Lindner Family Physics Building; Xavier University - Cincinnati, OH - Foucault Pendulums on Waymarking.com

The main entrance to the Lindner Family Physics Building hosts a Foucault Pendulum. The accompanying 133-piece wood-inlayed map has Xavier Univerisity in the center. Each of the triangular pieces are cut to be 10 degrees to match the approximate motion of the pendulum.

The interpretive sign reads:
FOUCAULT PENDULUM
In 1851, with a pendulum similar to this, French physicist Jean Bernard Leon Foucault demonstrated the Earth's rotation on its axis, the first proof of the Earth's spin without reference to stars or planets.

The vertical plane, in which the pendulum swings, appears to rotate at a rate of approximately 10 degrees per hour at this position on the earth.

Actually it is the earth rotating counterclockwise beneath the free-swinging pendulum that is the cause of this relative motion.

Rotation time: 36 Weight of the ball: Not Listed Length: Not Listed Material: Not listed Period of oscillation: Not Listed Hours of Operation: Not listed Admission Cost: Not Listed

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