SHS

Physical Science
Activity Sheet
Quarter 2 – MELC 4
Week 2
Universal Laws of Physics:
Aristotle and Galileo

REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS

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Physical Science
Activity Sheet No. 4 - Universal Laws of Physics: Aristotle and Galileo
First Edition, 2020

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Introductory Message
Welcome to Physical Science!

The Learning Activity Sheet is a product of the collaborative efforts of the

Schools Division of Negros Occidental and DepEd Regional Office VI - Western
Visayas through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD). This is
developed to guide the learning facilitators (teachers, parents and responsible adults)
in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Basic Education
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The Learning Activity Sheet is self-directed instructional materials aimed to

guide the learners in accomplishing activities at their own pace and time using the
contextualized resources in the community. This will also assist the learners in
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The Physical Science Activity Sheet will help you facilitate the leaching-
learning activities specified in each Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC) with
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The Physical Science Activity Sheet is developed to help you continue

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meaningful and engaging activities for independent learning. Being an active learner,
carefully read and understand the instructions then perform the activities and answer
the assessments. This will be returned to your facilitator on the agreed schedule.

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Name of Learner: ___________________________________________________
Grade and Section: ____________________________Date: __________________

PHYSICAL SCIENCE ACTIVITY SHEET

Universal Laws of Physics: Aristotle and Galileo

I. Learning Competency with Code

Compare and contrast the Aristotelian and Galilean conceptions of vertical
motion, horizontal motion, and projectile motion (S11/12PS-IVc-46).

II. Background Information for Learners

Aristotle’s Notion of Motion

Aristotle’s ideas on motion focused on the two categories of motion: (1) natural
motions, and (2) violent motions. According to Aristotle, natural motion proceeds from
the “nature” of an object. Aristotle believed that the world was composed of four
elements, and objects were made from the combinations of these elements: air, earth,
fire, and water. According to him, each of these elements has a natural place. Earth
being the heaviest, belong to the lowest position. Water is situated above the Earth,
followed by air, then fire. Furthermore, he also claimed that the motion of the objects
depends on the combination of elements comprising the objects.
Aristotle asserted that every object in the universe has a proper place, which is
determined by its “nature.” Let’s say you are holding a piece of rock, what do you think
will happen to the rock if you will let it go? Since the rock is made of the element earth,
then its natural tendency is to fall towards the Earth, or it will naturally move down. It
is “natural” for heavy objects to fall, and for light objects to rise. Another example of
natural motion is that the sun naturally rises in the east, crosses the sky, and then sets
in the west. Now, put some water and soil in a glass. Then observe what will happen.
Isn’t it that the elements are moving towards their natural places?
In simple terms, when you speak of natural motion, it refers to any motion that
an object does “naturally” or without being forced. So, if an object is not situated in its
proper place, it will really “strive” to get to its natural resting place --- it will really seek
its natural place so to speak.
If you are talking of natural motion within the Earth, it is only either straight up
or straight down, just like the movement of the smoke and the rock. However, natural
motion beyond the Earth is circular, just like the moon and the sun which continually
circle the Earth in paths without beginning or end. (Bayo-ang, et. al., 2016).

Another category of Aristotle’s motion is the violent motion. This type of motion
is due to either a push or a pull --- this is a forced motion. Aristotle’s fundamental
view of motion is “there is no effect without a cause.” This means that a force,
particularly an external force, is needed to make an object move in an “unnatural”
manner. Well, this of course makes sense, right? For example, if you push or pull a
chair, you are applying force, therefore, it moves. When you stop pushing or pulling, it
will also stop moving. Similarly, if a rock suddenly moved across the ground, I’m sure
you will really look for the cause of its motion. Our common sense will tell us that
“something” caused that motion.

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 In addition, Aristotle made two assertions on how things fall:
(1) heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones; the speed of an object is
proportion to its weight; and
(2) the speed of fall of a given object depends inversely on the density of the
medium it is falling through; meaning, the same body will fall twice as fast
through a medium of half the density.
Well, these ideas seem to make sense, right? If you drop a hammer and a coin
simultaneously from the same height, then you can clearly see that the hammer will
reach the ground first, so the first assertion seems to be plausible.
Considering the second assertion, he figured out that a vacuum cannot exist,
because if it did, since it has zero density, all bodies would fall through it at infinite
speed which is clearly nonsense. Aristotle’s ideas regarding motion were accepted for
nearly 2000 years.

Another note-worthy contribution of Aristotle regarding motion is explanation of

projectile motion. Aristotle was curious about of the thing that is responsible for
maintaining the motion of a projectile after it left the thrower's hand. The concepts
below are his ideas regarding projectile motion:
Antiparistasis ("mutual replacement"):
✓ Medium is the required
contact force.
✓ Medium flows around
object to fill in space left
behind.
✓ Result: Object is pushed
forward.
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 Figure 1. Aristotle’s projectile motion. Retrieved from
object into new region, (http://faculty.poly.edu/~jbain/mms/lectures/15.GalileoMotio
n.pdf)
which is then imparted with
the "power" to act. (Bain,
n.d.)

