Galileo's law of falling bodies states that all objects, regardless of their mass, will fall at the same rate in a vacuum when under the influence of gravity. This means that the acceleration due to gravity is constant and is approximately 9.8 meters per second squared.
Galileo conducted experiments by dropping objects of different masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and observed that they all fell at the same rate. He also used inclined planes to measure the acceleration of objects rolling down at different angles. From these experiments, he concluded that the mass of an object does not affect its rate of falling.
Yes, Galileo's law of falling bodies is still valid today. It has been confirmed by countless experiments and is a fundamental principle in the study of mechanics and gravity.
In a vacuum, Galileo's law of falling bodies holds true. However, in real-world situations, air resistance can affect the rate at which objects fall. This is why feathers and other light objects appear to fall slower than heavier objects, as they experience more air resistance.
Galileo's law of falling bodies is a special case of Newton's law of universal gravitation. Newton's law not only describes the acceleration of falling objects on Earth, but also the attraction between any two objects with mass. Galileo's law can be derived from Newton's law by considering an object falling towards the surface of the Earth as being attracted by its mass.