Lopez, Jose Miguel Belleza ABM 211 Physical Science Ms. Bareng Sept.

10, 2018

Difference between the Classical and Modern View on Gravity

In Physics, theories of gravitation postulate mechanisms of interaction governing the

movements of bodies with mass. There have been numerous theories of gravitation since ancient
times, and there are also numerous of new mold theories that contributed a lot in Modern
Physics. But what are the differences between the classical and the modern views of the scientist,
astronomers or philosophers in Gravity? Here are the comparison between the two:

CLASSICAL VIEW MODERN VIEW

• It starts with the pulling of an object that • It is the force that attracts a body toward
have mass on the other object that has also a the center of the Earth or any other physical
measurable mass. body having mass.

• In the latter part, Aristotle believed that
there is no effect without a cause. He also
believed that all bodies move toward
according ot their purpose or with their
natural place. The caused of the downward
motion of heavy bodies or objects, such as
Earth, was related to their nature. For
example: Earth is heavy, therefore,
according to Aristotle, Earth will move to its
designated place and be in downward
motion because of its natural characteristics.
• Modern work on gravitational theory
began with the work of Galileo Galilei in his
famous experiments like dropping balls
from the Tower of Pisa and dropping or
sliding balls on a platform with a slope to
show gravity is independent on mass.
• In this, he concluded that gravity is the
same for all objects. It debunks Aristotle’s
theory that the heavier the object, the
heavier the gravity.

