Editing 2201: Foucault Pendulum
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
+ | [[Black Hat]] is attending what appears to be a guided tour of a museum with a {{w|Foucault pendulum}}. [[Megan]] is explaining to him, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] about the device which demonstrates the rotation of the Earth. | ||
− | + | Black Hat, being himself, immediately sees an opportunity to cause chaos and seizes it with both hands, quite literally - as he grabs the pendulum which casues the others to shout after him to stop. At first this would seemingly be for fear of ruining the delicate demonstration. However, in the final panel, the [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] [[Blondie]] reveals to us that by arresting the motion of the pendulum, Black Hat has somehow stopped the rotation of the Earth. This of course is blatantly impossible since the Foucault pendulum's motion is tied to the earth's rotation, not the other way around. (That is except for this specific one, that controls the Earths rotation, which must, of course be located at one of the Earths poles, that is it must be the South Pole to stay in this fixed place, since else no one would have been able to stop Black Hat afterwards, as the Earth suddenly stops rotation while every loose object would continue with their normal rotation speed. Thus had this been at the Equator, no one would have been able to stop him afterwards, as everyone would have been killed instantaneously!) | |
− | + | A Foucault pendulum is a {{w|pendulum}} that swings from a bearing that allows rotation in any direction, like your shoulder joint instead of your elbow. If the Earth were stationary, it would continue to swing over the same portion of the Earth when it was released, but any pendulum will continue to swing in the same plane in space. So because the Earth moves beneath it, over the course of the day the pendulum's motion gradually changes direction relative to the room. The low-resistance bearing doesn't allow the rotation of the Earth to affect the motion of the pendulum, so it stays aligned to its original inertial reference frame according to the fix star (far away in space) rather than to the rotating surroundings which follow with the Earth's rotation. | |
− | + | The fact that the Earth's rotation does not influence the motion of the pendulum does NOT mean that other things can't affect it - for example, by running up and manually repositioning the pendulum. Of course, the apparent rotation of the pendulum's plane relative to the Earth is an effect of the planet's motion, rather than the cause of it. Thus, stopping a Foucault pendulum manually does not entail pausing the rotation of the Earth. | |
− | + | If it were somehow possible for a Foucault pendulum to control Earth's rotation, Black Hat would probably not want to alter the momentum of the pendulum, unlike most cases where he causes chaos (assuming he was told that it was related to Earth's rotation and assuming that he would prefer to preserve his own life over making chaos). The reason why is because if the rotation of Earth were to be stopped for even very short amounts of time (a few seconds), it would cause everything on Earth that wasn't bolted/fastened to the ground to move eastward compared to the now stationary ground. If they are near the Equator it would be at a speed of 300-360 meters per second, likely causing the death of most lifeforms on Earth beneath a certain latitude almost instantaneously. Those close enough to the poles may survive though. Also this will cause massive windstorms, tsunamis, volcanic and tectonic events on a scale not previously observed on Earth. This would likely cause a mass extinction event and wipe out 99% of humanity in the initial events (which would eventually lead to our extinction). It is possible that Black Hat's grabbing the pendulum would cause a gradual slowing prior to stopping, minimizing the issue (though this doesn't seem to be the case), but the results would still be catastrophic, as the aforementioned events are still likely to occur (specifically the tsunamis and volcanic events). | |
− | + | Randall covered this scenario in detail in his [https://io9.gizmodo.com/xkcds-creator-explains-what-would-happen-if-earth-stopp-1625068208 What If] book. | |
− | + | The [https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/Home/home_node.html International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service] is an organization providing standards for global time and reference frames; this organization would have a very rough day after the fiasco with Black Hat. The title text refers to a (probably) fictional paramilitary enforcement arm of this organization and the foolishness of tangling with such a force. If Foucault pendulums were somehow able to influence the rotation of the Earth in any measurable way, the IERS enforcers would probably strictly control their installation and monitor their use (and misuse). Black Hat is likely in for a rough day as well. | |
− | The | + | ==Trivia== |
+ | The Foucault Pendulum in this comic strongly resembles that in the Museum of Science in Boston (both in shape and the way it is knocking over the pegs). | ||
+ | And the one that was in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for many years. I suspect there's really only one way to build it. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[ | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | |||
+ | :[Cueball, Black Hat, Ponytail, and Megan are standing next to a large swinging sphere on a pendulum with markers under it; Megan is pointing at it.] | ||
+ | |||
:Megan: This Foucault pendulum demonstrates Earth's rotation. It stays in a fixed plane while the Earth rotates under it. | :Megan: This Foucault pendulum demonstrates Earth's rotation. It stays in a fixed plane while the Earth rotates under it. | ||
− | :[Close-up on Black Hat | + | :[Close-up on Black Hat] |
− | :Black Hat: Hmm, really. | + | |
− | + | :Black Hat: Hmm, really. So that means... | |
+ | |||
+ | :[Close-up on Black Hat and pendulum; Black Hat grabs pendulum, and a line points from the pendulum saying "GRAB!"] | ||
+ | |||
+ | :Character out of panel: Hey! | ||
+ | |||
+ | :Character out of panel: Stop him! | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Blondie is standing next to Black Hat's picture in an inset frame, captioned with "BREAKING NEWS."] |
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− | : | + | :News Anchor: The Earth's rotation was briefly halted today until geophysicists wrestled the intruder to the ground... |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
+ | [[Category:Physics]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]] | ||
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