See Also: Foucault pendulum(encyclopedia)
Foucault(dictionary)
Foucault (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Foucault, Michel (Paul)(encyclopedia)
Foucault, Jean (-Bernard-Leon)(encyclopedia)
Foucault, Jean Bernard Leon(dictionary)
pendulum(encyclopedia)
Pendulum(medicine)
pendulum(2)(dictionary)
pendulum(1)(dictionary)

spectator (iou) and Foucault pendulum (sh)


spectator (iou)



spectator noun. L16.
[French spectateur or Latin spectator, from spectat-: see SPECTATE, -OR.]
A person who looks on at a scene or incident, esp. a show or sporting event. Also in the titles of periodicals. L16.
spec. A scientific observer. rare. M17-L18.
Comb.: spectator sport (a) sport affording good Entertainment for spectators as well as for participants (cf. PARTICIPATION sport).
spectatordom noun (rare) spectators collectively M19.
specta'torial adjective of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, a spectator E18.
specta'torially adverb M20.
spectatorism noun (rare) the practice of being a spectator L19.
spectatorship noun (a) rare presentation to view; (b) the state or fact of being a spectator: E17.
spectatory noun (arch.) the part of a building set aside for spectators E19.
spectatress noun (now rare) a female spectator M17.
spectatrix noun (now rare) = spectatress E17.

Foucault pendulum (sh)




Large pendulum that is free to swing in any direction.

As it swings back and forth, the earth rotates beneath it, so its perpendicular plane of swing rotates in relation to the earth's surface. Devised by J.-B.-L. Foucault in 1851, it provided the first laboratory demonstration that the earth spins on its axis. A Foucault pendulum always rotates clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (a consequence of the Coriolis force). The rate of rotation depends on the latitude, becoming slower as the pendulum is placed closer to the equator; at the equator, a Foucault pendulum does not rotate.