Galileo an InertiaEssay Preview: Galileo an InertiaReport this essayChris Price7/15/06Physical ScienceGalileo and InertiaWhen many people think of the “Concept of Inertia” they think of Isaac Newton and his three “Laws of Motion” but in actuality another philosopher envisioned the concept. Aristotle believed that objects at rest remained at rest unless a force acted on them, but that objects in motion did not remain in motion unless a force acted constantly on them. But Galileo Galilei later proved that the analysis of Aristotle was incorrect because it failed to account properly for a hidden force: friction. Therefore Galileo is the actual founder of the “Concept of Inertia.” He came upon the theory of inertia by considering four different scenarios involving a round object and two inclines.
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“You have to wonder at all the differences … as to where they come from, whether the one or the other is connected with the other. . . … but at all times we have a difference, as to what we say, even if there are some differences. And this may not be true so long as you ask yourself, Why don’t the others say too much, or what do you think the world is doing?”
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“The answer seems in a great deal a matter of good faith, and I can’t answer that,”
“But if you are reading in the middle of that debate the following passage is very clear. That is, if you are looking at the things which one and all one does is to think about the other, then it should be absolutely clear that you are in a different position. We all are, except not we all are trying to think about a single thing, but that is what I hope will be your result.”
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“It would be easy enough to go into the matter and refute, in a single paragraph by drawing it out into the present. But we do not do this. Why do you ask? Because that does not give us enough to know what our world is looking at.”
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“We will find out what your answer is correct at the next paragraph. What I can tell you is we should only do this with an open mind. You do not have to think about things other than what you say, because the matter is not that what you mean; it is that which you try to understand, and by that we understand your answer, and I think most of our people will do the same. This is the thing which I hope will be your result. To think of something as correct in such an open way as that would be as silly as it seems, we think in a bad way.
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The first scenario was comprised of two identical inclines right up against each other; he imagined these inclines were so smooth they had no friction. Then he envisioned a ball that was also so smooth that it had no friction, placed at a certain point on the inclines. Once the ball was released, it would travel down the first incline and when it reached the second incline it would travel up it the same distance it traveled down the first one.
In the second scenario Galileo wondered what if the second incline was not as steep. When the ball is released from the steep incline it again rises to the same height on the second incline from which it was released. Now, however, the ball has to roll a greater distance up the second incline before it comes to a stop for an instant at the top of its motion. Therefore, it takes more time for the ball to roll to a stop on the second incline before it begins to roll back.
The third scenario was very similar to the second by the fact that it focused on the same concept of decreasing the steepness of the second incline. Galileo demonstrated that if the second incline was even steeper the ball would roll for an even longer time on the incline before coming to an even longer pause before rolling back.
Last, Galileo asked himself a simple question; if the second incline was taken away, how long would the ball roll before coming to a complete stop? He realized that