1. Understanding Free Fall & Gravity Using an Incline Plane

2. “All objects move towards their natural place”

3.  Objects fall down because the center of the Earth is their natural place.  The speed of an object in free fall is proportional to its mass.  Objects fall faster through mediums that are less dense.

5.  He had no equipment to conduct any research or experiments.  He had no way of knowing about air resistance.  He was not aware of the effects of friction.  He was a philosopher not a scientist.

6. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”

7.  All objects fall with the same rate of acceleration  Mass does not effect the rate of acceleration  An objects velocity will increase the farther it falls

8.  Goal = determine the value of “g”  Many people feel he conducted experiments by dropping objects off the “Tower of Pisa”.  Too difficult to get accurate results with equipment available  Used an incline plane to study free fall (objects move slower, easier to control)

9. Galileo Video

10.  Derived equation: Δd = v i t + ½at 2  Found that objects speed up at a faster rate when the angle of incline increases  Diameter effects rate of acceleration (bigger diameter=less friction, velocity increases)  All objects fall with the same rate of acceleration  For falling objects:  V ∝ T  D ∝ T 2  Concluded: All objects fall with the same rate of acceleration regardless of mass when you neglect air resistance.

11. Resulting Graph of Distance vs. Time

12. Resulting Graph of Distance vs. Time 2

13. Resulting Graph of Velocity vs. Time (mid)