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Title: First Lessons in Natural Philosophy for Beginners
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRST LESSONS
IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY FOR BEGINNERS ***
FIRST LESSONS
IN
Natural Philosophy
FOR BEGINNERS.
BY
JOSEPH C. MARTINDALE, M.D.,
LATE PRINCIPAL OF MADISON GRAMMAR SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA; AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS, ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:
ELDREDGE & BROTHER,
No. 17 North Seventh Street.
1881.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by
ELDREDGE & BROTHER,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
J. FAGAN A SON,
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILAD’A.
M.
KEYSTONE PRESS OF W J. DORNAN
v
Preface.
In preparing this little work, our desire has been to afford both
pleasure and profit to those who may read or study its pages.
The most interesting, as well as the most useful things to us, are
those with which we meet in every-day life; but we must have some
knowledge of these things, ere we can contemplate them with much
pleasure, or use them to our greatest profit.
Simple truths in natural science may be learned at an early age; for
it requires no more than the ordinary intelligence possessed by boys
and girls to understand them. Such facts are not only valuable in
themselves, but they are also useful in disciplining the mind by
teaching it to observe the many changes constantly going on around
us, and to reason and reflect in regard to the same. Habits of
observation and reflection thus formed are likely to go with us
through life; and they may prove a blessing in a thousand ways; for
they will not only add to our comfort and our enjoyment, but they
will also produce many a pleasing thought.
We have endeavored to make a book that can be easily understood;
but few scientific terms will be found in it, for its language is the
language in familiar use; hence, it may serve to interest the fireside
circle, and it may be referred to by intelligent boys and girls for vi
answers to the many perplexing questions which are so often
presented to their inquiring minds.
Many pupils have not the chance to attend even an Academy or a
High School. It is to such that this book is especially adapted, for it
is believed to contain as much matter as can be taught with
satisfaction and profit in our public or our private schools; but to
other pupils, it will prove a valuable introduction to larger and more
comprehensive works.
Whenever a drawing would illustrate a fact, and make its application
plainer, it has been made; but by far the best illustrations of
hundreds of facts, explained in the text, will be found in the world
around us, and the attention of both pupil and teacher should
always be directed to this reliable and never-ending source.
In presenting these Familiar Lessons in Natural Philosophy to the
youth of our country, it is with the earnest hope that it may make
them better acquainted with the natural objects surrounding us; that
it may lead them to observe the order, the harmony, and the beauty
in nature everywhere; and that it may help to turn their thoughts
more and more to Him, who is the Creator and Ruler of all things.
J. C. M.
vii
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.—Astronomy. 9
The Earth and other Planets 9
The Moon 14
Eclipses 18
CHAPTER II.—Light. 22
Color 22
Refraction of Light 32
Reflection of Light 34
The Eye 38
CHAPTER III.—Heat. 42
Sources of Heat 42
Expansion by Heat 46
Conduction of Heat 54
Convection of Heat 59
Liquefaction 61
Latent Heat 63
Ebullition 65
Vaporization 66
Evaporation 69
Radiation 71
Reflection 73
Absorption 74
CHAPTER IV.—The Air. 77
Winds 96
CHAPTER V.—Water. 99
Springs and Streams 104
Fogs and Clouds 106
Dew 109
Frost 112
Rain, Snow, and Hail 113
Ice 116
CHAPTER VI.—Sound. 118
Conduction of Sound 122
Trumpets and Speaking-tubes 125
Velocity of Sound 127
Reflection of Sound 128
CHAPTER VII.—Matter. 131
CHAPTER VIII.—Attraction. 137
Cohesion and Adhesion 137
Capillary Attraction 140
Gravitation 141
Centre of Gravity 145
Specific Gravity 150
CHAPTER IX.—Motion. 154
CHAPTER X.—Mechanical Powers. 164
Lever 164
Wheel and Axle 174
Pulley 176
Inclined Plane 177
Wedge 180
Screw 181
CHAPTER XI.—Electricity. 183
Magnetism 187
Electro-Magnetism 189
FIRST LESSONS
IN
Natural Philosophy.
CHAPTER I.
Astronomy.
The Earth and Other Planets.
Fig. 1.
What is the shape of the Earth on which we live?
It is round like a ball.
What other names are given to the Earth?
It is called the World or Globe.
What else is it sometimes called?
It is called a Planet.
Are there any other planets?
10
Yes; some of the stars are called planets.