Galileo’s Notion on Motion

Galileo invalidated Aristotle’s claim that objects of varying weights fall at
different speeds. According to the legend and one of the famous stories, Galileo
performed a simple experiment on the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that the
time of descent is independent of the objects’ masses (excluding the effect of air
resistance). He dropped balls of different masses from the same height and found out
that the balls reached the ground at the same time. He concluded that bodies fall on
the surface of the earth at a constant acceleration. Moreover, he explained that the
force of gravity which causes all bodies to move downward is a constant force. In other
words, a constant force does not lead to constant speed but to constant acceleration.
(Bayo-ang, et. al., 2016).

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 Although Aristotle’s ideas regarding motion are intuitively convincing, he failed
to consider the effects of friction in the motion of objects. Galileo claimed that
force is needed only to keep an object moving whenever there is friction. Galileo
verified his claim by letting balls along the inclined planes tilted at different angles. As
the balls rolled to a known distance down the inclined planes, Galileo measured the
time it took the ball to reach the known distance with the use of a water clock. The
following were the significant findings of Galileo’s experiment:
✓ as the ball rolled down the inclined plane, its speed increased. The ball rolled
partly in the direction of the pull of Earth’s gravity;
✓ as the ball moved up the inclined plane, that is in the opposite direction of the
Earth’s pull of gravity, its speed slowed down; and
✓ as the ball was made to roll on a level surface, the ball neither rolled with nor
against gravity. It had almost constant velocity. (Hewitt, 2005)

In addition, Galileo also noted that downhill motion is horizontal and vertical
motion at the same time. This was contrary to Aristotle’s notion that natural and violent
motions were different in nature. He also stated that in the absence of gravity which
increases the downward movement of the ball and decreases its upward movement,
the ball would neither start nor stop moving. Similarly, in the absence of friction, a ball
moving horizontally will move endlessly --- no force would be required to keep it
moving once it was set in motion.
Lastly, just like Aristotle, Galileo also laid his ideas regarding projectile motion.
According to Galileo, a projectile which is carried by a uniform horizontal motion
compounded with a naturally accelerated vertical motion describes a path which is a
semi-parabola.

Figure 2. Galileo’s projectile motion. Retrieved from

(http://faculty.poly.edu/~jbain/mms/lectures/15.GalileoMotion.pdf)

The path of the cannonball in the above-given illustration is described by a

horizontal component x and a vertical component y related to each other by y ∝ x2, or
y = kx2, where k = constant.

Galileo further explained that “no matter how heavy the body, if it falls from a
very considerable height, the resistance of the air will be such as to prevent any
increase in speed and will render the motion uniform.” This implies that motion can
continue in absence of external net forces. (Bain, n.d.)

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Activity Proper

Part A. Keep on Moving!

You are doing a great job, young scientist! With this, I am very much sure you
can successfully accomplish the following tasks. Your first task is to cite the differences
and similarities of Aristotle and Galileo’s ideas on motion by completing the table
below.
Ideas on Motion Aristotle Galileo
Similarities

Vertical Motion

Horizontal Motion

Projectile Motion

Part B. Think Critically!

Using your knowledge about Aristotle and Galileo’s ideas on motion, answer the
following question.

A ball is rolled across a counter top and

rolls slowly to a stop. If you are Aristotle,
how would you interpret this behavior? If
you are Galileo, how would you interpret
it?

Guide Question

How did Aristotle and Galileo view and explain the motion of objects?

III. Reflection

Did you learn something today? Are there still lingering questions?

Before you proceed to the next topic, you have to deposit ticket/s on the following
booths (whichever best represents your understanding of the day’s topic):
 Got It! (Write your significant learning for today’s topic)
 More Practice, Please. (Write the concept/s that you still want to explore)
 I Need Some Help! (Write the concept/s that remain/s to be unclear or confusing)

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Answers may vary. Aristotle and Galileo have different views, and even contrasting
explanations regarding the motion of an object. Aristotle’s philosophy laid out an
approach to the investigation of all natural phenomena. His rational way of argument
gave a framework for putting knowledge together, and deducing new results.
However, it can hardly be denied that some of his works in Physics which were
primarily based on very common experiences were not based scientific method
while Galileo had the first real advance understanding beyond Aristotle’s concept of
motion. In addition, he pioneered the method of bringing together experimental data
and mathematical analysis in the modern fashion --- a method which is now known
as the scientific method.
Guide Question
If you are Aristotle, you would probably say that the ball stops because it seeks its
natural state of rest. If you are Galileo, you would probably say that the friction
between the ball and the table overcomes the ball’s natural tendency to continue
rolling --- overcomes the ball’s inertia, and brings it to a stop.
Part B (Possible Answer)
Part A
Answer Key IV.