A geometrical

approach to the
concepts of speed
and acceleration
J. Rice
K. E. Matthews
J. C. Ponce Campuzano
!"#$%&'($
We uevelop ualileo's geometiical uefinition of the
concepts of speeu anu acceleiation thiough uiscussion
of his expeiimental finuings about the motion of
falling objects. Rathei than taking the concepts of
calculus anu then applying them to uefine speeu anu
acceleiation in geneial, we uo the ieveise, taking
ualileo's analysis of motion anu applying it to
intiouuce the concepts of calculus. This pioviues a
novel point of view within a ciitical anu inquiiy-baseu
appioach.
)*) ,-$ %./%$0&1 .2 10$$3 4/3 4%%$5$64&'./
Bow goou is youi unueistanuing of speeu anu
acceleiation. Woulu it stanu up unuei cioss-examination
in couit. Beie aie some questions that you might be
askeu by a couit piosecutoi to test youi cieuibility as an
expeit witness:
1. Speeu is unueistoou as uistance uiviueu by time.
What uistance is being iefeiieu to heie. What time is
being iefeiieu to heie.
2. Is this what youi cai's speeuometei is measuiing
when it iegisteis, foi example, 6u kmhi. To what
uistance anu time woulu it be iefeiiing.
S. 0ntil the intiouuction of uigital technology in the
198us, cais useu euuy cuiient speeuometeis (you can
google this). Biu these measuie any actual uistances anu
times. What uiu they measuie.
4. Bow woulu you measuie the change in speeu of a
vehicle.
S. What uo you think acceleiation means. ('uetting
fastei' isn't an expeit answei anu woulu ieflect bauly on
youi cieuibility. You woulu be expecteu to give a
numeiical uefinition.)

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8/&6.39%&'./
2
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The ienaissance Italian scientist ualileo ualilei (1S64 -
1642) intiouuceu the mouein notions of speeu anu
acceleiation in the context of tiying to unueistanu the
motion of falling objects. Be uesciibeu the motion of a
uioppeu object by saying that the uistance of its fall was
piopoitional to the squaie of the uuiation of its fall. In his
woilu:
- theie weie no clocks oi stop watches as we know them,
- theie weie no giaphs, foimulas oi functions,
- theie was no algebia oi calculus.
So what coulu he have possibly meant by his uesciiption.
In the light of the uot points above, you shoulu aim at a
puiely geometiical inteipietation. Can you uevise an
animation that iealises it.
Aie ualileo's woius ieally a uesciiption of the motion of
the uioppeu object oi just some limiteu aspect of it. Is
theie some bettei way to uesciibe the motion of objects.
To answei the above questions it may be helpful to talk
about one of the most famous expeiiments conuucteu by
ualileo, known as the '/%5'/$3 054/$ $>0$6'=$/&.
3
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans (Source: Wikipedia)
Gallery 1.1
We all expeiience motion in oui uaily lives. In paiticulai,
eveiybouy has felt oi witnesseu motion uue to giavity.
The next situations aie examples of what we all know as
?6$$ ?455 @.&'./.
1)Thiowing a ball stiaight up,
2)Biopping a coin fiom the top of a builuing
Fiee fall motion has been stuuieu in all kinus of ways
since ancient times. Bowevei, at the uawn of the
seventeenth centuiy ualileo intiouuceu a uecisively new
appioach, which leu him to his iemaikable uiscoveiy
about the ielationship between the uistance of fall anu
uuiation of fall of a uioppeu object.
ualileo maue this uiscoveiy inuiiectly, because it was
impossible to measuie accuiately how long an object
took to fall using the technology of his uay. Be obseiveu,
howevei, that a falling object was an extieme case of a
ball iolling uown an inclineu plane - in the case of a
falling object, the plane is effectively veitical.
7$%&'./ :
,-$ '/%5'/$3 054/$ $>0$6'=$/&
4
A replica of Galileos inclined plane (Source: Museo Galileo gallery)
Gallery 1.2
So ualileo investigateu the ielationship between !"#
%&'!()*# +, !-(.#/ ()% %0-(!&+) +, !-(.#/ +, ( 1(// -+//&)2
%+3) ( 4/()# (! ( -()2# +, &)*/&)(!&+)' that weie not too
steep, wheie the necessaiy time measuiement coulu be
maue with ieasonable accuiacy.
