Swaying Like a Pendulum Trivia Quiz

Answer: Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei's first observation of the pendulum motion was made in Pisa cathedral, when he counted the time it took for a swinging chandelier to return to its motionless position against his heartbeat. By experimenting, he found that no matter how wide the arc of the swing was, or the mass of the pendulum, it took the pendulum the same time to become still. From this breakthrough discovery of a universal scientific principle, Christiaan Huygens, one hundred years later, was able to create a reliable time keeping device.

Answer: Newton's Cradle

Newton's Cradle or Executive Ball Clicker is based on the principle of conservation of momentum. After the first ball of a Newton's Cradle hits the second ball, its momentum is not lost but it is transferred to the second ball, then the third ball, until it reaches the last ball and sets it to swinging motion. Then, the first and last ball swing at nearly the same momentum while the middle balls seem stationary.

The first demonstration of this principle was made by French physicist and priest Edme Mariotte, in the 17th century.

Answer: Reiki

While the client is lying fully dressed, the Reiki practictioner swings a crystal or stone pendulum over the different areas of the body (chakras) and asks if the organ is healthy. If there's a negative swing of the pendulum then Reiki energy is applied to this area for several minutes, through the same pendulum.

Traditional Japanese Reiki healing mainly uses looking, blowing and touching with the hands, while the use of the pendulum is more common in Western Reiki.

The word Reiki is made of the Japanese words Rei and Ki. Rei means "God's Wisdom or the Higher Intelligence" and Ki means "Life Force Energy". Reiki actually means "Spiritually Guided Life Force Energy."

Answer: Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Among the three thuribles that adorn the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the oldest and largest one is called "Botafumeiro" which means "smoke expeller" in Galician. It was made in 1851, by the goldsmith José Losada, from an alloy of brass and bronze, coated in silver. It takes eight men (tiraboleiros) to operate it during mass and make it swing, while expelling aromatic smoke. It's worth a search to see how impressive the whole process is.

The "Camino de Santiago" or "Way of St. James" is the name of the pilgrimage routes that are followed to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, where the remains of St. James are buried.

Answer: Wood

A bullet was fired into a hanging, large block of wood with a precisely known mass. The bullet set the wood in motion and the distance of its swing indicated the bullet's momentum. With the bullet's momentum and mass, its velocity was calculated. Its practical use was in the identification of the weapon which was used to fire the bullet.

In the 1950s the ballistic pendulum for police use was rendered obsolete, since it has been replaced by gun chronographs with optical sensors.

Answer: French

Frenchman Jules Leotard was experimenting with jumps from ventilator cords over the pool at his father's gymnasium. When he perfected his act, he performed it in front of a circus audience. It soon became one of the most popular circus acts.

The traditional flying trapeze act involves a flier and a catcher who swing, perfectly synchronized, from fly bars. After the flier performs his various tricks, he's caught by the catcher and is thrown back to the fly bar by a move called a "return". There are numerous variations of the tricks and the number of acrobats involved.

The costume worn by the performers has taken its name of "leotard" from Jules Leotard.

Answer: Taipei 101

A skyscraper pendulum, or tuned mass damper, is a mechanical device installed in buildings of great height and mass with the intention of reducing the vibrations caused by earthquakes or strong winds by swaying or twisting in the opposite direction of the building as it absorbs the seismic or wind forces.

Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers designed and installed the 660-tonne steel pendulum in Taipei 101, which hangs from the 92nd to the 87th floor.

Answer: Swing sets

A swing is any type of rope hanging from a pivotal point, with or without a seat. A row of swings hanging from a wooden or metal frame at a playground is a swing set. A parent lightly pushes the child to gain momentum, which can be helped by the swaying of the legs and the torso.

Evidence of swings can be found as early as 5th century BC Greek pottery and stone sculpture.

Answer: Yes

Grandfather clocks use a pendulum to tell time. The pendulum swings back and forth at exact periods depending on the length at which the pendulum is suspended. They are made of crafted wood and are usually between 6' and 8' tall.

Grandmother clocks can be pendulum or spring operated, can have chimes or music, are slender and, as a rule, shorter than 6'3". They are usually more ornate than grandfather clocks.

A clock less than 5'2" is called a granddaughter clock. They are usually veneered on plywood and can hang from walls rather than being free-standing.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

This entirely fictional instrument was a sharp, convex-shaped, suspended blade which was swinging over the victim who was tied to a wooden bench. As it was swinging it was also lowering until it would start piercing flesh, eventually cutting the victim in half. It appears in Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Pit and the Pendulum" in which Poe uses exaggerated forms of the practices of the Spanish Inquisition to create a symbolic study of the fear of death.

Such an instrument couldn't have worked without mechanical help, because eventually the blade would have lost momentum and stopped swinging.