Astro Midterm Prep Exam Questions & Answers 2024.

Astro Midterm Prep Exam Questions & Answers 2024. According to Aristotle, if earth and water were displaced then they would return naturally to their proper place. Today, what do we call this Aristotelian natural motion? - CORRECT ANSWER Today, natural motion of Aristotle's time is known as the motion produced by the force of gravity Today, what do we call the Aristotelian violent motion? - CORRECT ANSWER Today, the violent motion of Aristotle's time is known as the motion produced when a force acts against gravity. Which of Kepler's or Newton's laws best describes Aristotelian violent motions? - CORRECT ANSWER Newton's second law of motion (F = ma) best describes "violent motions" as accelerations resulting from forces acting on masses. Why would Aristotle's explanation of gravity not work if Earth is not the center of the Universe? - CORRECT ANSWER Aristotle taught that things composed of earth and/or water naturally moved toward the center of the Universe. Plants, animals and most objects found on Earth were believed to be made of earth and/or water and were thus attracted to the center of the Universe. If Earth were not at the center, all of these things would be pulled off Earth and toward the center of the Universe. According to the principles of Aristotle, what part of the motion of a baseball pitched across home plate is natural motion? What part is violent motion? - CORRECT ANSWER Aristotelian "natural motion" is the sinking of the ball toward the ground in response to gravity, and "violent motion" is the horizontal motion toward the plate. If you drop a feather and a steel hammer at the same moment, they should hit the ground at the same instant. Why doesn't this work on Earth, and why does it work on the Moon? Will it work on Phobos, a moon of Mars? - CORRECT ANSWER On Earth the air resistance to the feather's motion is much greater than it is on the hammer. This resistance slows the feather, which falls at a nearly constant speed, whereas the hammer accelerates downward, constantly increasing its speed. On the Moon, there is no atmosphere, and hence no air resistance. Therefore, the motion of the feather is not impeded by air resistance, and both the feather and hammer continue to accelerate as they fall and hit the ground at the same instant. Phobos also doesn't have an atmosphere, so results there would be the same as on the Moon.