Qualitative Interpretation Of Motion
Qualitative study suggests to find the reason behind the action. E.g. Newton studied the fall of apple, and stated the reason as gravitational pull. This is qualitative study.
Aristotle’s Fallacy
Aristotle was the first scientist who studied the phenomena and gave his qualitative interpretation. He was a greek thinker in time period (384 B.C. – 322 B.C.). He explained that external force is needed to keep the body in motion . Aristotle stated that, if an arrow shot from the bow, then it keeps flying since the air behind it keeps pushing it in forward direction. Most of the explanations given by him were wrong. However, it signalled the beginning of Modern Science.
Aristotelian Law of Motion
He state that an external force is required to keep a body in motion . It means that the body will continue to be in motion under the application of external force . However, once this force was removed the body will no longer remain in motion. His interpretations was based on common experiences. E.g. A toy tied to a string is in motion till the boy pull it. If the boy leave pulling it then it comes to rest.
Flaw in Aristotle’s Law of Motion
To describe the flaw let’s discuss one example. Consider a boat moving in a still water. The boat moves because the engine apply force on water. However if the engine stops applying the force, does the boat come to rest at once? No. It means that any moving body did not come to rest on its own, external force is needed to be applied in opposite direction in order to bring the body in rest. If the boy leave pulling the toy then it comes to rest because of force of friction applied by the surface.
To understand this concept and other related concepts quickly, please refer the video lesson here.
This article is helpful for Class 11 Physics
Keywords: Motion, Law of motion, Aristotole’s Fallacy
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