Galileo's Diluted Gravity

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In summary, Galileo's experiments with incline planes and rolling balls demonstrated that objects undergo uniform acceleration, regardless of their mass. However, in real-life situations like a soapbox derby, other forces like friction and air resistance come into play, causing heavier cars to have a greater advantage due to their greater inertia.
  • #1
stallion
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I am currently student teaching honors physics and while working on
free fall a student asked me a question I could not fully answer. We were
talking about Galileo's experiment using an incline plane and rolling balls
in order to show that objects undergo uniform acceleration. I then discussed
Galileo's thought experiment in which he tied a string to two stones with
the same shape but different masses in order to show that acceleration
is not proportional to mass. A student asked me how come,this was during
a soapbox derby activity he had done in another class, heavier cars rolled
down a hill faster than lighter ones. I was not sure how to answer that question. Is this due to rotational inertia??

Thank you :redface:
 
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  • #2
The soapbox cars have to overcome the friction in their wheels (notice that the wheels are supplied by the organizers to equalize the friction burden). Galileo ignored other forces; that was his breakthrough, that had eluded previous thinkers. He was able to imagine the force of gravity separately from all the confounding forces and think up experiments in which it would be approximately freely exhibited.
 
  • #3
Air resistance for example does not depend on the mass of an object. So the same force acts on all the cars (assuming the same shape and velocity) independent of their mass. But this force which opposes the motion of the cars has less effect on heavier cars, because of their greater inertia. So heaver cars are decelerated less by resistant forces thus acquiring a greater speed.
 
  • #4
Thanks for the info.

:smile:
 

1. What is Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory?

Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory states that the force of gravity on an object decreases as the object gets further away from the center of the Earth. This is because the gravitational pull of the Earth is spread out over a larger distance, making it weaker.

2. How did Galileo come up with this theory?

Galileo observed that objects of different weights fell at the same rate when dropped from the same height. He also noticed that the farther an object fell, the longer it took to reach the ground. This led him to conclude that the force of gravity must be weaker at greater distances from the Earth's surface.

3. Is Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory still accepted today?

Yes, Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory is still accepted and used in modern physics. It is a fundamental principle in the law of universal gravitation proposed by Isaac Newton and is also supported by Einstein's theory of general relativity.

4. How does Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory affect objects in space?

In space, where the gravitational pull of other objects is much weaker than that of the Earth, Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory becomes even more important. It explains why objects in orbit around the Earth, such as satellites, experience a constant state of freefall and do not fall back to Earth.

5. Can Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory be applied to other planets or objects in the universe?

Yes, Galileo's Diluted Gravity theory can be applied to any object in the universe. It explains the motion of planets around the Sun, moons around planets, and even the behavior of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. It is a fundamental principle in our understanding of the universe.

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