Re: how did galileo know...

"Androcles" <Androcles@ MyPlace.org> wrote in message
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> "John Zinni" <j_zinni.NOCRAP@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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> | "Androcles" <Androcles@ MyPlace.org> wrote in message
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> | >
> | > "John Zinni" <j_zinni.NOCRAP@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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> | > | "Androcles" <Androcles@ MyPlace.org> wrote in message
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> | > | >
> | > | > "John Zinni" <j_zinni.NOCRAP@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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> | > | > | "francisco" <paco1955@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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> | > | > | > how did galileo know that the pendulum swings at the same
> | > frequency
> | > | > | > regardless of the amplitude?
> | > | > | >
> | > | > | > note: since pendulum were crucial to the building of the
> first
> | > | > clocks,
> | > | > | > galileo couldn't have used a clock to find the answer.
> | > | > |
> | > | > | He could compare two or more pendulums of equal length but
> | > different
> | > | > | amplitude.
> | > | > |
> | > | > Good Grief! Why don't you guess the answer instead of finding
> out?
> | > | >
> | > | > In the 1600's everyone went to church, including Galileo
> Galilei.
> | > | > This filled the churches.
> | > | > The people stank, and incense was burned to mask the odour.
> | > | >
> | > | >
> | > | > Etymology: Middle English encens, from Old French, from Late
> Latin
> | > | > incensum, from Latin, neuter of incensus, past participle of
> | > incendere
> | > | > to set on fire, from in- + -cendere to burn; akin to Latin
> candEre
> | > to
> | > | > glow -- more at CANDID
> | > | > 1 : material used to produce a fragrant odor when burned
> | > | > 2 : the perfume exhaled from some spices and gums when burned;
> | > broadly :
> | > | > a pleasing scent
> | > | >
> | > | > To distribute the pong of burning incense, the incense pot was
> hung
> | > | > from the church roof by a long rope or chain and swung back and
> | > forth.
> | > | >
> | > | > Galileo, intelligent, sitting in church and bored with the
> | > repetitive
> | > | > proceedings, timed the swing of the pot by counting his own
> pulse.
> | > |
> | > | I seriously doubt that Galileo conducted all of his pendulum
> | > experiments
> | > | while bored out of his skull sitting in church.
> | >
> | > You can seriously doubt all you want, but it was the biggest
> pendulum
> | > handy. Churches were the largest buildings around in the 17th
> century,
> | > topped only by cathedrals and the Coliseum which didn't have a roof
> | > to hang a pendulum from.
> |
> | And this is relevant why??? You don't need the largest building around
> to
> | conduct a few simple pendulum experiments.
>
> You do if you don't have a watch with a second hand on it.
>
>
>
> | "Time measurement was a major issue in many of Galileo's experiments.
> For
> | his pendulum experiments, Galileo seems to have compared the pendulums
> in
> | pairs over the same time. For example, a person would be assigned to
> each
> | pendulum of the pair and between the words "start" and "stop" each
> person
> | would count the number of oscillations. This method was used for
> comparison
> | in these experiments."
> |
> http://galileo.rice.edu/lib/student_work/experiment95/galileo_pendulum.html
>
> That came later, when he wanted to refine his initial discovery.

I would phrase it ...

That came later, when he wanted to verify his initial suspicion.


Counting the number of oscillations in a given period of time as judged by
his pulse is fine while he was sitting bored in church, but comparing the
number of oscillations of two pendula in some arbitrary period of time is a
controlled experiment.


>
> |
> |
> | > Slow pulse, no pocket watch, he needed a
> | > long swing to time as best he could.
> | > What do you think he used, a car tyre on a rope hanging from a tree
> | > with a kid swinging on it?
> | >
> | > Androcles
> | >
> | >
> | >
> |
> |
>


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