Galileo law of free fall

Sir Issac Newton and Galileo Galilei were two of the most leading scientist of 17th century.

Galileo and newton differences

Even though the two were never able to work together unfortunately as Issac Newton was born in the year of , the same year that Galileo passed away, between them there was certainly a storm of scientific revolution. Both Galileo and Newton made great contribution to Philosophy of Science and their work are still influencing us till today. There are definitely a lot of similarity between these two great philosophers.

Galileo made major contributions to the fields of physics, astronomy, cosmology, mathematics and philosophy. Curious with the world around him, Galileo designed an improved telescope which allowed him to view the universe closer and more precisely, from the surface of the moon to the rings of Saturn. Galileo also had great contributions to the beginning phases of laws of motion.

The Aristotelian law of free fall stated that the speed of objects falling depends on its weight, i. He was certain that heavy objects fall faster because air resistance slows down lighter objects, with the ideal case in which the resistance is eliminated, the speed of two falling objects of different weight would be the same.

Having done many scientific experiments of the rate in which objects fell to prove his idea, Galileo eventually developed the concept of inertia.

Galileo and newton's laws of motion

He was the first to formulate the law of inertia which was later generalized and expanded by Newton. Before Galileo, it had been thought that all horizontal motion required a direct cause, but Galileo deduced from his experiments that a body in motion would remain in motion unless a force caused it to come to rest. This is the Principle of Inertia.

Fundamental to his scientific task, Galileo used the Principle of Inertia to explain how it is possible that, if Earth is really spinning on its axis and orbiting the Sun, we do not sense that motion to support his belief of Heliocentrism. English physicist, philosopher, Mathematician Issac Newton expanded on the work of Galileo. When Newton arrived in Cambridge in , the movement now known as the Scientific Revolution was well advanced, and many of the works basic to modern science had appeared.

In , he presented the laws for the first time in his seminal work Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis.