PHYSICAL

SCIENCE
AT THE END OF THE SESSION, THE
LEARNERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
Explain how the Greeks knew that the Earth is

spherical.

Cite examples of astronomical phenomena known to

astronomers before the advent of telescopes.

Explain how Brahe’s innovations and extensive

collection of data in observational astronomy paved

the way for Kepler’s discovery of his laws of

planetary motion.
 ASTRONOMY
Astronomy is a natural science that studies

celestial objects and phenomena.

It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry to try and

explain their origin and evolution.

Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae,

galaxies, and comets.

Ancient peoples’ knowledge about astronomy has greatly

influenced their way of life.

SHAPE OF THE EARTH
Around 500 B.C., most Greeks

believed that the Earth was round,

not flat.

PYTHAGORAS and his pupils – were

first to propose a spherical Earth

 SHAPE OF THE EARTH
In 500 to 430 B.C., ANAXAGORAS

further supported Pythagoras’ proposal

through his observations of the shadow of the

Earth cast on the Moon during lunar eclipse,

the Earth’s shadow was reflected on the

Moons surface. The shadow reflected was

circular.
 SHAPE OF THE EARTH
Around 340 B.C. ARISTOTLE

listed several arguments for a spherical

Earth which included the positions of

the North Star, the shape of the moon

and sun, and the disappearance of the

ships when they sail over the horizon.

 ARISTOTLE’S
ARGUMENT

The North Star was believed to be

at a fixed position in the sky.

However, when Greeks traveled to

places nearer the equator, like

Egypt, they noticed that the North

Star is closer to the horizon.

Aristotle’s argument
Lunar Eclipse

During lunar eclipse, the shape

FLAT EARTH

of Earth’s shadow reflected on

the Moon’s surface is circular.

Unlike if it is flat it will cast an

elongated and elliptical shadow.

SPHERICAL EARTH
 ARISTOTLE’S ARGUMENT
Disappearing Ships

If the Earth was flat, then a ship

traveling away from an observer should

become smaller and smaller until it

disappeared. However, the Greeks

observed that the ship became smaller

and then its hull disappeared first before

the sail as if it was being enveloped by

the water until it completely disappear.

 THE SIZE OF THE
SPHERICAL EARTH
ERATOSTHENES who gave the most accurate size

during their time.

While he was working at the Library of Alexandria in

Northern Egypt, he received correspondence from

Syene in Southern Egypt which stated that a

vertical object did not cast any shadow at noontime

during summer solstice. But this was not the case in

Alexandria where, noon time during the summer

solstice, a vertical object still casts a shadow. The Ancient scholars tried to provide proof

of a spherical Earth and its

observations could only mean that the sun, during

circumference through calculations.

this time in Alexandria, was not directly overhead.

THE SIZE OF THE
SPHERICAL EARTH
Eratosthenes then determined the angle the Sun

made with the vertical direction by measuring the

shadow that a vertical stick cast. He found out that

in Alexandria, the Sun makes 7.2 degrees from the

vertical while o degree in Syene.

THE SIZE OF THE
SPHERICAL EARTH
To explained the difference, he hypothesized that the

light rays coming from the sun are parallel, and the

Earth is curved. For his measurements, he computed

the circumference of the Earth to be approximately

250 000 stadia. (a stadium is a unit of measurement

used to describe the size of a typical stadium at the

time) about 40 000 kilometers.

 PHASES OF THE MOON

ANAXAGORAS

Anaxagoras was able to explain what causes

the phases of the moon. According to him, the

moon shone only by a reflected sunlight. Since

it is a sphere, only half of it illuminated at a

time. This illuminated part that is visible from

the earth changes periodically.

MODELS OF
UNIVERSE
1.EUDOXUS’ MODEL

2.ARISTOTLE’S MODEL

3.ARISTARCHUS’ MODEL

4.HIPPARCHUS ’ MODEL

5.PTOLEMY’S MODEL

6.COPERNICUS’ MODEL

7.BRAHE’S MODEL
 EUDOXUS OF CNIDUS

EUDOXUS’ Born 385-390 B.C., a Greek astronomer and mathematician,

was the first to propose a model of the universe based on

MODEL geometry.

