Sorsogon National High School

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE (MODULE 13)

2nd Quarter; School Year 2020-2021
Name of Learner: Maureen Paula H. Collao Grade Level & Section: 11 HUMSS Diplomacy

TITLE OF THE LESSON: THE LAWS OF PHYSICS ARE UNIVERSAL

I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, learners are able to:
 describe Aristotelian and Galilean concepts of vertical motion, horizontal motion
and projectile motion;
 compare and contrast the Aristotelian and Galilean conceptions of vertical
motion, horizontal motion, and projectile motion;
 explain how Galileo inferred that objects in vacuum fall with uniform acceleration
and that force is not necessary to sustain horizontal motion; and
 explain the subtle distinction between Newton’s first law of motion (Law of
Inertia) and Galileo’s assertion that force is not necessary to sustain horizontal motion:

II. PRESENTATION OF THE LESSON:

ARISTOTELIAN AND GALILEAN CONCEPTS OF MOTION
ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPT OF MOTION- Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist
born in the city of Stagira, Chalcidice, on the Northern periphery of classical Greece.
Aristotle described motion into two kinds: natural and violent motion. Natural motion can be described
as any motion in which any object does naturally. If it is moved, it will return to its natural state. In
addition, solid materials (or liquids) fall as they seek their natural resting place. Air likes to rise upwards,
as do flames, since that is their natural resting place. Natural motion is either straight up or straight down.
Examples of natural motions include:
 A book lying at rest on a table naturally remains at rest.
If you let go of a book it naturally falls toward the Earth’s center.

Violent motion, on the other hand, is the type of motion which requires an external push or pull for the
object to move. Examples of violent motion include:
 Pushing a book along a table
 Lifting a book
Aristotle’s View on Motion
The Greek believed that everything was made of four elements - air, water, fire and earth. These four
elements possess vertical motion; the earth moves down toward its natural resting place. Water’s natural
place is just above earth. Air is another element in which generally it rises to its natural place in the
atmosphere. Fire rises to the atmosphere which is its natural place. Aristotle also believed that heavy
objects fall faster than lighter ones. He thought that objects fall at a speed proportional to their weights;
the heavier the object, the faster it falls.
Aristotle views horizontal motion of the projectile as the result of the tendency of any object in motion to
remain in motion at constant velocity. Due to the absence of horizontal forces, a projectile remains in
motion with constant horizontal velocity. Projectile motion is the motion of an object upon which the only
force acting is gravity. A projectile is any object that once trusted upwards continues in motion by its own
inertia and is pulled downward by force of gravity that manifest horizontal motion. He also had his view on
the projectile motion of an object. He believed that an impetus is given to an object thrown at a certain
angle which is a force or energy that permits an object to move.

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 The object will continue to move in the same direction until the impetus is lost and the object falls to the
ground and returns to its natural state.
As a summary, Aristotle believed that:
 All objects naturally seek their resting places.
 All motion on the Earth is linear.
 All motion in the heavens (outer space) is curved. The speed at which an
object falls is directly related to the mass of an object. Heavy objects fall faster than
lighter ones.
 Motion continues for as long as a force is applied to an object. Removing the force stops the
object.

GALILEO'S CONCEPTS OF MOTION

Galileo built his concepts of motion from Aristotle’s ideas. These are his ideas on horizontal and vertical
motion:
Horizontal motion. A moving object has the tendency to remain in motion at constant velocity. A ball
rolling on a plane will continue rolling with constant velocity. If unimpeded and no external force acts on
the ball, it will remain in motion with a constant horizontal velocity. If the Earth is flat and extended
infinitely, any moving object will continue to move indefinitely. This motion, however, is not evident in
nature as there are always external forces acting on all objects.
Vertical motion. Objects fall at the same time regardless of their weight in the absence of resistance. If an
object encounters a resistive force from a fluid equal or greater than its weight, it will slow down and
reach uniform motion until it reaches the bottom and stop. For example, in the absence of resistance, a
piece of paper and a piece of nail released from the same height will reach the bottom at the same time.
Galileo 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. However, he began to challenge Aristotle’s ideas when he did actual
experiments. Eventually, he presented his own description of motion, different from Aristotle’s.

