultin heiluri
• French: pendule de Foucault (fr)
• Georgian: ფუკოს ქანქარა (puḳos kankara)
• German: Foucaultsches Pendel n
• Hungarian: Foucault-inga
• Italian: pendolo di Foucault m
• Japanese: フーコーの振り子 (Fūkō no furiko)
• Polish: Wahadło Foucaulta
• Russian: ма́ятник Фуко́ (májatnik Fukó)
• Ukrainian: ма́ятник Фуко́ m (májatnyk Fukó)

See also

• Words from Foucault's Pendulum (a novel)

Anagrams

• Foucault pendulums