Foucault Pendulum 1851
The plane of oscillation of a pendulum, like a gyroscope, tends to stay constant regardless of the motion of the pivot. A pendulum free to swing in two dimensions from a long cord ( as in the dome of the Pantheon in Paris, above…67 meters (220 ft) … will precess or rotate 360° clockwise. The period T depends on latitude: 24 hrs at the poles and no rotation at the equator.
This phenomenon is claimed – illogically, to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation. For example, how does the Earth’s rotation affect the FP plane, when the FP is only attached to the Earth by a string? In other words, how does the FP bob know the Earth is there, rotating beneath it, without any material cause to explain the effect?
The results of the Michelson-Gale exp. can be read as supporting an aether wrapped around the Earth like the atmosphere – the aetherosphere – if the aether is rotating westward at every latitude every 24 hours. The aether’s speed can be modeled as dependent of the distance r from the surface to the polar axis ( see above)
V(r) = kr/T
Consider applying this aether speed to the extreme ends of the FP swing:
At the equator the FP plane will not rotate if placed N-S….. both ends have the same speed.
At the equator the FP plane will not rotate if placed N-S….. both ends have the same speed.
At the poles the ends will have opposite sense of rotation and will display the actual 24 aether period.
At mid-latitudes the south endpoint will have slightly more speed than the north endpoint , so the FP will feel a CW torque, as observed to occur.
A prediction:
If the FP swings E-W on the equator( blue , above) the westward aether flow will boost the speed by v = kr/T and slow the eastward swing by –v . Electronic timing of the swings should detect this effect of the aether’s circulation.
The mainstream physics model of a rotating Earth would not have this effect.
The FP rotation is not rationally explained by a rotating Earth, but by a rotating aether around a static earth.
Conclusion: The Foucault Pendulum cannot show the Earth’s rotation without a physical cause/medium connecting the ground to the pendulum.
The rotating aetherosphere found by Michelson-Gale provides a logical cause, and matches all the details observed.
The rotating aetherosphere found by Michelson-Gale provides a logical cause, and matches all the details observed.
