The Foucault Pendulum experiment proves that the Earth rotates beneath the pendulum, which proved that the Earth rotates. If one were to make a pendulum on the equator it would not work because it doesnt rotate at that point of the Earth.
Any pendulum on a string ... free to swing in any direction ... can demonstratethe behavior associated with Foucault's pendulum. The only trick is that it has tokeep going for several hours before the behavior is obvious. So the task ofbuilding a Foucault pendulum is actually the task of building a pendulum thatdoesn't run down and stop. There are a number of simple electric/magnetic waysto do that, including the one I installed in 1968, to run the Foucault Pendulumin the lobby of the Oklahoma Science and Arts Foundation, at its old location atthe Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.
if the pendulum is free to swing in any direction (not constrained to a single plane, as is the pendulum in a pendulum clock), this is called a Foucault pendulum, and each swing will be slightly offset from the previous one due to the rotation of the Earth. If you were to attach a pen to the bottom of a Foucault pendulum, over the course of time it would make a tremendously complicated spirograph pattern.
evidence that supports the conjecture that the Earth is rotating
WHAT did Foucault's pendulum demonstrate in the year 1851 C.E. ? It confirmed for many and demonstrated the rotation of the earth on it's axis. The principal of the earth's rotation was proven by suspending a "pointed pendulum" with it's tip & terminus just barely in contact with a smooth level area of sand. The pattern changes overtime, this can only happen if the earth is rotating. This apparatus is elegant in it's simplicity and irrefutable proof of earth rotation.
The popular formula for the period of a pendulum works only for small angular displacements. In deriving it, you need to assume that theta, the angular displacement from the vertical, measured in radians, is equal to sin(theta). If not, you need to make much more complicated calculations. There are also other assumptions to simplify the formula - eg string is weightless. The swing of the pendulum will precess with the rotation of the earth. This may not work if the pendulum hits its stand! See Foucault's Pendulum (see link). The motion of the pendulum will die out as a result of air resistance. Thermal expansion can change the length of the pendulum and so its period.
Foucault's Pendulum was created in 1988.
A Foucault pendulum is a famous demonstration of Earth's:
Foucault's pendulum is a novel written by an Italian philosopher. It was published in 1988.
The rotation of the earth keeps a foucault pendulum moving
No, there is no foucault pendulum in the capital bldg in Lincoln Nebraska.
February, 1851. More details are available from the wikipedia article about the Foucault pendulum.
For earthbound investigators, the Foucault pendulum provides a nice proof.
Foucault's Pendulum
Foucault's Pendulum
Umberto Eco
* it holds hanging objects that pivots around fixed points
rotation