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Galileo's Battle for the Heavens

His Experiments

 

Galileo homepage

Falling Objects | Projectiles | Inclined Planes | Pendulums

Diagram: inclined plane; ball is poised at the top of the plane/ramp

Inclined Plane

Galileo used an inclined plane to determine the rate of acceleration due to Earth's gravity. In one experiment, he changed the pitch of the plane, but not its height.

What do you think he discovered?

  1. the ball's speed at the end of the inclined plane is always the same

  2. the ball's speed at the end of the inclined plane depends on the inclination







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