The thing that always gets me about the Renaissance is Galileo:
He did those experiments with things falling down? Measuring speed?
Yeah. Without a clock.
The theory for how to build those came later, based on what Galileo did.
When accounting for air resistance, heavy objects do fall faster than light ones. They couldn’t test in a vacuum back then, they only knew how things work here in Earth’s atmosphere.
A similar size chunk of iron and coal would have done the experiment just fine. Any two objects of the same shape and size but significantly different densities.
If two objects have the same size and shape, the force applied by air resistance will be the same. However, if two objects have different mass, that same force will result in different acceleration.
While that is true, two properly selected objects (such as the ones mentioned above) can reduce the effect of air resistance to levels negligible to human perception, demonstrating that heavier objects do not intrinsically fall faster.
Nope, denser objects fall faster than less dense ones (through the air). Remember: A kilogram of feathers is just as heavy as a kilogram of lead.
I’ll still choose to be hit by the feathers.
You’ll get hit by what you’re told to get hit by and you’ll like it.
They did figure out the earth was round and measure its size with sticks and shadows though, so that’s pretty cool.
make a vacuum without bamboo, and with roman/early-medieval tech 😤
I mean, yes and no.~~https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity#Physics ~~Heavier objects have a higher “max speed” that they can fall at, compared to lighter objects. The acceleration to that relative speed is constant though. More or less.IE : While a bowling ball and a ping pong ball might start falling at the same initial rate, eventually the bowling ball will fall faster.EDIT : Ignore me for now, I need to do more digging.
In a medium, which is an important distinction
Yeah, it’s not like they just blindly accepted what he said. They held up a feather or a leaf or a sheet of paper and a lead weight and dropped them both at the same time and the lead weight hit the ground while the leaf was still fluttering in the wind.
That’s not because of weight though. That’s just one thing being affected more by air resistance. In a vacuum, there would be no difference. In fact, they did just that during the Apollo 15 mission on the moon using a feather and a hammer:
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_15_feather_and_hammer_drop.ogv
Hey buddy! I came to post that video!
I know what is happening. I know why it is happening. My brain is still screaming at the feather to slow down.
The acceleration to that relative speed is constant though. More or less.
It’s not. Air resistance will affect lighter objects more due to Newton’s second law and the square-cube law, resulting in heavier objects accelerating faster than light ones. Only at the initial instant, where there is no air resistance due to the speed being 0, will two objects of different weight be subject to the same downward acceleration.
It’s how Arthur fell faster then Fenchurch. He was heavier.
Due to air resistance, heavy objects do tend to fall slightly faster in atmosphere.
Take a balloon, fill it with air and drop it from a plane next to say a brick. The balloon may not hit the ground for awhile, especially if it gets caught in some air streams