Is our earth or world a star?
It is a star.
Why do the other stars seem to us different from the earth?
Because they are so far away from us.
What gives light to the planets?
The Sun gives light to the planets.
Of what is the sun the centre?
The sun is the centre of the solar system.
Do the planets remain in one place?
The planets do not remain in one place, but are always moving.
How do the planets move?
They move around the sun.
Are some planets nearer the sun than others?
Yes; some planets are much nearer the sun than others.
Which planet is nearest the sun?
The planet called Mercury.
Which is next to Mercury?
The planet called Venus.
And which is third in distance from the sun?
Our own planet, the Earth.
Are there any planets still farther from the sun?
Yes; Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and many
smaller planets.
How does each planet move?
11
It moves in its own track or orbit around the sun, as is
represented in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Does the earth always move in the same orbit around the sun?
Yes; the earth moves in the same orbit around the sun, year after
year.
How long does it take the earth to move around the sun?
365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes, or one year.
What makes a year to us?
A year to us is the time required by the earth to move around the
sun.
If the earth is in a certain place at noon, on New Year’s day, when will it be in
that place again?
5 hours and 49 minutes after noon on New Year’s day of the next
year.
What, then, does the earth do every year?
The earth moves around the sun and comes back to the place
whence it started, once every year.
Has the earth any other motion than the one around the sun?
12
It has; it turns over and over.
Does the earth stay in one place as it turns over and over?
It does not; it moves on in its track around the sun.
How many times does it turn over while going around the sun?
Three hundred and sixty-five times.
How many times, then, does it turn over in one year?
The earth turns over three hundred and sixty-five times in a year.
What is the time which it takes to turn over once called?
It is called a day.
How many days in a year?
There are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year.
What two motions, then, has the earth?
It turns over and over, and at the same time it moves around the
sun.
What change is produced on the earth by its moving around the sun?
The change of Seasons.
Will you name the seasons?
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn.
Do they follow each other in regular order?
They do; Spring follows Winter, Summer follows Spring, Autumn
follows Summer, Winter follows Autumn, and Spring follows Winter
again.
How often have we these seasons?
As often as the earth moves around the sun, which is once a year.
What change is produced on the earth by its turning over?
13
The change of day and night.
Where is it day?
It is day on that part of the earth which is turned towards the sun.
Where is it night?
It is night on that part of the earth which is turned away from the
sun.
How often do we have the change from day to night?
As often as the earth turns over, which is once in twenty-four
hours.
What is a day?
A day is the time from sunrise till sunrise again, from sunset till
sunset again, from noon till noon again, or from midnight till
midnight again.
What does a day include?
It includes the night-time as well as the day-time, of the twenty-
four hours.
When it is day-time on one part of the earth, what is it on the opposite part?
It is night-time on the opposite part.
When it is morning to us, what is it to people living on the opposite side of the
earth?
When it is morning to us, it is evening to them; when it is day-
time to us, it is night-time to them; and when it is noon to us, it is
midnight to them.
On how much of the earth is it always day?
It is day on one-half of the earth, while on the other half it is
night.
The sun seems to move around the earth; does it really do so?
14
No; it does not move around the earth.
Does the earth move?
Yes; it turns over once every day.
Why does it not seem to us to be moving?
Because we move along with it. If we are on a railroad car, the
trees and houses along the road appear to move, and the car to
stand still; but the car really moves, while the trees and houses
stand still.
In what direction does the earth turn on its axis?
The earth turns from west to east.
Where do the sun, moon, and stars rise?
The sun, moon, and stars rise in the east.
The teacher may, by means of a ball or small globe, readily make these things
so plain that they can be understood even by small children.
When is it sunrise to us?
When the part of the earth on which we are, first comes into the
sun’s rays.
When is it sunset to us?
When the part of the earth on which we are, moves out of the
sun’s rays.
The Moon.
We have been told that the earth moves around the sun; does any planet move
around the earth?
Yes; one planet moves around the earth.
What is that planet called?
15
It is called the Moon.
Fig. 3.
How often does the moon move around the earth?
Once in 27 d. 7 h. 43 min.
How long is the time from new moon to new moon again?
It is 29 d. 12 h. 44 min.
How often do we have new moon?
Once every 29 d. 12 h. 44 min.
What is the period from one new moon to another called?
It is called a Lunar month.
Are the lunar months all of the same length?
Yes; they are all of the same length.
