Aristotle’s view, theory, and experiment about motion and gravity.

Objects fall at a speed relative to their mass.

Heavier objects would fall faster than lighter ones. And that an object that weigh as twice as much would fall twice as
fast.

If a 10 pound ball and 1 pound ball were dropped from the same height, the ten pound ball would hit the ground 10 times
faster than the other.
Aristotle‘s theory of gravity earlier stated that objects fall at speed proportional to their mass, which means the heavier
the object is, the faster it will fall under gravity. Heavier object accelerates greater under gravity.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said that objects fall because each of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and
water) had their natural place, and these elements had a tendency to move back toward their natural place.

Each element had its natural place. Hence, earth was always the lowest, and in some places, earth was covered by water.
Water must then be higher, but clearly air was higher still, since it covered earth and water. Highest of all was fire, whose
natural place was in the skies above the air.

On Earth, according to the Aristotelian model, objects tended to fall toward the ground in accordance with the
admixtures of differing elements they contained. A rock, for instance, was mostly earth, and hence it sought its own level,
the lowest of all four elements. For the same reason, a burning fire rose, seeking the heights that were fire's natural
domain. It followed from this that an object falls faster or slower, depending on the relative mixtures of elements in it: or,
to use more modern terms, the heavier the object, the faster it falls.

Aristotle further believed that objects fall at a speed that is proportional to their weight. In other words, if you took a
wooden object and a metal object of the same size and dropped them both, the heavier metal object would fall at a
proportionally faster speed.

Aristotle’s view on motion

Aristotle categorized motions as either "natural" motions or "violent" motions:

Natural Motion:
Any motion that an object does naturally - without being forced - was classified by Aristotle as a natural motion.
Examples of natural motions include:

-A book lying at rest on a table naturally remains at rest.

-If you let go of a book it naturally falls toward the earth.
-Smoke naturally rises.
-The sun naturally rises in the east, crosses the sky, then sets in the west.

Violent Motion:
Aristotle classified any motion that required a force as a "violent motion". (He did not mean violent in the modern
sense...) Examples of violent motion include:

-Pushing a book along a table.

-Lifting a book.

Summary:
Basically, Aristotle's view of motion is "it requires a force to make an object move in an unnatural" manner - or, more
simply, "motion requires force".

After all, if you push a book, it moves. When you stop pushing, the book stops moving. (Not right away, of course, but,
unless you push it, it gradually slows to a stop.) To keep a bicycle moving (on level ground) you have to keep pedaling. To
keep a car moving, you have to keep the engine pushing it.
Galileo’s view, theory, and experiment about motion and gravity.

Galileo set out to test the hypothesis that objects fall as they do, not because of their weight, but as a consequence of
gravitational force. If this were so, the acceleration of falling bodies would have to be the same, regardless of weight. Of
course, it was clear that a stone fell faster than a feather, but Galileo reasoned that this was a result of factors other than
weight, and later investigations confirmed that air resistance and friction, not weight, are responsible for this difference.

On the other hand, if one drops two objects that have similar air resistance but differing weight—say, a large stone and a
smaller one—they fall at almost exactly the same rate. To test this directly, however, would have been difficult for
Galileo: stones fall so fast that, even if dropped from a great height, they would hit the ground too soon for their rate of
fall to be tested with the instruments then available.

Instead, Galileo used the motion of a pendulum, and the behavior of objects rolling or sliding down inclined planes, as his
models. On the basis of his observations, he concluded that all bodies are subject to a uniform rate of gravitational
acceleration, later calibrated at 32 ft (9.8 m) per second. What this means is that for every 32 ft an object falls, it is
accelerating at a rate of 32 ft per second as well; hence, after 2 seconds, it falls at the rate of 64 ft (19.6 m) per second;
after 3 seconds, at 96 ft (29.4 m) per second, and so on.

A falling body picked up speed at a constant rate—in other words, it had constant acceleration (as he termed it, the word
means “addition of speed” in Italian). He also made the crucial observation that, if air resistance and buoyancy can be
neglected, all bodies fall with the same acceleration, bodies of different weights dropped together reach the ground at
the same time. This was a revolutionary idea—as was his assertion that it should be checked by experiment rather than
by the traditional method of trying to decipher what ancient authorities might have meant.

He realized that a falling body picked up speed at a constant rate—in other words, it had constant acceleration (as he
termed it, the word means “addition of speed” in Italian). He also made the crucial observation that, if air resistance and
buoyancy can be neglected, all bodies fall with the same acceleration, bodies of different weights dropped together reach
the ground at the same time.

Galileo also noted that if a ball rolls without interference on a smooth horizontal surface, and friction and air resistance
can be neglected, it will move with constant speed in a fixed direction—in modern language, its velocity remains
constant.

Gravity accelerates all objects at the same rate, regardless of their mass or composition.

Bodies of the same material falling through the same medium would fall at the same speed.

He predicted that bodies of the same material falling through the same medium would fall at the same speed.

