What, If Any, Evidence Did Galileo Have for the Law

question 11

Multiple Choice

What, if any, evidence did Galileo have for the law of inertia?

• A) A smooth ball slows down when rolling uphill, and speeds up when rolling downhill, so it should maintain an unchanging speed on a level surface.
• B) Noting that the length of the year does not change, he concluded that Earth must maintain an unchanging speed when moving around the sun.
• C) Using a telescope, he observed meteors and comets moving at unchanging velocity through outer space.
• D) All of the above.
• E) He didn't have direct evidence, but proposed the law of inertia only because of the known failures of Aristotelian physics.

---

Definitions:

Economic Order

A systematic arrangement of activities and institutions that collectively determine the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a society.

Relative Luminance

A measure of the amount of light that is reflected from or emitted by a surface, viewed from a specific angle, and normalized to a scale from 0 to 1.

Retinal Disparity

The slight difference in the visual images that reach each eye, which is then interpreted by the brain to gauge depth and distance.

Brightness Constancy

The perception of an object maintaining consistent brightness despite changes in the lighting conditions around it.