Foucault Pendulum for Demonstrating the Earth's Rotation

Made:
1988 in England and Cambridge
maker:
Cavendish Laboratory
designer:
Brian Pippard
Professor Pippard with Foucault Pendulum mechanism, 1988 Foucault pendulum designed by AB Pippard and built at the Foucault pendulum, 1988 Professor Pippard with Foucault Pendulum mechanism, 1988

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Professor Pippard with Foucault Pendulum mechanism, 1988
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Foucault pendulum designed by AB Pippard and built at the
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Foucault pendulum, 1988
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Professor Pippard with Foucault Pendulum mechanism, 1988
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Foucault pendulum designed by A.B. Pippard and built at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, including suspension, sustaining mechanism and bob

Made in the workshops of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, this Foucault Pendulum has been demonstrating the Earth's rotation at the Science Museum since 1988. Unlike its predecessor, this pendulum runs continually, so avoiding the need to re-swing the pendulum each hour. It was designed by Prof. Brian Pippard (1920-2008). A moveable scale indicates time against the angle rotated. Gently raising and lowering the pendulum pivot, using a motor in conjunction with a sensor, keeps the pendulum in motion. Known as parametric amplification, it uses the same principle that keeps a child's swing in motion. The French physicist Leon Foucault (1819-1868) conceived the display and first demonstrated it at the Parisian Pantheon in 1851.

Details

Category:
Astronomy
Object Number:
1988-447
Materials:
metal (unknown) and plastic (unidentified)
Measurements:
bob: 200 mm 85 mm,
type:
foucault pendulum and demonstration model
credit:
Cavendish Laboratory (Cambridge)