Galileo performs his famous Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment. Galileo climbed the leaning tower of Pisa holding two
balls with different masses but with similar shape and density. Galileo released both of these balls from the same height
and they both hit the ground at the same time proving that time of descent was independent of mass. Many of the
misconceptions of the time were caused because of air resistance as lighter objects experience the higher friction which
slows them as they fall at the time the experiment took place he had not finalized his law of freefall but he had previously
stated that he predicted that bodies of the same material falling through the same medium would fall at the same speed.
This discovery influenced many scientist throughout the ages, one being Isaac Newton. Galileo’s discovery inspired Isaac
Newton to further explore this concept and later discovered the Law of Universal Gravitation as well as mathematical
principles behind gravity. Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that all object in the universe are attracted to
another and will accelerate at the same rate when affected by the same gravitational force. Newton also determined the
mathematical relationship between two objects affected by gravity which can be seen in the equation force of gravity
equals gravitational constant times mass of object 1 on mass of object 2 divided by distanced squared. Today Galileo’s
theory stands true and has been recreated many times and even during Apollo 15 with astronaut David Scott on the
moon when he dropped a hammer and a feather. These modern tests while all performed in a vacuum still proved
Galileo’s theory correct, as when no air resistant is present any object will halt the same speed as the other.
Galileo's use of the inclined plane to study the motion of objects is one of his most important contributions to science. As
this video segment from NOVA illustrates, the inclined plane allowed Galileo to accurately measure the effect of gravity
on falling objects and develop a universal law describing this effect.

Galileo’s Inclined Planes

Slope downwards
Speed Increases

Slope upwards
Speed decreases

No slope does speed change?

Galileo believed the only reason heavy objects fall faster is because air resistance slows down lighter objects. So if air
resistance could be reduced, they would both fall at the same speed.

Concept of Momentum (Definition and Explanation).

Momentum can be defined as "mass in motion." All objects have mass; so if an object is moving, then it
has momentum - it has its mass in motion. The amount of momentum that an object has is dependent
upon two variables: how much stuff is moving and how fast the stuff is moving. Momentum depends
upon the variables mass and velocity. In terms of an equation, the momentum of an object is equal to
the mass of the object times the velocity of the object.

Momentum = mass • velocity

In physics, the symbol for the quantity momentum is the lower case p. Thus, the above equation can be
rewritten as

p=m•v
where m is the mass and v is the velocity. The equation illustrates that momentum is directly
proportional to an object's mass and directly proportional to the object's velocity.

The units for momentum would be mass units times velocity units. The standard metric unit of
momentum is the kg•m/s. While the kg•m/s is the standard metric unit of momentum, there are a
variety of other units that are acceptable (though not conventional) units of momentum. Examples
include kg•mi/hr, kg•km/hr, and g•cm/s. In each of these examples, a mass unit is multiplied by a
velocity unit to provide a momentum unit. This is consistent with the equation for momentum

Law of Conservation of Momentum

A collision in a closed and isolated system, the total momentum of the objects before a collision is equal
to the total momentum of the objects after the collision.

Just like the other laws of conservation, momentum is not created or destroyed.
There’s another law of physics that might sound familiar when we talked about collisions. Newton’s
third law of motion-for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that objects
exerts equal forces on one another when they interact. One of the consequences of the newton’s third
law is the law of conservation of momentum.

You apply the law of conservation of momentum only when a collision happens in a closed, isolated
system.- Matter and energy do not enter or leave the system- no net outside forces act on the system

For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an isolated system, the total momentum of
the two objects before the collision is equal to the total momentum of the two objects after the
collision. That is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum gained by object 2.
The above statement tells us that the total momentum of a collection of objects (a system) is conserved
- that is, the total amount of momentum is a constant or unchanging value.

law of conservation of momentum, m1u1 + m2u2 = m1v1 + m2v2.

Law of Conservation of Momentum Problems

Q1. There are cars with masses 4 kg and 10 kg respectively that are at rest. A car having the mass 10 kg
moves towards the east with a velocity of 5 m.s-1. Find the velocity of the car with mass 4 kg with
respect to ground.
Ans: Given,

m1 = 4 kg

m2 = 10 kg

v1 = ?

v2 = 5 m.s-1

We know from the law of conservation of momentum that,

Pinitial = 0, as the cars are at rest

Pfinal = p1 + p2

Pfinal = m1.v1 + m2.v2

= 4 kg.v1 + 10 kg.5 m.s-1

Pi = Pf

0=4 kg.v1+50 kg.m.s-1

v1 = 12.5 m.s-1

Q2. Find the velocity of bullet of mass 5 gram which is fired from a pistol of mass 1.5 kg. The recoil
velocity of pistol is 1.5 m.s-1.
Ans: Given,

Mass of bullet, m1 = 5 gram = 0.005 kg

Mass of pistol, m2 = 1.5 kg

The velocity of a bullet, v1 = ?