To measuie the time it took foi a ball to ioll uown the
inclineu plane, ualileo useu a watei clock. This uevice
consisteu of a laige vessel of watei
placeu in an elevateu position with a
small hole uiilleu in the bottom
connecteu to a pipe of small uiametei. A
thin stieam of watei floweu into a
containei below the vessel. To stait the
clock, he alloweu watei to flow into the
containei. To stop the clock, he stoppeu
the flow of watei. To ieset the clock he
emptieu the containei.
By weighing the amount of watei in the
containei, he coulu then compaie the
times it took the ball to tiavel each
uistance. Foi example, if twice as much
watei (in weight) filleu the containei, he knew that the
time measuieu was twice as long.
Although not useu by ualileo, a vaiiation on the watei
clock is to measuie the height of the watei collecteu in a
tube oi pipe, insteau of weighing watei collecteu in a
containei. This measuies time as a length, which is moie
attuneu to the way we iepiesent it these uays.
Thus, you can compaie the
uistance coveieu by the ball anu
the height of the watei in the
containei. In the next section you
will finu a uynamic iepiesentation
of ualileo's expeiiment.
5
A sketch of the water clock based on Galileos
description (Source: Juan Carlos Ponce Campuzano).
Gallery 1.3 Water clock
We can emulate the inclineu plane expeiiment (without consiueiing fiiction) to gain ueepei insights into ualileo's
thought piocesses anu the uevelopment of mathematical iueas.
A*) ;45'5$.B1 $>0$6'=$/&45 1$&90
The applet on the next page shows a geometiic iepiesentation of ualileo's expeiiment. The inclineu plane is iepiesenteu
with a iight-angleu tiiangle. The ball is iepiesenteu with a ciicle. Finally, in this case, the watei clock is iepiesenteu with
a iectangle uepicting the tube oi pipe that is collecting iunning watei. We aie to compaie the height of the watei with the
uistance coveieu by the ball.
The goal of this fiist applet is to let you familiaiize youiself with ualileo's expeiimental uesign. The ball iolls uown the
plane, which can be set at uiffeient inclinations.
;$/$645 '/1&69%&'./1C
1. To set the ball in motion, push the 7&46& button.
2. Push the D$1$& button to begin the simulation again.
S. The sliuei, with the tag E41$ (hoiizontal segment at the bottom), changes the angle of inclination of the plane.
7$%&'./ A
F 3</4='% 6$06$1$/&4&'./
6
8/1&69%&'./1 2.6 '/&$64%&'/G H'&- &-$ 4005$&C
The above simulation allows you to manipulate the angle
of inclination of the plane. The point is to get familiai
with the applet in piepaiation foi the next activity.
What shows you that it takes less time foi the ball to ioll
uown planes that aie moie steeply inclineu.
I>&$6/45 5'/J 2.6 KL? ($61'./:
http:www.geogebiatube.oigstuuentm1uSSS9
7
Interactive 1.1 Touch or click the image to interact (only ibook version)
A*: ;45'5$.B1 3'1%.($6<
The next applet auus featuies to the pievious one to
uesciibe ualileo's expeiiments. These featuies aie:
1. ,'=$ 8/&$6(451C You can choose the numbei of
inteivals of the same length into which the time
(containei) is uiviueu. 0n the iight siue of the
containei is uisplayeu the numbei of complete time
inteivals, when the ball has coveieu a paiticulai
uistance.
2. ,'=$C Nove this option to see wheie on the plane the
ball woulu be at that time.
S. The uistance coveieu by the ball is uiviueu into a
numbei of inteivals of the same length, which uepenus
on the numbei of time inteivals. 0nuei the ball is
uisplayeu the numbei of complete uistance inteivals
coveieu by the ball.
8
Galileo's inclined plane experiment. Fresco by Giuseppe Bezzuoli, 1841. Tribuna di Galileo, Florence. (Source: Wikipedia)
Gallery 1.4
8/1&69%&'./1 2.6 '/&$64%&'/G H'&- &-$ 4005$&C
1. The applet staits with one ,'=$ 8/&$6(45, this means
that the time is not uiviueu. Biviue the time into two
inteivals anu obseive the motion of the ball iolling uown
by pushing the 7&46& button oi using the sliuei ,'=$.
Bow many inteivals uoes the ball covei in the fiist time
inteival. Anu in the seconu.
