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15 August 2003

Towards a Foucault Pendulum for the Non-Obsessed

by John Dooley, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics, Millersville University

The 2002 model of the 1 meter driven Foucault pendulum was driven as a resonant device, slightly off resonance for stability. It requires matching the pendulum to the driving frequency within 100 parts per million. The matching is done by adjusting the length of the pendulum, in a manner similar to regulating a grandfather clock. As with a grandfather clock, changes in temperature require re-regulating the device.

The 2003 model follows a suggestion of Shawn Carlson in the the SAS Bulletin, to use a capacitive proximity sensor to control the driver. The method is surprisingly sensitive to the position of the sensor, but promises to remove the tedious tweaking needed for the resonant device.

This presentation can be downloaded as a Microsoft PowerPoint file by clicking here.