Leon Foucault
By: Carlie Davis
The Great Leon Foucault
Leon Foucault was born in Paris on September 18th, 1819. In the beginning, he studied medicine but then switched to physics. Making his debut in Paris in the year 1851, he built a 67 meter pendulum that moved clockwise, which proved that the ground below it was moving counterclockwise.
What is a Pendulum?
- It is a hanging object swinging from a fixed point
- it swings down from gravity and up from its own inertia
- it was created in 1851
- was built to show the rotation of the earth
- Foucault's pendulum was the first satisfactory demonstration on the Earth's rotation using a laboratory than astronomical observations
His Significance
Leon demonstrated the Earth's rotation using a pendulum. He proved that the Earth moved all the time and never stopped.
Interesting Facts
- in school, his teachers called him lazy but he showed a great interest in building machines
- couldn't stand to look at blood
- had a stroke but died of brain illness
My Sources
- https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1241&bih=606&q=leon+foucault&oq=leon+foucault&gs_l=img.3...520.4265.0.4482.21.10.0.6.0.3.768.7529.6-10.10.0....0...1ac.1.27.img..20.1.723.PUQks2NCYq0#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=uCeb0a8nPkezlM%3A%3Bpp5o0zm01BEi6M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252F4%252F4b%252FFoucault.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FL%2525C3%2525A9on_Foucault%3B961%3B1228
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Foucault
- http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/18/google-doodle-honors-physicist-leon-foucault-and-shows-how-the-earth-spins/
- http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/18/google-doodle-honors-physicist-leon-foucault-and-shows-how-the-earth-spins/