Foucault Pendulum for Advanced Experimenters 13

[@danneumann3274]

say What You want about flat earthers (though wrong ) they have got me as well as so many others doing experiments like this. We all took for granted certain facts that we could actually demonstrate ourselves like this. I have purchased precision aircraft Gryroscopes that definately showed a drift. Focult invented the first gyroscope which is the background of my desktop pc. Its beautifully made. thanks for sharing this work

[@peterleane6807]

Thanks for the comment, good to see another checkera is on the case,...yes many easily checked facts are just taken for granted because it is human nature to trust authority. Lucky you, I have been looking for a gyrocompass for a while, anyway I am starting to make progress with the ceramic version, so stay tuned.

[@randyhelzerman]

Love this series. I feel a bit better about never being able to get my physics labs to work when I was in High School :-) You have a real talent for debugging and fixing problems, I'm jealous.

[@peterleane6807]

Thanks for the positive feedback, keep watching you may pickup on something I've missed.

[@icansciencethat]

1) This is awesome. For sure no anti-clockwise swing was evident. For sure it started going CW. This is interesting and deserves lots more experimentation. 2) I understand why you didn't feel the need to measure it... it rotated backwards, after all. Let me encourage you to take a scientific view of it... we may want to start doing quantifiable comparisons. It would be great if we could measure things, and it looks like your new laser rig could do that. 3) I think the obvious next thing is to repeat this a few times. Is it consistent? 4) The prediction: I forgot what your latitude was... we're looking for 0.25 * sin(lat) degrees per minute. You swung it for like 10 minutes, so we're expecting at least a degree or 2 of rotation... remind me your latitude, and we'll have that number. 5) The u-joints should not be needed. The wire should not be able to carry any sheer force anyway, so the u-joints should really not be necessary or helpful. We need swivels, but not u-joints. 6) The powered version will take you forward to getting more obvious results, and we can start to make graphs of angle vs time. That'll really open up possibilities 7) With that, I'd want to try: a) different launch direction (maybe try that before power even) b) different heights c) different amplitudes d) different plum bobs e) different locations (reproduce this setup in other parts of the world and reproduce it all) f) What else should we look into? Finally, a statement on what this all means... Let's be open-minded... we don't know what it means... it's unexpected! I think the best way forward is to set aside discussions of whether or not the Earth is rotating. To me, it seems pretty obvious that the Earth IS rotating, but that's really a separate discussion. Let's ask the question, "what are the factors that affect how a pendulum turns?"

[@peterleane6807]

1, Thanks, yep, yep & yep 2. Yes new laser rig should be able to handle accurately most of our experiments 3. So far the same results over 5 swings 4. Lat = 35:18:29 5. Yes I agree the suspension cable should be able to easily handle the sheer force, (as did Foucault), I also agree swivels would be better than u-joints. Now researching precision swivel joints. 6. Yes a powered pendulum takes thing to a new level, however the concept as I am to believe was proven unpowered, there is still a lot of unpowered experiments left. 7. (a) yes I agree, (b) yes, (c) yes, (d) 50mm steel BB on order, (e) yes, (f) possibly spinning the pendulum CW & CCW, remembering that it is still attached the the electric motor. I would really like to see the effects of the bob twisting in flight, the electric motor can really exaggerate this condition. Also before any changes, unbalance the bob with off set weights to see if it can be made to track CCW. Summary: Yes I agree focus what makes the pendulum turn. PS back on the case of the ceramic turbines for the non-magnetic gyrocompass project.

[@icansciencethat]

@@peterleane6807 great idea with the spinning bob... I'd like to see that too. Keep being awesome.

[@banjohero1182]

why in the name of godel would you use this aspect ratio

[@sthurston2]

Foucault wanted a system where any rotation of the mounting point would have NO effect on the motion of the cable. A universal joint has the opposite intent. It allows an input shaft to drive rotation of an output shaft that is at an angle to the input shaft. Foucault wanted free rotation, not locked rotation, so I do not find it surprising he did not use universal joints.

[@peterleane6807]

Good point, however I need a break out point to locate bias, a precision ball bearing swivel at either end is a future plan, (see comment below). My understanding is that by using a u-joint a either end, this will produce a CV joint that should cancel drive rotation, still I have an open mind to your advice.

[@sthurston2]

@@peterleane6807 You inspired me to do some research. I liked "THE Driveshaft Video. The Nature of U Joints. Suspension Basics Ep. 06" by Garage Fab on Nov 7, 2022 as it explains nicely why 2 u-joints aren't enough on their own to be a CV joint. As long as you have ensured both the alignment and the angle of the u-joints are always mirrored, I'd say you do have a CV joint with the expected varying middle section. Mind you given the small angles you are dealing with and the super small potential rotations I'd say you don't need to worry much anyway.

[@peterleane6807]

I'm impressed you do learn fast, yes technically my set up is not a true CV joint, more like a tail drive shaft. And yes you are correct again, with such small angles there should not be any issues. Maybe I should have given more detail on the u-joint setup, but I wasn't expecting there would be a smart little Johnny in the class,.... intelligent comment keep'im coming.