What is Foucault's pendulum? The unique device hanging in the new Parliament

The newly inaugurated Parliament has a unique device suspended from the ceiling in the Central Foyer, which has emerged as a major attraction. The unique system touches the floor of the building as it rotates on its axis, showing a unique astronomical event - the rotation of the planet.

Dubbed Foucault's pendulum, it has been installed in the new Parliament by the National Council of Science Museums and is being claimed to be the largest such pendulum in the country standing at 22 meters in height.

WHAT IS FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM?

Foucault's pendulum is an experimental scientific device that demonstrates the rotation of the Earth. Since we can not feel the rotation of Earth the device provides visual evidence of the astronomical event as it rotates at a speed of nearly 1,670 kilometers per hour.

The pendulum was introduced in 1851 and was designed by French physicist Léon Foucault. The device consists of a long and heavy pendulum suspended from a high roof above a circular area, which is monitored over an extended time period, showing that its plane of oscillation rotated.

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The principle behind Foucault's pendulum is that while the pendulum swings back and forth, the Earth rotates underneath it. From an observer's perspective, it appears as though the plane of the pendulum's swing is changing. In reality, the Earth is rotating, and the pendulum remains in a fixed plane of swing while the Earth moves beneath it.

It works by the conservation of angular momentum. The pendulum's axis of rotation is initially aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation. As the Earth rotates, the pendulum's axis of rotation remains fixed in space, so it appears to rotate around the Earth. The period of rotation of the pendulum depends on the latitude of the pendulum and the length of the pendulum.

The exact rate at which the plane of the pendulum's swing appears to rotate depends on the latitude at which it is located. At the North Pole, for example, the plane of the swing will complete a full rotation in 24 hours, while at the equator, there will be no observable rotation.

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The movement of the pendulum at the time, when astronomy was still developing, showed that Earth is not a fixed, stationary object but rather a rotating body.

The longest Foucault pendulum in the world is located in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. It is 67 meters long and takes 32 hours to complete one swing.

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