Houston Museum of Natural Science - Foucault Pendulum

A popular gathering spot within the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the Foucault Pendulum outside the Wiess Energy Hall. First exhibited in 1851 at the World’s Fair in Paris, the Foucault Pendulum (named for French physicist and inventor Jean Bernard Leon Foucault) is a visual demonstration of the Earth’s rotation. Throughout the day, the direction of the pendulum’s swing appears to change, but it is actually the Earth that is turning under the pendulum as it swings. At Houston’s latitude, the pendulum goes halfway around the circle each day, during which it knocks down pins set up in its path. Swinging from a cable more than 60 feet long, the pendulum has a swing period around 7 seconds and receives the energy needed to keep swinging from a magnet surrounding the cable at its top, which is activated as the pendulum reaches the middle.

Image Details