• From bottom to the upmost part, Aristotle
determine the order of the natural place of
elements (according to Aristotelian Physics
in Gravity: Natural Place): For the elements
earth and water, that place is the center of
the (geocentric) universe; the natural place
of water is a concentric shell around the
earth because earth is heavier; it sinks in
water. The natural place of air is likewise a
concentric shell surrounding that of water;
bubbles rise in water. Finally, the natural
place of fire is higher than that of air but
below the innermost celestial sphere
(carrying the Moon).
• Galileo postulated air resistance because
he observed that the less mass falls more
slowly in an atmosphere.
• With these, in the help of Galileo’s work
on gravity, Isaac Newton set a new stage for
his own.
• Newton formulated the force which keep
planets in their orbs or orbits (with the
gravitational constant.). The equation is the
following:
F = G [( m1m2) / r2]
Where F = Force; G = Gravitational
Contant; m1m2 = masses of the object; r =
• Aristotle also contributed in the theory of
Geocentricity (that was first presented by
Pythagoras) that states that the Earth is the
center of the Universe. In Acient times,
knowing that the Earth is the center,
therefore all heavy objects tend to move
downward or tend toward to the center of
the universe becuase of the inner heaviness
in regards to its nature.
• He also states that: “It is undeniable that
the gravity of a substance depends not on the
amount of its weight, but on its volume.” On
Book VII on his De Architectura.
• In India, Aryhabhata and Brahmatagupta
contributed on the views of gravity.
• Arybhabhata first identified the force on
why objects do not fall when Earth rotates,
and an indian mathematician and astronomer
Brahmagupta describe gravity as an
attractive force. He also stated that: “In
whatever direction you will throw an
objects, it will never rise upwards from the
Earth.”
• Position/View: Early astronomers and
philosphers used their resources and factual
informations (debunk afterwards) to come
up with a theoretical representation on what
gravity is. Despite of all of their doings, and
citing some credible and philosophical
statements of other people, sadly, they didn’t
achieve their goal to best represent and
define gravity. They only show little amount
of credible work, but lack on scientific or
real explanation about on their subject.
Additionally, early astronomers and
philosophers observe, not only observing but
carefully analyzing the experiments to
determine gravity. Although, science debunk
distance between the centers of the masses.
• The gravitational constant was first
measured in 1797 by Henry Cavendish.
• The formula created by Isaac Newton was
based on the Inverse – Square Law, also
presented by him, that states that a physical
quantity or intensity is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance
from the source of that physical quantity.
• In 1916, Albert Einstein’s theory of
General Relativity changed the thinking of
gravity
• Dark Energy comes in as the opposite or
the inverse of gravity. Gravity pull each
other to make a collision, making two or
more physical object occur attraction to each
other, while Dark Energy warps in the
opposite direction, pushing matter away.
• In theory of general relativity, the gravity
is not considered as a force, but instead, as a
spacetime curvature. This theory started out
as the Equivalence Principle that states: The
equality of the inertial and gravitational
mass is equivalent to the assertion that the
acceleration imparted to a body by a
gravitational field is independent of the
nature of the body. For Newton's equation of
motion in a gravitational field, written out in
full, it is:
(Inertial mass) • (Acceleration) = (Intensity
of the gravitational field) • (Gravitational
mass).
It is only when there is numerical equality
between the inertial and gravitational mass
that the acceleration is independent of the
nature of the body.
their representation and ideas about gravity,
modern scientist and astronomers can use
their informations to guide or to have
references on their projected representation
of gravity, probably credible enough to
make future representations on their studies
about gravity.
Sources:
(1) Edward Grant, The Foundations of
Modern Science in the Middle Ages,
(Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr.,
1996), pp. 60-1.
(2) Olaf Pedersen, Early Physics and
Astronomy, (Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Pr., 1993), p. 130
(3) Vitruvius, Marcus Pollio (1914). "7".
In Alfred A. Howard. De
Architectura libri decem [Ten Books
on Architecture]. VII. Warren, H. L.,
Robinson, L. (illus), Morris Hicky
Morgan. Harvard University,
Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. p. 215. (On the Heavens, 350
B.C. by Aristotle)
(4) Pickover, C. (2008). Archimedes to
Hawking: Laws of Science and the
Great Minds Behind Them. Oxford
University Press. Bose, Mainak
Kumar (1988). Late classical India.
A. Mukherjee & Co.
(5) Sen, Amartya (2005). The
Argumentative Indian. Allen Lane.
p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7139-9687-6.
(6) Alberuni's India. London : Paul, K. ,
Trench, Trübner & Co.,
1910.Electronic reproduction. Vol. 1
and 2. New York, N.Y. : Columbia
University Libraries, 2006. p. 272.
Retrieved 10 September, 2018
• Einstein proposed that gravity is something
that has trapped in Earth or any other
celestial body from all arround called
curvatures. Additionally, there are many
notable solutions on Einstein’s theory, and
he also considered the geodesic path ( a 4-D
starlight line curvature path.).
• Position/View: Modern scientist like
Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe, Johannes
Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein
used scientific facts in proving their own
proposals, representations and contributions
on gravity. They acknowledge mathematical
equations, credible facts and observation
from other scientist to come up on a new
theory or representation of such.
Additionally, these facts or informations are
being used to strongly support their idea
about gravity. They carefully extract
infromations from their experiment, with the
help of the facts from other scientist to
contest or show their represenation about
gravity.
Sources:
(1) http://mentalfloss.com/article/71857/why-dont-we-fall-
earth
(2) Einstein, Albert, How I Constructed the Theory of
Relativity, translated by Masahiro Morikawa from the
text recorded in Japanese by Jun Ishiwara, Association
of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) Bulletin,
Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 17–19, April 2005. Einstein recalls
events of 1907 in a talk in Japan on 14 December 1922.
(3) Einstein, Albert (2003). The Meaning of Relativity.
Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 9781134449798.
(4) Cohen, I. Bernard; George Edwin Smith (2002). The
Cambridge Companion to Newton. Cambridge
University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-521-65696-2.
(5) Taylor, W. B. (1876). "Kinetic Theories of
Gravitation". Smithsonian: 205–282.
(6) https://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/78
(7) https://www.britannica.com/science/gravity-physics
(8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da4W30vOWpI
(9) https://www.science20.com/the_standup_physicist/blog
/classical_gravity_part_1_the_problems-152844
(10)https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-
between-classical-and-modern-views-on-gravity