Meter Based on Seconds Pendulum

This section introduces an old definition of 'meter' which uses a seconds pendulum. A 'meter' is the length of a seconds pendulum, which swings a full cycle in 2 seconds in small angles.

The French National Assembly also accepted another definition of 'meter' to be "the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second" in year 1790.

This definition is based on the factor that a small angle pendulum with a half-period of one second will have a length of about one meter, as illustrated in the picture below:

Space - Meter as Seconds Pendulum Length
1 Meter as Seconds Pendulum Length

Since "meter" is defined more accurately now with the speed of light, the accurate length of a seconds pendulum at the sea level is 0.994 meter.

With this knowledge, you can actually create your own 1 meter string as a measuring tape.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

Introduction of Space

 What Is Space

 What Is Distance

 Meter Based on Earth's Meridian

Meter Based on Seconds Pendulum

 Meter Prefixes and Other Units

 List of Various Distances and Lengths

 Introduction of Frame of Reference

 Introduction of Time

 Introduction of Speed

 Newton's Laws of Motion

 Introduction of Special Relativity

 Time Dilation in Special Relativity

 Length Contraction in Special Relativity

 The Relativity of Simultaneity

 Introduction of Spacetime

 Minkowski Spacetime and Diagrams

 Introduction of Hamiltonian

 Introduction of Lagrangian

 Introduction of Generalized Coordinates

 Phase Space and Phase Portrait

 References

 Full Version in PDF/ePUB