It displays the dynamics of a Foucault pendulum.
Editor: Simulation of the dynamics of a Foucault pendulum. The simulation is designed to show the dynamical explanation of why precession of the Foucault pendulum is slower at lower latitudes.

The simulation shows simultaneously the motion with respect to the inertial coordinate system, and the motion as seen from a co-rotating point of view. For the co-rotating view there is a close-up view and an overview.

The sphere represents the rotating EARTH. The grey dot represents the suspension point of a pendulum. The red dot represents the pendulum bob. The green arrow represent the force towards the point of suspension. More precisely, the green arrow represents the force component parallel to the local surface.

The input fields
Latitude. The latitude of the attraction point in degrees. If you change the latitude then the field next to the turns field will change also, showing the expected period to complete a precession cycle.
Amplitude. The distance of the pendulum bob to the point of attraction at the start of the simulation run. Because of the way the trajectory is calculated a small amplitude (0.5 degree or even 0.1 degree gives a more arrucate result.
System rotation rate. The Default setting is 0.5. Its interesting to explore a lower system rotation rate, to get more vibrations to each rotation cycle.
Vibration rate. The default setting is 4.0; four vibrations per unit of time. You can enter a higher value, but if you use too high a value the calculation will not produce accurate results.

Zoom. The zoom for the close-up view is set automatically to give a good view, you can adjust the zoom Factor with this input field.
Zoom shift. For shifting the close-up view.

Rotation Related Models:

The following EJS models show various aspects of the physics of rotation:
Inertial Oscillation
Great Circles
Circumnavigating Pendulum
Foucault Pendulum
Foucault Rod
Ballistics and orbits
Angular acceleration of a contracting system you can free download Foucault Pendulum Model now.