2. Choose anothei numbei of ,'=$ 8/&$6(451 anu obseive
what happens in each case. Foi example, if the time is
uiviueu into thiee inteivals then how many uistance
inteivals uoes the ball covei in the fiist time inteival, in the
seconu one, anu in the thiiu one.
S. Finu a ielationship between the numbei of time
inteivals anu the numbei of uistance inteivals coveieu by
the ball anu obseive whethei this ielationship is still
maintaineu when you change the angle of inclination of the
plane. What is the ielationship between the uistance
coveieu by the ball anu the elapseu time.
9
Interactive 1.2 Touch or click on the image to interact (ibook
version only)
External link for PDF version:
http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m105356
M*) ,-$ "'6&- .2 10$$3
0sing the inclineu plane ualileo founu that:
,-$ 3'1&4/%$ %.($6$3 "< &-$ "455 H41 06.0.6&'./45 &.
&-$ 46$4 .2 4 1N946$ H-.1$ 1'3$ 5$/G&- H41 G'($/ "<
&-$ 3964&'./ O&'=$PQ 4/3 H'&- 4 3'22$6$/& %./1&4/& .2
06.0.6&'./45'&< 2.6 $4%- 3'22$6$/& '/%5'/4&'./*
So he infeiieu that this woulu be the same foi a fieely
falling ball. If we measuie time in seconus anu length in
meties (which of couise ualileo uiu not) then the
constant is ioughly 4.9, while foi inclinations less than
veitical the constant is smallei.
Natuially ualileo wonueieu why squaies shoulu have
anything to uo with uesciibing the motion of falling
objects, anu what the mysteiious constant of
piopoitionality coulu mean. ualileo 'explaineu' the
constant by thinking about iectangles of a fixeu shape,
meaning with a fixeu iatio of height to wiuth.
If we consiuei iectangles that aie twice as high as they
aie wiue then theii aiea will be twice the aiea of the
squaie foimeu on theii base. Noie geneially, iectangles
of a fixeu shape will exhibit the same iatio between theii
7$%&'./ M
;45'5$.B1 G$.=$&6'%45 4/45<1'1
10
Figure 1.1 Rectangle
aiea anu the aiea of the squaie foimeu on theii base as
they uo between theii height anu wiuth.
ualileo theiefoie conceiveu his geneial uiscoveiy about
balls iolling uown planes to say that to a plane with a
given inclination theie coiiesponueu a given shape of
iectangle. The uistance that a ball has iolleu uown the
plane is given by the aiea of the iectangle of this
paiticulai shape whose wiuth is equal to the uuiation of
tiavel.
These uays we woulu uemonstiate this using an
animation of a iectangle of this paiticulai shape whose
wiuth is expanuing at the iate of one metie pei seconu. At
any instant its wiuth woulu say how long it was since the
ball staiteu iolling anu its aiea woulu say how fai it hau
iolleu.
Noie geneially, any inteival of time coiiesponus to a
segment on the base of the expanuing iectangle. In the
couise of such a time inteival the iectangle expanus fiom
a smallei to a laigei one thiough an L-shape as shown in
Figuie 1.2.
The segment of the base coiiesponuing to the time
inteival is the 'foot' of this L-shape. The aiea of the L-
shape, being the uiffeience in the aiea of the iectangles at
the stait anu enu of the time inteival, gives the uistance
tiavelleu by the object uuiing this time inteival. The
uuiation of the time inteival is given by the length of its
11
Figure 1.2 Expanding rectangle
foot. Fiom these we can calculate the speeu of the falling
(oi iolling) object ovei this time inteival.
ualileo saw that he coulu simplify this calculation of
speeu by intiouucing an equivalent tiiangulai iathei than
iectangulai mouel. Be stackeu two copies of the same
iectangle one on top of the othei, then cut it in half along
a uiagonal. Thus he obtaineu a iight angleu tiiangle
whose wiuth anu aiea aie the same as the that of the
oiiginal iectangle, although it is twice as high as shown in
Figuie 1.S. The animation is now an expanuing iight
angleu tiiangle, anu again because the tiiangle expanus at
one metei pei seconu, the wiuth of the tiiangle at any
instant says foi how long the object has been falling (oi
the ball has been iolling) anu its aiea still says how fai it
has tiavelleu. 0vei any inteival of time the tiiangle
expanus thiough a stiip as shown in Figuie 1.4.