Recoil velocity of pistol, v2 = 1.5 m.s-1

Using law of conservation of momentum,

m1u1 + m2u2 = m1v1 + m2v2

Here, Initial velocity of the bullet, u1 = 0

Initial recoil velocity of a pistol, u2 = 0

∴ (0.005 kg)(0) + (1.5 kg)(0) = (0.005 kg)(v1) + (1.5 kg)(1.5 m.s-1)

0 = (0.005 kg)(v1)+(2.25 kg.m.s-1)

v1=-450 m.s-1

Hence, the recoil velocity of pistol is 450 m.s-1.

Compare the Newton’s first law of motion and Galileo’s assertion about momentum.

The first law defines momentum as the state of a system that remains constant in the absence of any
external force.
Conservation of momentum is a fundamental law of physics which states that the momentum of a
system is constant if there are no external forces acting on the system. It is embodied in Newton's first
law (the law of inertia).

Inertia is an object’s resistance to a change in motion. According to Newton's first Law, a body will
remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. Inertia is a
scalar quantity, which means it has only magnitude, not direction.

The moment of inertia expresses a bodies is an object’s tendency to resist angular acceleration, which is
the sum of the products of the mass of each particle in the body with the square of its distance from the
axis of rotation.

According to Newton's first Law, a body will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless
acted upon by an external force.
Newton's First Law states that a body will remain stationary or move at a constant velocity unless acted
upon by a resultant force.

Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line
unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This is normally taken as the
definition of inertia. The key point here is that if there is no net force acting on an object (if all the
external forces cancel each other out) then the object will maintain a constant velocity. If that velocity is
zero, then the object remains at rest. If an external force is applied, the velocity will change because of
the force.

Law of inertia, also called Newton’s first law, postulate in physics that, if a body is at rest or moving at a
constant speed in a straight line, it will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant speed
unless it is acted upon by a force.

Compare the Newton’s first law of motion and Galileo’s assertion about momentum. (What is
momentum according to newton’s first law? And what is momentum according to Galileo).

Galileo deduced from his experiments that a body in motion would remain in motion unless a force
(such as friction) caused it to come to rest. This law is also the first of Isaac Newton’s three laws of
motion.

he inclined plane thus allowed Galileo to accurately measure acceleration with simple instruments and
ultimately to prove that, in the absence of other forces such as air resistance, gravity causes all falling
objects to accelerate toward Earth at the same rate.

He deduced that an object which is uniformly accelerated will travel a greater distance in each
successive time interval such that the distance traveled is directly proportional to the square of the time.

Galileo showed that force causes acceleration. On the basis of the law of parabolic fall, Galileo reached
the conclusion that bodies fall on the surface of the earth at a constant acceleration, and that the force
of gravity which causes all bodies to move downward is a constant force.
Galileo found that the velocity required equaled the acceleration multiplied by the time elapsed and
that the distanced travel was always proportional to the square of the time elapsed
v=gt d=1/2gt^2

The Conclusion

Using a water clock, Galileo measured the time it took for the ball to roll a known distance down the
inclined plane. After many trials, he observed that the amount of time it took for the ball to roll down
the entire length of the ramp was equal to double the amount of time it took for the same ball to only
roll a quarter of the distance. In other words, if you doubled the amount of time that the ball was rolling,
it would travel four times as far.

Through this experiment, Galileo concluded that if an object is released from rest and gains speed at a
steady rate (as it would in free-fall or when rolling down an inclined plane), then the total distance, s,
traveled by the object is proportional to the time squared needed for that travel:

Galileo's laws of Motion:

Aside from his numerous inventions, Galileo also laid down the first accurate laws of motion for masses.
Galileo measured that all bodies accelerate at the same rate regardless of their size or mass.

Key among his investigations are:

developed the concept of motion in terms of velocity (speed and direction) through the use of inclined
planes.
developed the idea of force, as a cause for motion.
determined that the natural state of an object is rest or uniform motion, i.e. objects always have a
velocity, sometimes that velocity has a magnitude of zero = rest.
objects resist change in motion, which is called inertia.

Which falls first in a vacuum, a feather or a bowling ball?

Which ball will hit the ground first in a vacuum?
bowling ball
So, back to the bowling ball and the feather: The reason the bowling ball reaches the ground first is
because air resistance has a bigger impact on the feather as it falls. That air resistance slows the feather
down while not having much of an impact at all on the bowling ball.

Q2: A 1000 kg car and a 2000 kg truck are moving constantly forward
on a road. When they reach a stoplight, which vehicle can completely
stop first?

This tendency to resist changes in motion is known as “inertia,” and it is directly related to the object’s
mass. The more massive an object is, the more it resists changes in its motion
There is a direct relationship between mass and momentum, meaning that the greater an object’s mass,
the greater its momentum will be. Increasing an object’s velocity will also result in increased
momentum.

All objects resist changes in their state of motion. All objects have this tendency - they have inertia. But
do some objects have more of a tendency to resist changes than others? Absolutely yes! The tendency
of an object to resist changes in its state of motion varies with mass. Mass is that quantity that is solely
dependent upon the inertia of an object. The more inertia that an object has, the more mass that it has.
A more massive object has a greater tendency to resist changes in its state of motion.