His model is composed of 27 concentric

spheres with Earth as the center.The Sun,

the Moon , the planets, and the fixed stars

have spheres.
ARISTotle’s model
ARISTOTLE

Born 384 B.C., a Greek philosopher and

astronomer, considered the model proposed

by Eudoxus, but he considered these spheres

as physical entities.

He thought that these spheres were filled

with the divine and eternal ether that

caused the spheres to move. He introduced

the Prime Mover, as the cause of the

movement of the spheres.

 ARISTARCHUS’ MODEL
ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS

Born 310 B.C., a Greek astronomer and

mathematician, was the first to hypothesize

that the Sun is the center of the universe.

He visualized that the moon orbits around the spherical

Earth which then revolves around the Sun.

He believed that the stars are very far away from the

Earth as evidenced by the absence of stellar parallax –

that is, the stars do not change positions relative to

each other as the Earth revolves around the Sun.

 HIPPARCHUS’ MODEL
HIPPARCHUS OF NICEA

Hipparchus was as a Greek astronomer,

geographer, and mathematician.

He is considered the founder of trigonometry.

He was most famous for his

incidental discovery of

precession of the equinoxes.

 PTOLEMY’S MODEL

CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY

Born 90 A.D. , a Greco- Egyptian astronomer

He accounted for the apparent motions of the planets

and the mathematician, proposed his own

around the Earth by assuming that each planet moved

geocentric (Earth centered) model of the

around a sphere called a epicycle. The center of the

universe.

epicycle then moved on a larger sphere called a deferent.

COPERNICUS’
MODEL
NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus, a renaissance

mathematician and astronomer born in Poland.

He ended the geocentric astronomy era by publishing his work

“On Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres” wherein he explained

that the Sun, not the Earth is the center of the universe.

He added that the Earth has three different motions: daily

rotation on its axis, yearly motion around the sun and the

precession, or change in orientation, of its axis every 26 000

years.
Brahe’s MODEL
TYCHO BRAHE

This model was developed by a Danish

astronomer Tycho Brahe. It was the

combination of Ptolemaic and Copernican

models.

This explains that the planets of the

solar system revolve around the sun

but the earth is the center of the

universe.
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
TELESCOPES
1.Rising and setting of the Sun

2.Point where the Sun rises and sets in the

horizon varies in a year

3.Phases of the moon

4.Eclipses

5.Daily and annual motion of the stars

6.Planets
 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
TELESCOPES
Rising and setting of the sun

Babylonians and Egyptians used a sundial

to systematically observe the motion of

the sun through its shadow created.

Through their observations they found out

that:Sun rises in the East and sets in the

West.
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
TELESCOPES

Point where the Sun rises and setsin the

horizon varies in a year

During Fall and Winter

Sun rises: Southeast

Sun sets: Southwest

During Spring and Summer

Sun rises: Northeast

Sun sets: Northwest

ASTRONOMICAL
PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT
OF TELESCOPES
Formation of seasons
 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
PHASES OF THE MOON TELESCOPES
 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
PHASES OF THE MOON TELESCOPES
Last Quarter
 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF
PHASES OF THE MOON TELESCOPES
Last Quarter
 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF TELESCOPES
Eclipses

LUNAR ECLIPSE – Occurs when the Earth cast a

shadow on the moon when the Earth is between

the sun and moon.

A phenomenon such as this is known as a lunar

eclipse wherein the moon changes into a dark or

blood red color.

SOLAR ECLIPSE – Occurs when the Moon is in

between the Sun and Earth and the moon

partially or completely blocks out the sun.

 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF TELESCOPES
DAILY AND ANNUAL MOTION OF STARS

DAILY MOTION ANNUAL MOTION

 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF TELESCOPES
Discovery of the Planets

Astronomers have discovered that

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn

are planets because they have noticed

that the stars are in the fixed position

which respect to each other (like how

constellations are always grouped).

But there are very bright stars that

change positions periodically. These stars

do not belong to any group of

constellations in the sky.Thus, they called

“wanderers” or planets in Greek terms.

 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF TELESCOPES
DISCOVERY OF PLANETS