(a) Potter’s wheel experiment: If a potter’s wheel is rotated at a constant speed and a person standing on the wheel drops a ball, the ball will appear to move in a straight line to a person standing next to the wheel. However, to the person on the wheel, the ball will appear to move in a curved path due to the rotation of the wheel. This phenomenon is known as the Coriolis effect and is caused by the rotation of the Earth.
(b) Foucault’s experiment: In this experiment, a long pendulum is suspended from a fixed point and set in motion. Over time, the direction of the pendulum’s swing appears to change, which is due to the rotation of the Earth. This experiment demonstrates the Coriolis effect and provides evidence that the Earth is rotating.
(c) Tower and dropped stone experiment: If a stone is dropped from the top of a tall tower, it falls straight down to the ground. However, if the Earth were not rotating, the stone would fall some distance to the west of the tower due to the Earth’s rotation. The fact that the stone falls straight down provides evidence that the Earth is rotating.
