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Introduction: Who was correct? Galileo or Aristotle: Does the mass of an object affect the rate at which it free-falls to the Earth's surface?
Materials: Coin and feather tube, Vacuum pump, Coin, Feather or small bit of paper or foam, Meter stick.
Procedure:
1. Put the coin and feather inside of the tube
2. Get the vacuum pump and pump all of the air out
3. Flip the tube upside down each way
4. Record what you saw and tell which object hits the end of the tube first.
Scientific Procedure: The point of this project is to see which philosopher is correct, Galileo or Aristotle; and to figure out if the mass of an object affect the rate at which it free-falls to the earth's surface. A free falling object is an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. Any object that is being acted upon only by the force of gravity is said to be in a state of free fall. There are two important motion characteristics that are true of free-falling objects: 1.. Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance. 2. All free-falling objects (on Earth) accelerate downwards at a rate of 9.8 m/s/s (often approximated as 10 m/s/s for back-of-the-envelope calculations)
Safety Regulations: 1.Before dropping an objects, clear the area where the objects will land 2. To avoid over-heating, do not run the vacuum pump for extended periods of time. Be certain to open all valves on the pump when finished.
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