June 29, 2007

One of the All-Time Great "Thought Experiments"

David Kolodney

This must have come from Galileo, I guess. In any case, it is to show that heavy objects don’t fall faster than lighter objects.

Imagine three identical bricks falling—at the same speed, obviously. Two of the bricks have adhesive on their sides.

As they fall, these two bricks happen to touch, and the adhesive joins them together.

Does this double-weight object suddenly begin to fall faster than the third brick?

Posted by david at June 29, 2007 3:33 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Yes, it is an elegant thought experiment. And yes, Galileo did use an equivalent one, though he was more inclined, I think, to have two of them tied together and therefore falling twice as fast as the lone one, till you cut the string.

Posted by: Porlock Junior at July 3, 2007 10:53 PM

A version all the more merciless to his opponents! Philosopher of Science Paul Feyerabend in "Against Method" says G's central contribution to Copernicus was his strength in argument (well, actually, he says "propaganda").

Posted by: David Kolodney at August 9, 2007 10:11 PM
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