GALILEAN CONCEPTIONS VS. ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPTS

According to Aristotle, motion can either be natural or violent. In natural motion, an object will move and
return to its natural state based on its material or composition. In violent motion, on the other hand, an
external push or pull is required for the object to move.
In natural motion, the object will move and will return to its natural state based on the object's material
or composition. In contrast, an object moving in a violent motion requires an external push or pull for the
object to move. For projectile motion, he believed that an object thrown at a certain angle is given an
impetus—a force or energy that permits an object to move. The projectile will continue to move until it
loses its impetus. The object will return to its natural state causing it to stop and fall to the ground.
Galileo disproved Aristotle’s claims and believed that the motion of objects is not simply due to the
composition of objects. He posited that motion can be measured using physical variables such as time
and distance and thus can be described mathematically. Through his experiments, he was able to prove
that:
1. an object in uniform motion will travel a distance that is proportional to the time it will take to
travel;
2. a uniformly accelerating object will travel at a speed proportional to some factor of time; and
3. an object in motion, if unimpeded, will continue to be in motion; an external force is not
necessary to maintain the motion.

GALILEO’S UNIFORM ACCELERATION

How Galileo Inferred That Objects in Vacuum Fall with Uniform Accelertion
The viewpoint of Aristotle regarding freely falling objects which prevailed until the 17 th century was
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challenged by Galileo. Galileo disproved Aristotle’s theory by pure reasoning and logical arguments. In
one of his experiments, he used three boxes of equal weights. The three boxes A, B, and C were placed
side to side and made to fall at the same time from the same height. Following Aristotle’s theory, the
boxes will fall at the same time. If boxes A and B were glued together and made to fall at the same time
as box C, will they fall faster than box C? Galileo argued that they will still fall and reach the bottom at the
same time. He argued further that B will not pull A faster as B alone was moving as fast as C. A cannot
push down B faster since A alone was moving as fast as C. This shows that although twice as heavy as
C, A and B together was falling as fast as C and therefore reach the bottom at the same time as C.

Figure 1. When the three boxes are placed side to side and made to fall from the
same height at the same time, they will fall to the bottom at the same time. If box
A was glued to box B and made to fall at the same time as box C, they will still
reach the bottom at the same time.

Galileo proved with his experiments that when objects are dropped simultaneously, they will reach the
ground at the same time regardless of their masses and air resistance. In another set of experiments, he
discovered that objects fall with uniform acceleration.
Galileo was fascinated by the behavior of falling objects. He knew that falling objects increase their
speed as they go down. This change in speed is acceleration. Galileo used inclined planes to investigate
the motion of objects as he did not have equipment to measure this change.
On his experiment, he had observed the following:
A ball rolling down an inclined plane increases its speed by the same value after every second. For
example, the speed of a rolling ball was found to increase by 2 m/s every second. The table below shows
the changes in speed:
Time (s)
Speed
(m/s)
0 0
1 2
2 4
3 6
4 8
5 10
As the inclined plane becomes steeper, the acceleration of the rolling ball increases.

 When the inclined plane was positioned vertically, the rolling ball reached its maximum
acceleration as if the ball is simply falling.
These observations led Galileo to conclude that regardless of the mass of objects, when air resistance is small
enough to be neglected, falling objects would always have uniform acceleration.
GALILEO’S ASSERTION ON HORIZONTAL MOTION AND NEWTON’S LAW OF INERTIA

What were Galileo’s contributions to the concept of motion?

Galileo tested his assertions by letting balls run down bent rails. As the ball is released from position A and
allowed to run down the bent rail ABC, the ball rises to position C, which is nearly the same height as A. The
ball is also made to run down the bent rail ABD and ABE and the ball again rises to nearly the same
height as position A. He observed that as the ball rolls down the rail, its speed increases; as it rolls up, its
speed decreases. Consequently, the ball will only reach nearly the same height as the original position.
This difference in height is due to the friction between the ball and the rail surface.
He also observed that as the ball runs down the bent rail, its speed increases. However, as the ball
moves up the rail, its speed decreases. This change in speed is due to gravity.

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Figure 2. When the ball rolls down the bent rail AB, it increases its speed because it is moving with gravity. When the ball rolls up the bent rail BC, it
moves against gravity, decreasing its speed.

When the ball is made to run down the bent rail ABF, where BF is horizontal, the ball will never be able to rise
to nearly the same height as position A. Instead, the ball will continue to move at constant speed in a straight
line.

