SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES-ESSAY
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Describe three discoveries or ideas of Galileo that led to being disciplined by the Catholic Church. Why were these things so threatening to the church's theology? Why was Isaac Newton was not disciplined for his revolutionary ideas?
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1. Became a convert to opinions of Copernicus/he supported a heliocentric solar system 2. Bible should be followed for its moral teachings but it does not contain answers to the mysteries of nature; cannot be placed together (Bible and nature) 3. Galileo wrote about his Ptolemaic and Copernican views in Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems and defended heliocentrism; was sentenced to life imprisonment The church was not ready for a fundamental change in thinking about the universe or relinquish any aspect of authority, including church's claim to be sole interpreter of the Bible Isaac Newton was not disciplined because he was born in England
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What was so significant about Newton's development of the law of gravity? How are the masses of objects and this distances between them related to the strength of gravity? Why did Newton have much less trouble with the Church than Galileo?
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It demonstrated how the solar system can be understood as a totally interrelated dynamical structure. He figured that such pull weakens inversely at the square of the distance from the center of the Earth. To compare the force at two different distances you would square each of those distances and interchange them because the force corresponding to the greater distance is smaller. Newton was born in England in the midst of a growing intellectual movement where they approached modern ways of scientific thought
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Briefly outline the changes in our understanding of the universe from Aristotle to Galileo, Tycho and Kepler. What scientific discoveries and inventions led to these changes?
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Aristotle-Things that move need a mover to launch them into motion, and to keep them going. There were 55 \"unmoved movers\" in his complicated system of spheres. The principles governing the sphere from the moon inwards (the \"sublunary\" sphere) were different than those from the moon outwards (inside, things could change and decay—outside, things were perfect and unchanging) Galileo-enhanced the telescope and saw that the whole earth and universe orbits around the sun/TELESCOPE Tycho-applied higher math to observational astronomy when he saw a comet orbit beyond the moon Kepler- idea that universe is built around certain symmetrical geometric figures and worked for Tyco until his death/3 LAWS OF MOTION
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How did our understanding of matter change from the days of the Greeks to Mendeleyev? What discoveries led to this better understanding? What discoveries led to a better understanding of the structure of atoms?
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Greeks-all matter is infinitely divisible, too small to be seen, solid, perpetually in motion, water was basis of all matter Mendeleev-put elements according to atomic weight in order Led to making of periodic table
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How is the periodic table of the elements arranged? How can the table be used to predict the properties of the elements? How can it help predict the reactivity of elements? Why are the molecular masses for the elements not in whole number values?
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They are arranged by which the properties recurred \"periodically\" when the cards were arranged on the basis of increasing atomic weight and prepared a table that reflected this. This can help predict the reactivity of elements because we can see how they are illustrated with how they form in their \"families\" in rational groups/characteristics The molecular masses for the elements are not in whole number values because there are different isotopes for the elements; atomic weight is average based on the proportions they occur in
