- #1
talisman2212
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Homework Statement
Galileo in seeking to discover the laws governing the motion of bodies under the action of their weight, conducted a series of experiments on inclined planes. Choosing as unit of length the distance traveled by the ball the first unit of time, measuring at subsequent time points the distance traveled and repeating the experimental procedure with different mass ball finds the same numerical result: the distance [itex]s[/itex] traveled by any ball in the inclined plane under the influence of the weight, is square proportional to the time elapsed: [itex]s(t)=kt^2[/itex].
Gradually increasing the slope of the plane, finds that the value of [itex]k[/itex] increases to a maximum value which takes at the vertical gradient, i.e. freefall. Can you determine the relation between [itex]k[/itex] and the slope of the inclined plane?
Homework Equations
[itex]s(t)=kt^2[/itex]
The Attempt at a Solution
I tried this one: let the inclined plane have angle [itex]\theta[/itex], then [itex] sin \theta= \frac{AB}{AO}[/itex], we use now the fact that the distance traveled by the ball is [itex]s(t)=kt^2[/itex] so we can find the distances [itex]AO[/itex] and [itex]AB[/itex], that is [itex] sin \theta= \frac{AB}{AO} = \frac{gt^2}{kt^2} = \frac{g}{k}[/itex], but while [itex]\theta[/itex] increases, [itex]k[/itex] decreases, where is the wrong?
I tried also this: the first unit of time the ball travels distance: [itex]s(1)=k[/itex],
the second unit of time distance: [itex]s(2)=4k[/itex]
and the third unit of time distance: [itex]s(3)=9k[/itex].
I tried to use the Thales' theorem (Intercept theorem), but I don't know how to move on.