Galileo showed that there is a natural tendency for objects to continue its state of motion unless a push or a
pull compels it to change that state. If the ball is moving, it will continue to do so at constant velocity just as it
will remain at rest if it was stationary. Galileo called this natural tendency inertia.

His assertions became the inspiration for Newton’s first law of motion. They both imply that no force is needed
to keep the motion of an object and that the object’s inertia would keep it from changing its state of motion.
Newton’s first law of motion states that “an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in
motion at constant speed and constant direction unless acted upon by an external force.”

What is the difference between Galileo’s assertion on horizontal motion and Newton’s first law of
motion?

There is a very subtle difference between Galileo’s assertion and Newton’s first law of motion. The difference
lies in the concept of force. Galileo knew about friction but did not know about the concept of force. He used
the terms “push and pull” to signify forces. It was Sir Isaac Newton who defined the concept of force and its
relation to motion. Newton’s first law of motion is also called the Law of Inertia.

How is the first law of motion used in everyday life?

The motion of a ball falling from the sky or a model rocket being launched up into the atmosphere are
examples of the law of inertia. It can also be used to explain the principle behind safety features used in cars
such as seat belts, head rest and air bags. These safety features are installed to prevent injuries to
passengers.

If a speeding car suddenly stops, the driver and the passenger are thrown forward. This is due to inertia
keeping them moving forward. On the other hand, when a car accelerates, the driver and the passenger tend
to move backward because of their tendency to remain at rest. This could also happen during collision where
the passenger is thrusted forward while the head tends to remain at rest. This could lead to serious head
injuries which can be life threating. This is the reason why cars are now equipped with these safety features.

Seat belts and air bags are designed to protect the passengers from injuries if they are thrown forward while
head rests are designed to protect passengers if they are thrown backward. The law requires that the driver
and passengers wear seatbelts.
III. LEARNING TASKS:
A. Practice Task 1:
Directions: Complete the table in the next page, identify the similarities and differences between the
views of Aristotle and Galileo

 An object in motion, if unimpeded, will continue to be in motion.

 -The element Earth moves down towards its natural resting place.
 Bodies need to be pushed or pulled to maintain horizontal motion.
 -An object is influenced by the downward force of gravity.
 -If two objects of different weight are dropped simultaneously from the same height
both will hit the ground at the same time in the absence of air resistance.
 -Projectiles follow a curved path
 Contribute to science progress about motion

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 Aristotle Conception Galileo Conception
The element earth moves down If two objects of different weight
Vertical Motion
towards its natural resting place.
are dropped simultaneously from
the same height, both will hit the
ground at the same time in the
absence of air resistance.
Bodies need to be pushed or pulled An object in motion, if un-
Horizontal motion
to maintain horizontal motion. impended, will continue to be in
motion.
An object is influenced by the Projectiles follow a curved path.
Projectile Motion
downward force of gravity.

Contributes to science progress about motion.

Similarities Motion
B. Practice Task 2:

Direction: Answer the following exercises. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. If an object rolls down an inclined plane with an acceleration of 5m/s 2, what
would be its speed after five seconds given that it starts at 0m/s at 0s? You may
complete the following table to know your answer.
Time Speed (m/s)
0 0
1 5
2 10
3 15
4 20
5 25

2. The acceleration due to gravity has a standard value of 9.8 m/s 2. Two balls are
thrown at the same time. One ball is released from rest, while the other ball is thrown
with an initial velocity of 10 m/s. How will you describe the acceleration of the two balls?
The acceleration of the two balls are equal. All objects fall at the same rate, regardless of their
mass or momentum. How fast something falls isn't dependent on the mass of an object.
Acceleration due to gravity is a constant regardless of the mass.

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 C. Practice Task 3

DIRECTION: Read the questions carefully and provide the answers by writing your responses in a separate
sheet of paper.
1. Explain Newton’s first law of motion as they occur in the following everyday events. Make sure
to use full sentences in your answers.
a. You are riding a skateboard and you suddenly hit something with the
front wheel.
An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion
at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced
force. So basically, because of the object that hit the front wheel of the
skateboard, it affected the speed of the skateboard and stopped it from
moving.
b. The difficulty in pushing a dead car.
The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of
force applied. The weight of a dead car prevents the person from pushing it easily.
c. Pushing a cart on an unpaved road versus pushing a cart on an
asphalt road.
The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the
amount of force applied. But regarding with this situation, it also depends
on what kind of surface the road is. Pushing a cart in an unpaved road is
much harder than pushing it on an asphalt road because the asphalt is
much smoother.
2. Is inertia good or bad? Briefly explain your answer.
Inertia is an explanation of facts. It’s not “good” or “bad” because it’s neutral. It’s
simply an observation and a statement of fact. The reason we recognize it is this: It
assesses the state of something.