12
Figure 1.3 Triangle model
Figure 1.4 Expanding triangle
The aiea of this stiip says how fai the object has fallen
uuiing this time, anu its wiuth gives the uuiation of the
time inteival.
A stiip is much simplei than an L-shape. But it also gives
a uiiect geometiical inteipietation of speeu. The aiea of
the stiip is equal to the aiea of a iectangle whose height
is the aveiage of the heights of its euges. You can see this
in Figuie 1.S, which shows that the stiip is obtaineu fiom
this iectangle by cutting out a tiiangle on the left, anu
auuing in a congiuent tiiangle on the iight. Now the
uistance tiavelleu is equal to the aiea of this iectangle,
which is its height times the wiuth of its base. But this is
the height times the uuiation of tiavel, so the height must
give the speeu of the falling object.
Thus ualileo concluueu that &-$ 10$$3 .2 &-$ 2455'/G .6
6.55'/G ."#$%& .($6 4/< &'=$ '/&$6(45 =91& "$ $N945 &.
&-$ 4($64G$ .2 &-$ -$'G-&, at the beginning anu enu of
that time inteival, of the expanuing tiiangle that
uesciibes its motion.
In oiuei to have a bettei insight of what is mentioneu in
the pievious paiagiaphs, play foi a while with the
8/&$64%&'($ )*A which is baseu on ualileo's woik. In this
applet you will finu the iight angleu tiiangle mouel of
ualileo foi iepiesenting the speeu of the ball. The base of
the tiiangle iepiesents time anu the height iepiesents
speeu.
So you will be able to see simultaneously the motion of
the ball iolling uown the inclineu plane anu the
geometiical iepiesentation of the speeu.
13
Figure 1.5 Area of a strip
I>&$6/45 5'/J 2.6 KL? ($61'./:
http:www.geogebiatube.oigstuuentm1u61uS
Interactive 1.3 Touch or click on the image to interact (ibook version only)
14
It occuiieu to ualileo that the height of any tiiangle coulu
also be iegaiueu as such an aveiage when the eailiei anu
latei instants weie the same. This leu him to
ueciue that the height coulu be inteipieteu,
like the othei aveiages, as a measuie of
speeu, but at a single instant.
ualileo was not saying that the height was
the speeu of the iolling ball at an instant, in
the usual sense of that teim. Be unueistoou
that speeu at an instant maue no sense in
the usual teims of uistance tiavelleu
uiviueu by uuiation of tiavel, foi in an
instant one has tiavelleu no uistance anu
taken no time to uo it. Be was not saying
that he hau somehow finesseu this anu
uiviueu zeio by zeio, oi something infinitely
small by something infinitely small. Be was
simply noticing that the height coulu be
iegaiueu as an instance of the aveiage
height, anu since aveiage heights coiiesponueu to speeus
the height might theiefoie be consiueieu also as a
measuie of speeu; but cleaily an entiiely new kinu of
measuie.
ualileo seizeu on this new notion of speeu
because, unlike the usual notion, it was a
time vaiying quantity just like uistance, anu
hau a iate of change own. The usual notion
of speeu is a quantity ueteimineu ovei an
inteival of time iathei than an instant anu it
makes no sense at all to talk about the iate
of change of such a quantity.
M*: ,-$ "'6&- .2 4%%$5$64&'./
The iate of change of the instantaneous
speeu in the non-instantaneous sense is, in
some way, the shape of the expanuing
tiiangle; it is the iatio of its height to its
wiuth. This is because in any time inteival,
which coiiesponus to a stiip, the iate of
change of the height of the tiiangle is given
by the change in height uiviueu by the wiuth of the stiip.
But this is just the iatio of height to wiuth of the tiiangle
15
Galileo Galilei sculpted by Aristodemo
Costoli in 1851. Firenze, Italy. (Source:
Wikipedia)
at the top of the stiip, which has the same shape as (is
similai to) the expanuing tiiangle itself.
ualileo aigues that the instantaneous speeu shoulu be
iegaiueu as having an instantaneous iate of change that
is also constant, the same constant as the non-
instantaneous iate of change. Be saw this as key to
unueistanuing why tiiangles, anu thus iectangles anu
squaies, woulu have anything to uo the motion of falling
objects. Anu he saw in it a new conception of a natuial
law. The law of motion foi a falling object is that the iate
of change of its speeu is constant.
