A geometrical

approach to the
concepts of speed
and acceleration
John Rice, Kelly Matthews & J. Carlos Ponce Campuzano
Objective
We develop Galileos geometrical denition of the
concepts of speed and acceleration through
discussion of his experimental ndings about the
motion of falling objects. Rather than taking the
concepts of calculus and then applying them to
dene speed and acceleration in general, we do the
reverse, taking Galileos analysis of motion and
applying it to introduce the concepts of calculus.
This provides a novel point of view within a critical
and inquiry-based approach.
1.1 The concepts of speed and acceleration
How good is your understanding of speed and acceleration?
Would it stand up under cross-examination in court? Here are
some questions that you might be asked by a court prosecutor
to test your credibility as an expert witness:
1. Speed is understood as distance divided by time. What
distance is being referred to here? What time is being referred to
here?
2. Is this what your cars speedometer is measuring when it
registers, for example, 60 km/hr? To what distance and time
would it be referring?
3. Until the introduction of digital technology in the 1980s,
cars used eddy current speedometers (you can google this). Did
these measure any actual distances and times? What did they
measure?
4. How would you measure the change in speed of a vehicle?
5. What do you think acceleration means? (Getting faster
isnt an expert answer and would reect badly on your credibility.
You would be expected to give a numerical denition.)

Section 1
Introduction
2
1. 2 Galileo Galilei and the study of free fall motion
The renaissance Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (1564 1642)
introduced the modern notions of speed and acceleration in the
context of trying to understand the motion of falling objects. He
described the motion of a dropped object by saying that the
distance of its fall was proportional to the square of the duration
of its fall. In his world:
" there were no clocks or stop watches as we know them,
" there were no graphs, formulas or functions,
" there was no algebra or calculus.
So what could he have possibly meant by his description? In the
light of the dot points above, you should aim at a purely
geometrical interpretation. Can you devise an animation that
realises it?
Are Galileos words really a description of the motion of the
dropped object or just some limited aspect of it? Is there some
better way to describe the motion of objects?
To answer the above questions it may be helpful to talk about one
of the most famous experiments conducted by Galileo, known as
the inclined plane experiment.
3
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans (Source: Wikipedia)
Gallery 1.1
We all experience motion in our daily lives. In particular,
everybody has felt or witnessed motion due to gravity. The next
situations are examples of what we all know as Free Fall
Motion.
1) Throwing a ball straight up,
2) Dropping a coin from the top of a building
Free fall motion has been studied in all kinds of ways since
ancient times. However, at the dawn of the seventeenth century
Galileo introduced a decisively new approach which led him to
his remarkable discovery about the relationship between the
distance of fall and duration of fall of a dropped object.
Galileo made this discovery indirectly, because it was impossible
to measure accurately how long an object took to fall using the
technology of his day. He observed, however, that a falling object
was an extreme case of a ball rolling down an inclined plane in
the case of a falling object, the plane is e#ectively vertical.
So Galileo investigated the relationship between the distance of
travel and duration of travel of a ball rolling down a plane at a
range of inclinations that were not too steep, where the
necessary time measurement could be made with reasonable
accuracy.
Section 2
The inclined plane experiment
4
A replica of Galileos inclined plane (Source: Museo Galileo gallery)
Gallery 1.2
To measure the time it took for a ball to roll down the inclined
plane, Galileo used a water clock. This device consisted of a large
vessel of water placed in an elevated position with a small hole
drilled in the bottom connected to a pipe of small diameter. A thin
stream of water owed into a container below the vessel. To start
the clock, he allowed water to ow into the container. To stop the
clock, he stopped the ow of water. To reset the clock he emptied
the container.
By weighing the amount of water in the container, he could then
compare the times it took the ball to travel each distance. For
example, if twice as much water (in weight) lled the container, he
knew that the time measured was twice as long.
Although not used by Galileo, a variation on the water clock is to
measure the height of the water collected in a tube or pipe,
instead of weighing water collected in a container. This measures
time as a length, which is more attuned to the way we represent it
these days.
Thus, you can compare the distance covered by the ball and the
height of the water in the container. In the next section you will
nd a dynamic representation of Galileos experiment.
5
A sketch of the water clock based on Galileos description
(Source: Juan Carlos Ponce Campuzano).
Gallery 1.3 Water clock
We can emulate the inclined plane experiment (without considering friction) to gain
deeper insights into Galileos thought processes and the development of
mathematical ideas.
3.1 Galileos experimental setup
The applet on the next page shows a geometric representation of Galileos
experiment. The inclined plane is represented with a right-angled triangle. The ball
is represented with a circle. Finally, in this case, the water clock is represented with
a rectangle depicting the tube or pipe that is collecting running water. We are to
compare the height of the water with the distance covered by the ball.
The goal of this rst applet is to let you familiarise yourself with Galileos
experimental design. The ball rolls down the plane, which can be set at di#erent
inclinations.
General instructions:
1. To set the ball in motion, push the Start button.
2. Push the Reset button to begin the simulation again.
3. The slider, with the tag Base (horizontal segment at the bottom), changes the
angle of inclination of the plane.
Section 3
A dynamic representation
6
Instructions for interacting with the applet:
The above simulation allows you to manipulate the angle of
inclination of the plane. The point is to get familiar with the applet
in preparation for the next activity.
What shows you that it takes less time for the ball to roll down
planes that are more steeply inclined?
External link for PDF version:
http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m105359
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Interactive 1.1 Touch or click the image to interact (only ibook version)
3.2 Galileos discovery
The next applet adds features to the previous one to describe
Galileos experiments. These features are:
1. Time Intervals: You can choose the number of intervals of the
same length into which the time (container) is divided. On the
right side of the container is displayed the number of complete
time intervals, when the ball has covered a particular distance.
2. Time: Move this option to see where on the plane the ball
would be at that time.
3. The distance covered by the ball is divided into a number of
intervals of the same length, which depends on the number of
time intervals. Under the ball is displayed the number of
complete distance intervals covered by the ball.
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Galileo's inclined plane experiment. Fresco by Giuseppe Bezzuoli, 1841. Tribuna di Galileo, Florence. (Source: Wikipedia)
Gallery 1.4
Instructions for interacting with the applet:
1. The applet starts with one Time Interval, this means
that the time is not divided. Divide the time into two
intervals and observe the motion of the ball rolling down
by pushing the Start button or using the slider Time.
How many intervals does the ball cover in the rst time
interval? And in the second?
2. Choose another number of Time Intervals and observe
what happens in each case. For example, if the time is
divided into three intervals then how many distance
intervals does the ball cover in the rst time interval, in the
second one, and in the third one?
3. Find a relationship between the number of time
intervals and the number of distance intervals covered by
the ball and observe whether this relationship is still
maintained when you change the angle of inclination of
the plane. What is the relationship between the distance
and the time?
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Interactive 1.2 Touch or click on the image to interact (ibook version only)
External link for PDF version: http://www.geogebratube.org/student/m105356
- Galilei, Galileo (1954) [1632]. Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences. Translated
by Henry Crew and Alfonso De Salvio. New York, NY: Dover Publications.
Available online: Two New Sciences.
- Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza. (2011). Catalogue of the Museo Galileos
instruments on display. Italia.
Applets design with GeoGebra by Juan Carlos Ponce Campuzano:
http://www.geogebra.org/cms
Section 4
References
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Front page from the original version of Galileos book:
Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences.
Gallery 1.5