Visitors to the Panthéon (before 2014) may have been intrigued by the large brass ball swinging to and fro on a wire attached to the top of the dome, 67 metres above.
This device known as a Foucault pendulum after its inventor, the physicist Léon Foucault, is used to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth and was first installed in the Panthéon in 1851.
The original 28 kg bob was later removed, but many replicas have been on show although currently due to the repairs taking place, no pendulum is installed. One will have to wait until 2017 to see it again!
The original 28 kg bob was later removed, but many replicas have been on show although currently due to the repairs taking place, no pendulum is installed. One will have to wait until 2017 to see it again!
In the mean time one can watch this short YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhXLxc1hzxM
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