PHYSICS

CHAPTER VI:
EARTH IS NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE
 OBJECTIVES
• At the end of the lesson, you should be able to
• 1. Explain what the Greeks considered to be the three types of terrestrial motion;
• 2. Explain diurnal motion, annual motion, and precession of equinoxes;
• 3. Differentiate the competing models of the universe by Aristarchus, Ptolemy, Copernicus,
Brahe, and Kepler;
• 4. Explain the evidence that Earth is not the center of the universe; and
• 5. Discuss what is meant by Plato's "saving the appearances".
 THE GREEKS THREE TYPES OF
TERRESTRIAL MOTIONS

• Observation and description of motions of different objects on Earth, in the sky, in the
atmosphere, and in the universe preoccupied early people.
• The idea of the Greeks regarding terrestrial motion was highly influenced by the thoughts
of Aristotle.
• His philosophy was far more speculative than experimental.
• Every object in this world could be categorized under the following four elements: earth,
water, air, and fire.
• Natural motion was the result of the movement of things trying to get to where they
belonged. Forced motion, on the other hand, was motion that required intervention of an
outside mover. Objects not allowed to follow their natural motions would just sit still or
would take a rest. Rest for them was basic and motion required a cause.
 THERE WERE OTHER MOTIONS IN THE
SKY OBSERVED BY EARLY PEOPLE.
• Aristotle also postulated that planets and stars were made of a fifth element called “quintessence."
The natural motion of these objects was a circular path, not up or down. Early people had observed
that these celestial objects were moving in a circular path.
• diurnal motion which was the apparent daily motion of the sky from east to west.
• Annual motion referred to the events or phenomena that came annually or once a year.
• precession of the equinoxes This refers to the gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of
rotation. This is just like a wobbling top tracing out a pair of cones joined at their apices in a cycle of
approximately 26 000 years. Earth's precession is called precession of the equinoxes. This so called
precession moves westward along the ecliptic relative to the fixed stars. This is opposite the motion of
the Sun along the ecliptic. Historically, credit for discovering precession of the equinoxes was given
to Hipparchus. His observations date back to 147-127 B.C. This type of motion of Earth is caused by
the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Moon and, to a lesser extent, of other celestial bodies on
Earth.
 CONCEPT OF THE SPHERICAL EARTH

• The concept of the spherical Earth dates back to around the 6th century B.C. in ancient
Indian philosophy and ancient Mediterranean thought.
• Aristotle supported the idea of a spherical Earth.
• He provided physical and observational arguments regarding this matter.
• Horizon and eclipse.
 MODELS OF
ASTRONOMICAL
PHENOMENON
 MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE BY ARISTARCHUS,
PTOLEMY, AND COPERNICUS

• Aristotle, the foremost Greek scientist, failed to imagine what motion would be like without
friction because he did not recognize the idea of inertia.
• Motion according to him was either natural or violent/FORCED.
• To move Earth would require an enormous amount of force.
• Aristotle's model of the universe was constructed in layers with Earth located at the center.
• Earth itself was layered with earth, water, air, and fire.
• the Ptolemaic system where Earth lies stationary at the center of the celestial sphere. . In his
system, each planet is supposed to travel around Earth in loops while the orbits of the Sun
and Moon are circular.
PTOLEMAIC MODEL OF THE
UNIVERSE
• In 280 B.C. Aristarchus of Samos, a Greek astronomer and mathematician, presented the first
known model of the universe that placed the Sun at its center. His model had Earth revolving
around the Sun.
• The ancient thinkers then thought that if this were true and Earth were moving, then the distant
stars ought to change positions with respect to one another. His theory did not gain an enduring
support.
• The astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus formulated his theory of the moving Earth. He explained
that Earth rotates on its axis. It also revolves with the other planets around the Sun in
circular orbits. His theory was so controversial during his time that he had to work secretly to
avoid persecution. During the last days Earth of his life, his close friends persuaded him to send
his work to the printer. He received the first copy of his work, De Revolutionibus, on the day he
died. It was Galileo who first recognized Copernicus' idea of a moving Earth as reasonable.
 GALILEO'S ASTRONOMICAL
OBSERVATIONS AND DISCOVERIES
WEAKENED SUPPORT FOR THE
PTOLEMAIC MODEL
• In 1609, Galileo built his first telescope and began making observations of the heavenly
bodies. Among his discoveries and observations were the lunar craters on the Moon. He also
observed the four largest moons of Jupiter. He discovered the sunspots on the Sun which
confirms that the Sun rotates and the planets orbit around the Sun and not around
Earth.
• This is another evidence against the geocentric theory of the universe by Ptolemy.
• He also confirmed that the orbits of the planets were circular in shape which was later
proven to be wrong by Kepler who found out rough mathematical analysis of the data of
Brahe that the orbits of planets are ellipses where the Sun is at one of the foci of the ellipse.
 GALILEO'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
AND DISCOVERIES WEAKENED SUPPORT FOR
THE PTOLEMAIC MODEL
• supernova when he was able to observe one in 1604
• Using parallax, he was able to demonstrate that the new star was well beyond the Moon
• He also explained why the sizes of the stars were identical as seen by the naked eye.
• He said that fixed stars did not appear to change in position except for their apparent
movement across the sky due to the rotation of Earth on its axis.
• He explained the nature of the fixed stars as objects that were like the Sun.
• Galileo's observations of the planet Venus gave strong evidence to the heliocentric theory of
Copernicus and weakened the theory of Ptolemy
 KEPLER'S DISCOVERY OF HIS
LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION
• Even before the telescope was invented, accurate measurements and observations of the
positions of the stars, the Sun, the Moon, and the planets were already made by Tycho
Brahe, a Danish astronomer.
• When he died in 1601, his assistant Johannes Kepler obtained all his recorded data and
analyzed them.
• He formulated the three laws of planetary motion based on the vast amount of data gathered
by Tycho Brane.
 KEPLER S THREE LAWS OF
PLANETARY MOTION
• Law of ellipses. The planets move in elliptical orbits. The paths of the planets are ellipses
with the Sun at one focus.
• Law of equal areas An imaginary line from the planet to the Sun sweeps equal areas in
equal time intervals whether the planet is close to or far from the Sun. Figure 6.4 shows an
illustration of the law. Planets move fastest when they are closest to the Sun.
• Law of Harmonies. The squares of the sidereal periods (of revolution) of the planets are
directly proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun. The mathematical
expression can be used to find the period of any planet or its mean distance from the Sun if
one of them is known. To find the value of k for the Sun, the known value of Earth's orbit
could be used (Tearth = 365.24 days, REarth = 92 million miles).