Who first put a feather & ballbearing in a vacuum?

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The discussion centers on the origins of the feather and ball bearing experiment in a vacuum, commonly used in school labs to demonstrate gravity. The Apollo 15 mission, where David Scott dropped a hammer and feather, and Galileo's experiments with cannonballs are referenced as notable historical examples of similar concepts. Participants speculate about the timeline, suggesting that Robert Hooke, who created a vacuum pump around 1660, may have played a role in its development. The conversation emphasizes the experiment's significance and its long-standing presence in educational settings. The quest for the exact origin of this classic experiment remains unresolved.
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I've got to really thinking about when this experiment was first done in schools...

During the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott dropped a hammer and feather - and Galileo rolled cannonballs down a slope - but does anyone know who first thought up the most simple, mind-bending school lab experiment of all time? Or when it first got used??

It's such a classic, I have to know!

:bugeye:
 
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Now I am trying to think when it was done.
 
Hooke invented a decent vacuum pump and was a contemporary of Newton
 
mgb_phys said:
Hooke invented a decent vacuum pump and was a contemporary of Newton

I like your thinking... well that was about 1660, so we've narrowed it down to the last 350 years! :wink:
 

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