Galileo first announced the principle that things fall at the same rate, irrespective of their mass. That is, heavier things do not fall faster than light objects. In practice heavier objects *do* appear to fall faster but that is due to air resistance. The Guinea and Feather experiment was first demonstrated to me by a physics teacher, who put a coin and a feather into a glass tube (like a fluorescent tube). When inverted they both fell and the coin landed first, while the feather flutered slowly down. He then pumped out the air and did it again. This time they fell together. I was impressed. A few years later astronaut David Scott of Apollo15 decided to demontrate it on the Moon. No glass tube needed. The reference to it being a falcon feather needs explaining these days - at the time everyone watching would have known that the Apollo 15 lunar module was named Falcon. https://youtube/watch?v=03SPBXALJZI,
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 13:54:12 +0000
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