IV. GENERALIZATION:
Answer the following questions:

1. Contrast the Aristotelian and Galilean concepts of Motion.

Aristotle believed that the laws governing the motion of the heavens were a different set of laws than
those that governed motion on the earth. Galileo's concept of inertia was quite contrary to Aristotle's
ideas of motion: in Galileo's dynamics the arrow continued to fly through the air because of the law of
inertia, while a block of wood on a table stopped sliding once the applied force was removed because
of frictional forces that Aristotle had failed to analyze correctly.
2. In your own words, expound the “GALILEO’S ASSERTION ON HORIZONTAL MOTION AND
NEWTON’S LAW OF INERTIA”.
Newton’s first law of motion is just a way of articulating that in order to lead up to the idea of what
happens if there is a net force on an object (his second law). But the importance of that idea was that
it was different than the Aristotelian notion that an object could only be in motion if it had a force
acting on it, that is, as soon as the force was removed, the object would stop. (That seems
reasonable if you are pushing a cart along the ground. When you stop pushing, the cart stops. But it
doesn’t account for all the forces.) However, Galileo’s assertion on horizontal motion and newton’s
law of inertia is the idea that helps to understand the origin of Newton's Law of Motion. It will resist
with an equal and opposite force. That is what is meant by 'Inertia is that tendency of matter to resist
changes in its velocity'. Objects will not change their velocities unless they are forced to by forces.
That is how Galileo came up with the concept of inertia. Inertia is that property of matter that opposes
changes in motion.

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IV. EVALUATION:

Directions: Encircle the letter of the correct answer

1. Which of the following are true about the natural motion of an object according to Aristotle?
a. An object will return to the ground if it has a similar material with earth.
b. An object will fall to the ground because it is thrown upward.
c. An object will go back to the air if it has a similar material with the air.
d. An object will return to its natural state depending on its composition.
2. Which of the following agrees with Galileo’s view of motion?
a. A flying baseball has both uniform motion and uniformly accelerating motion.
b. A box will stop sliding in a frictionless plane if the applied force is removed.
c. A balloon rises because it is mostly air, and the sky is its natural place.
d. An iron ball will always fall faster than a rubber ball.
3. Three objects A, B, and C with masses 5 kg, 8 kg, and 15 kg, respectively, were dropped
simultaneously. Neglecting air resistance, which object will have the greatest acceleration
upon reaching the ground?
a. Object A will have the greatest acceleration.
b. Object B will have the greatest acceleration.
c. Object C will have the greatest acceleration.
d. The three objects will have the same acceleration.
4. When a ball rolls on the floor, it will eventually stop. What force causes the ball to stop?
a. inertia c. friction
b. weight d. gravity
5. What is the difference between Galileo’s assertion of horizontal motion and Newton’s 1st law
of motion?
a. Newton’s 1st law emphasizes that a force is required to keep the motion of
the object.
b. Galileo did not use the concept of force in his assertions but only used “push
or pull”.
c. Newton’s inertia is based on mass, while Galileo’s inertia is based on weight.
d. Galileo asserted that a force is needed to keep the motion of the object.
VI.REMARKS:
In this part you can tell your teacher about what confused you, what part did you find difficult or what have
you learned about.
I find it easy to understand this lesson because we’ve tackled about this before in my previous year.

Prepared by JESUSA KRISTA P. JARDIOLIN, Teacher I

Language Critic: FRANCOIS L. DETERA, Master Teacher I
Content Editors: FRANCOIS L. DETERA, Master Teacher I
ANNE E. MANCIA, Assistant School Principal II for Academics
MARILYN B. DIVINA, School Principal IV.

No portion of this activity learning sheet may be reproduced without the expressed consent of the writer,
and of Sorsogon National High School. February 17, 2021