Acceleration, velocity, and gravity are important concepts that each played a role in this lab. Velocity is defined as the speed and direction of motion of a given object. The equation for this particular concept is: v=d/t which states that velocity equals displacement in respect to time. Acceleration is defined as how quickly and in what direction velocity changes. The equation for acceleration is: a=∆v/∆t in which the variable a represents acceleration, ∆v represents the change in velocity, and ∆t represents the time interval. In addition, gravity is the force that attracts a body towards any physical body that has mass.
Galileo Galilei discovered that the distance a standard accelerating object travels is proportional to the square of the …show more content…
It is a common misconception that a falling object of a greater weight would have a greater rate of acceleration than a falling object of a lesser weight. In fact, Aristotle himself believed that a heavier object would have a greater desire to be in its natural place. But in this case, Aristotle was incorrect. His logic can be disproved using Newton’s first and second laws of motion. Firstly, Newton’s first law states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an outside force. Nowadays, this law is also often referred to as the Law of Inertia. According to this law, the heavier object would have more inertia. Because it has more inertia, it also has a stronger resistance against changes in its state of motion. This larger amount of inertia offsets the larger amount of weight, so the two objects, although having different weights, would have the same rate of acceleration. In addition, Newton’s second law of motion—also known as the universal law gravitation—states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. Greater force on more massive objects is canceled out by the
Galileo Galilei discovered that the distance a standard accelerating object travels is proportional to the square of the …show more content…
It is a common misconception that a falling object of a greater weight would have a greater rate of acceleration than a falling object of a lesser weight. In fact, Aristotle himself believed that a heavier object would have a greater desire to be in its natural place. But in this case, Aristotle was incorrect. His logic can be disproved using Newton’s first and second laws of motion. Firstly, Newton’s first law states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an outside force. Nowadays, this law is also often referred to as the Law of Inertia. According to this law, the heavier object would have more inertia. Because it has more inertia, it also has a stronger resistance against changes in its state of motion. This larger amount of inertia offsets the larger amount of weight, so the two objects, although having different weights, would have the same rate of acceleration. In addition, Newton’s second law of motion—also known as the universal law gravitation—states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. Greater force on more massive objects is canceled out by the