Aristotelian and

Galelian
Concepts of
Motion
Presented by Group 1
What is Motion?
What is Motion?
the action or process of moving or being moved.
Aristotle's Concept of
Vertical Motion,
Horizontal Motion,
and Projectile Motion
 Aristotle's Concept of
Vertical Motion
Vertical motion is referred to as natural motion. In a
natural motion, the object will move and will return
to its natural state based on the object's material or
composition earth, water, air, and fire.
•For example, Aristotle believed that
because a ball fell when thrown
upward, its element was earth.

• Smoke goes up the air because it

seeks its natural place in the
atmosphere.

• Aristotelian concept of natural

motion is largely vertical motion
which is falling or rising.
Aristotle's Concept of
Horizontal Motion
An object moving in a violent motion requires
push or pull to maintain horizontal motion.
Motion continues only so long as there is an
applied force to an object. When the force is
removed, motion stops.
•The example at the right shows
piled boxes of food donations. The
boxes will remain on the floor unless
a push or a pull force is applied.

•Violent motion is imposed motion

caused by pushing or pulling.

•Aristotle classified any motion that

required a force as a "violent
motion". (He did not mean violent in
the sense that it is marked by the use
of harmful or destructive physical
force.)
 Aristotle's Concept of
Projectile Motion
Aristotle believed that the projectile motion of an object is
parallel to the ground until it is the object's time to fall
back into the ground. An impetus will be kept by the
object until such time that the initial force is forgotten,
and the object returns to its natural state to stop moving
and fall to the ground. He viewed projectile motion as
natural and violent motion. He said that heavy objects fall
faster than light ones.

The illustration shows an example
of cannon fired which gives the
cannonball an impetus.
•A notorious problem
for the Aristotelian
view was why arrows
shot from a bow
continued to fly
through the air after
they had left the bow
and the string was no
longer applying force
to them.
Aristotle's Explanation:
• Initial motive force transfers to
the medium initially surrounding
the object a "power" to act as a
motive force.

•Medium then forces object into

new region, which then imparted
with the “power” to act.
 Galileo’s Concept of
Vertical Motion,
Horizontal Motion,
and Projectile Motion
Galileo’s Concept of
Vertical Motion
In the absence of a resistance, objects
would fall not depending on their weight,
but in the time of fall. Also if the object
would encountered a resistive force from a
fluid equal or greater than its weigh, it will
slow down and reaches a uniform motion
until it reaches to bottom and stops.
 • For example, without
any resistance, a 1-kg
object will be as fast as
a 10-kg object when
falling because they fall
with the same amount
of time, given that they
are released from the
same height.

• Also, a stone dropped in the ocean will

sooner or later travel at constant speed.
 Galileo’s Concept of
Horizontal Motion
An object in motion, if unimpeded, will continue to
be in motion, and an external force is not
necessary to maintain the motion. If the Earth's
surface is very flat and extended infinitely, objects
that are pushed will not be impeded. Thus, the
objects will continue to move. This kind of motion,
however, is not evident in nature.
 For example, if a ball is pushed on an
infinitely flat plane, the ball will continue
to roll if unimpeded.
 •Galileo performed experiments on uniformly accelerated motion using an inclined
plane, and used the same apparatus to study projectile motion. Galileo was credited
for quantifying the "rate of fall" by measurement of distance and time and plotting it
graphically. He was able to slow down the "fall" using ramps rather than viscous
materials as Aristotle did resulting to significantly different conclusions related to the
"rate of fall".

•He correctly measured motion in two independent directions (horizontal and vertical)
and deduced that the "rate of fall" is better measured in terms of downward
acceleration.
•He used geometry to provide better description (kinematics) of projectile motion
whereby horizontal motion has zero acceleration (constant speed horizontally) and
content vertical acceleration.

•By varying the ball's horizontal velocity and vertical drop, Galileo was able to
determine that the path of a projectile is parabolic.

•He believed that a projectile is a combination of uniform motion in the horizontal

direction and uniformly accelerated motion in the vertical direction. If it is not
impeded, it will continue to move even without an applied force.
 For example, when you shoot a ball in a basketball
ring, the ball does not need a force to keep it moving.
FREE FALL AND
ACCELERATION
What is free fall?

IT IS AN OBJECT IN MOTION
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
ONLY THE FORCE OF
GRAVITY
 Free fall is defined as a situation in which an
object moves only under the influence of gravity.

An external force acts on the ball, which

accelerates its movement. This acceleration of
free fall is also known as gravitational
acceleration.

Free fall is just a downward movement with no

initial force or velocity.

Therefore, the free fall of any object is just a

natural phenomenon on Earth without support.
examples of Free Fall:

An Object Exhibiting Projectile Motion

An object that undergoes a projectile

motion exhibits a free-fall motion on its
descend. When both the vertical and
horizontal velocities of the object
approach zero, the object moves due to
the action of gravitational force. Hence,
the object drops to the ground,
displaying a free-fall motion.
examples of Free Fall:

Sky Diving

Sky diving is one of the prime

applications that makes use of free-fall
motion for the purpose of amusement
and enjoyment. The skydiver jumps off
an aeroplane from a high point in the
atmosphere. The gravitational pull of
the earth then drags the skydiver to the
ground, thereby allowing the skydiver
to display free-fall motion.
The formula for free fall:

Imagine an object body is falling freely for time t seconds,

with final velocity v, from a height h, due to gravity g. It
will follow the following equations of motion as:
1. h= 1/2𝑔𝑡²
2. v²= 2gh
3. v=gt
Where,
h — Height traveled
v — Final velocity
g — Acceleration due to gravity
t — Time taken
The formula for free fall:

These equations can be derived from

the usual equations of motions as given
below, by substituting Freefall is the
autonomous
initial velocity u=0, phenomena of the
body with some mass.
distance traveled s=h and acceleration, It only depends on
a=g. height from the
surface and the time
We can see it as follows: period for which the
s= 𝑢𝑡+1/2𝑎𝑡² body is flung.

v² =u²+ 2as

v=u+at
 Example:
Example-1: Compute the height of the body if it has a mass of 2 Kg and
touches the ground after 5 seconds?
Solution:
Given parameters are:
Time t = 5 sec
We have to compute the height. So, we can apply the first equation as
given above.
i.e. h= 1/2𝑔𝑡²
Substituting the values,
h= 1/2𝑔𝑡²
h= 1/2×9.8×25
h= 4.9 × 25
h = 122.5 m
Therefore height as required will be 122.5 meter.