5-1 Galileo and Newton
GUIDEPOST CATEGORY: What happens when an object falls?
1. According to Aristotle what will eventually happen to a moving object with no forces in it?
2.
According to Galileo (and not according to Aristotle), what will a moving object with no forces (and
no friction) on it do?
3.
According to Galileo, the acceleration of a freely falling object due to gravity does or does not depend
on the mass/weight of the object.
4.
According to Aristotle, which of the following would be examples of violent motion and which are
natural motion?
5.
a.
an apple falling from a tree
b.
a person kicking soccer ball
c.
an arrow moving through the air after it’s left the bow
d.
warm air rising above hot pavement
e.
a skateboard rolling down a ramp
A ball is dropped from the top of a science building. What is the speed of the ball after falling for two
seconds?
6.
Galileo argued that gravity accelerates all objects at the same rate. This implies that any two objects
released from a tall building at the same instant would strike the ground at the same time. Explain why
a ball and a piece of paper do not fall at the same rate when released at the same time.
7.
Define speed, velocity, and acceleration and describe the differences between them.
GUIDEPOST CATEGORY: How did Newton discover gravity?
8. What does it mean to say that gravitation is mutual and universal?
9.
Why did Newton conclude that some force had to act on the moon?
10. When two objects of unequal mass orbit each other, where is the center of mass?
11. What is the difference between the mass of an object and the weight of the object? Which is constant
and which is variable?
12. Gravity obeys the inverse square law. How much stronger will the gravitational force of a body 2
meters form another body be than if they are 6 meters apart?