#pendulum clock

𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝗛𝗨𝗬𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗦! 🔭

On this day in 1629, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens was born in The Hague, Netherlands.

He is known for pioneering the wave theory of light and discovering the true structure of Saturn’s rings and one of its moons.

Huygens improved telescopes, invented the pendulum clock and advanced the study of dynamics, especially in rotating bodies and pendulum motion.

He also joined the French Academy of Sciences and exchanged ideas with Pascal, Leibniz, and Newton.

Huygens favored mechanical explanations and challenged Newton’s theory of gravity.

Although many overlooked his work during his lifetime, scientists later recognized his principle of secondary wave fronts as a key contribution to modern optics and physics.

His legacy continues to influence science today.

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(Note: Baseball goes by She/They here)

Baseball's little age range varies wildly. She could either be a moody pre-teen or just a lil babie.

YOU KNOW DARN WELL PENDULUM SPOILS HER A LOT.

Baseball loves being rocked, though it's kinda difficult to hold her considering her size, so Pendulum uses a cradle or swing.

Baseball mainly likes The Backyardigans, Bluey, and Pingu!

Pendulum always reads Baseball stories before bed.

Baseball also actually likes naps a bit! (Some of the other regressors on Inanimate Island think she's weird for this.)

That being said, sleeping at night is kind of another story, that's when the nightmares come in. (thank god Pendulum's a night owl and ready to comfort)

A First French Empire pendulum clock, early 19th century

The First Clock In America Failed, And It Helped Revolutionize Physics

“The pendulum clock, arguably, was the first experimental indication we had that gravity is not uniform over the surface of the Earth. Even before the advances of Isaac Newton, it was known that a pendulum — if the swing is small, the air resistance is negligible, and the temperature and length remain constant — always takes the same amount of time to complete a full swing. But the time it takes a pendulum to swing does vary over the surface of Earth, not only with length, but with two other factors: altitude and latitude.

It was a major hint towards a fact that we now take for granted: that the gravitational attraction from Earth depends on your distance to our planet’s center, rather than being uniform over the entire surface. The fact that the Earth rotates on its axis, and that rotation causes the equator to bulge compared to the poles, means that a pendulum takes longer to complete an oscillation as gravity gets weaker. Any pendulum clock, therefore, must be calibrated to the gravitational field of exactly where you are. The first clock in the Americas was a spectacular demonstration of this effect, with the underlying cause being the law of gravity itself!”

Have you ever had your car give you problems, and then the instant you bring it to the mechanic, the problems mysteriously vanish? That’s what happened to the very first pendulum clock ever brought to America, where it kept precise time in Holland, ran at the wrong speed after its trans-Atlantic journey, and so was sent back to Holland, where it worked perfectly once again.

Christiaan Huygens – Scientist of the Day

Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch inventor, astronomer, and mathematical physicist, was born Apr. 14, 1629.