courtesy of Google
Images
courtesy of Google
Images
Arabic
rendering of Aristotle and Alexander
together
Rembrandt's "Aristotle Contemplating the Bust
of Homer"
In the fourth century B.C.
Aristotle did not have access to the mathematical tools for dealing
with the concept of acceleration, so he only studied systems in a state
of uniform velocity. He also did not analyze systems of frictionless
uniform motion because situations like that did not exists in his
natural world. Aristotle was aware that acceleration existed, but
without calculus he was not able to analyze it quantitatively. It
really wasnt until Newton came around that the
concept of uniform motion in a straight line with no acting outside
force was taken as essential to the study of dynamics.
Aristotle studied systems where motion was created through the application of a constant force and resisted by friction. The Newtonian equation representing this system is
F - µmg = m a
where µ is the coefficient of friction and g is the acceleration due to the gravitational force. Aristotle was able to recognize that for this system a constant force would be required to overcome the resisting force of the friction within the system.
Aristotle also studied systems of uniform motion wherein a massive body would fall through a resitive medium like air or water. For these systems Aristotle incorrectly claimed that the terminal velocity was inversely proportional to the cross sectional area of the falling object, rather than the radius. It actually wasnt until the nineteenth century that these systems were correctly analyzed by Stokes, and Aristotle's theories were left behind. So it seems that Aristotle actually came close to making a correct description of these situations.
Aristotle studied systems where motion was created through the application of a constant force and resisted by friction. The Newtonian equation representing this system is
F - µmg = m a
where µ is the coefficient of friction and g is the acceleration due to the gravitational force. Aristotle was able to recognize that for this system a constant force would be required to overcome the resisting force of the friction within the system.
Aristotle also studied systems of uniform motion wherein a massive body would fall through a resitive medium like air or water. For these systems Aristotle incorrectly claimed that the terminal velocity was inversely proportional to the cross sectional area of the falling object, rather than the radius. It actually wasnt until the nineteenth century that these systems were correctly analyzed by Stokes, and Aristotle's theories were left behind. So it seems that Aristotle actually came close to making a correct description of these situations.