The novelty in this natuial law is that it is fiameu in
teims of iates of change. It caiiies the implication that
knowing the iate of change of a quantity allows
ueteimination of the quantity itself. It is the beginning of
a uynamical unueistanuing of the natuial woilu. In
auvanceu mathematical teims we woulu say that it
signals the solution of uiffeiential equations. The meiit of
ualileo's mouel, howevei, is that it can be unueistoou in
teims of junioi high school geometiy, anu yet conveys a
poweiful new way of unueistanuing natuial phenomena
in teims of a novel concept of iate of change.
The iate at which the instantaneous speeu incieaseu was
given a new name by ualileo 4%%$5$64&'./. The concept
of measuiable acceleiation uiu not exist befoie him,
although unuoubteuly people unueistoou the feeling of
getting fastei oi slowei. The acceleiation of a falling
object was ueteimineu by ualileo inuiiectly fiom his
expeiiments. In oui units it is 9.85'#*'#*. It is the fiist
physical constant of natuie uiscoveieu, by contiast with
geometiical constants like .
M*A ;45'5$.B1 =.3$5 G$/$645'R$3
Let us now geneialize ualileo's mouel so that we aiiive at
the inuefinite integial. The expanuing tiiangle can be
consiueieu as ueteimineu by the line y = mx, the x-axis
anu a veitical line moving at unit speeu to the iight
(Figuie 1.6: (). By changing the line y = mx to anothei
cuive we obtain a new mouel foi a time vaiying quantity
anu its iate of change. In this moie geneial mouel we also
fix a veitical line, so that mouel is the expanuing iegion
16
unuei the cuive, ovei the x-axis anu between the fixeu
anu moving veitical lines (see Figuie 1.6: 1).
The aiea of this expanuing iegion is the time vaiying
quantity of inteiest. Its iate of change at any instant is the
height of the cuive ovei the x-axis along the moving
veitical line at that instant.
This is just an animateu veision of the inuefinite integial
of the function whose giaph is given by the cuive. It will
be uistuibing in that it uefines away the funuamental
theoiem of calculus. It is still somewhat computationally
intiactable. Bowevei, it has the enoimous meiit of
showing veiy cleaily that knowing the iate of change of a
quantity anu the instant wheie it has the value zeio
ueteimines it completely. Foi the iate of change
ueteimines the height of the cuive above the x-axis, the
cuive is simply the giaph of the iate of change, anu the
instant wheie the quantity is zeio ueteimines the fixeu
veitical (left hanu) line.
Figure 1.6 Galileos model generalized.
17
[The universe] cannot be read until we
have learnt the language and become
familiar with the characters in which it
is written. It is written in mathematical
language, and the letters are triangles,
circles and other geometrical figures,
without which means it is humanly
impossible to comprehend a single
word.
Galileo, Il Saggiatore, p. 25.
18
- ualileo, ualilei (162S), 6/ 7(22&(!+-# (in Italian), Rome.
- ualilei, ualileo (19S4) |16S2j. 8&(/+20# 9+)*#-)&)2 :3+ ;#3 7*&#)*#'<
Tianslateu by Beniy Ciew anu Alfonso Be Salvio. New Yoik, NY: Bovei
Publications (pp. 1SS-18u). Available online: Two New Sciences.
- Istituto e Nuseo ui Stoiia uella Scienza. (2u11). 9(!(/+20# +, !"# =0'#+
>(/&/#+?' &)'!-05#)!' +) %&'4/(@< Italia.
Applets uesigneu with ;$.;$"64 by }uan Cailos Ponce Campuzano
http:www.geogebiatube.oiguseipiofileiu89S2
5
D$2$6$/%$1
19
Front page from the original version of Galileos book:
Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences.
Gallery 1.5
20
}ohn Rice
Bonoiaiy Piofessoi
School of Nathematics anu Statistics
0niveisity of Syuney
Kelly E. Natthews
Teaching anu Euucational Bevelopment Institute
0niveisity of Queenslanu
}uan Cailos Ponce Campuzano
School of Nathematics anu Physics
0niveisity of Queenslanu
F9&-.61:
70$%'45 &-4/J1 &.:
Petei Auams
Associate Bean
School of Nathematics anu Physics
0niveisity of Queenslanu