Is there any other kind of month?
Yes; the Calendar month, as it stands in almanacs.
How many calendar months in a year?
There are twelve calendar months in a year.
Are the calendar months all of the same length?
16
No; some are thirty-one days long, some thirty days long,
and one only twenty-eight days long.
When can we see the moon and stars best?
We can see them best when it is night.
From what do the moon and the other planets get their light?
They get their light from the sun.
What do they do with this light?
They reflect it.
How do we see them?
We see them by the light which they reflect.
Why cannot we see the moon and stars in the day-time?
Because the bright light of the sun hides their light.
Are there stars in every direction around the earth?
There are stars in every direction around the earth.
How do we know this?
Because stars may be seen from every part of the earth, when it
is night.
Stars are in every direction around the earth, just as we may imagine the apples
to be in every direction around a boy who has climbed into a tree full of that fruit.
What planet moves around the earth?
The moon moves around the earth.
Upon what part of the moon does the sun shine?
It shines upon the part towards the sun.
What does the moon do with the light which it receives from the sun?
The moon reflects the light received from the sun.
What is this reflected light called?
17
It is called moonlight when reflected from the moon.
Is that part of the moon on which the sun shines always towards the earth?
It is not always towards the earth.
When all of the moon on which the sun shines is towards the earth, how does
the moon appear?
The moon appears to be round, and the whole of it seems to
shine.
What is the moon then called?
It is called the Full Moon.
When no part of the moon on which the sun shines is towards the earth, how
does the moon appear?
We do not see the moon at all, and we say there is no moon.
When a small part of the moon on which the sun shines is first turned towards
the earth, what is it called?
It is called the New Moon.
Does the lighted part of the moon grow?
It seems to grow larger and larger, until the whole of the moon is
lighted.
What is it then called?
It is then called the Full Moon.
What then takes place?
It seems to grow smaller and smaller, until the whole of the
lighted part is gone.
Just before the last part is gone, what is it called?
It is called the Old Moon.
How long is it from one full moon to another full moon?
It is a lunar month. 18
How many full moons are there in a year?
There are thirteen full moons in a year.
Is the sun much larger than the moon?
The sun is many thousand times larger than the moon.
Why does the moon appear nearly as large as the sun?
Because it is so much nearer to us.
How far is the moon from the earth?
The moon is nearly 240,000 miles from the earth.
How far is the sun from the earth?
The sun is nearly 92,000,000 miles from the earth.
How long does it take the light of the sun to reach the earth?
It takes about eight minutes; therefore, the light of the sun must
travel about twelve millions of miles in a minute, or two hundred
thousand miles in a second of time. At this rate, the light would
come from the moon to the earth in a little more than one second of
time. It would take no longer for it to come than it does for the
pulse to beat once, or the clock to make one tick.
Eclipses.
How do we know that the earth is round, like a ball?
We know that the earth is round like a ball, because its shadow is
similar to the shadow of a ball.
How else do we know that the earth is round?
19
We also know that the earth is round, because we can
circumnavigate or sail around it.
Where can we see the shadow of the earth?
We can see the shadow on the moon, when the moon is eclipsed.
What is the shadow on the moon like?
It is round, like the shadow of a ball.
When the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, where does the shadow
of the earth fall?
The shadow of the earth falls on the moon, as is represented in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
What is this shadow on the moon called?
It is called an Eclipse of the moon.
How do we know that the moon is round?
We know that the moon is round, because its shadow is similar to
the shadow of the earth.
When is the moon eclipsed?
When it comes into the earth’s shadow.
When the moon comes fully into the earth’s shadow, what is it called?
It is called a total eclipse of the moon.
When it comes partly into the earths shadow, what is it called?
20
It is called a partial eclipse of the moon.
When the moon comes between the sun and the earth, where does the shadow
of the moon fall?
The shadow of the moon falls on the earth, as is represented in
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
What does this produce?
It produces an eclipse of the sun.
When the moon is between the sun and the earth, can we see the sun?
No; we cannot see the sun, because the moon prevents the rays
of the sun from coming to us.
When the moon prevents the sun’s rays from falling on us, what is it called?
It is called an eclipse of the sun.
When the moon prevents all the sun’s rays from falling on us, what is it called?
It is called a total eclipse of the sun.
When the moon prevents only a part of the sun’s rays from falling on us, what is
it called?
It is called a partial eclipse of the sun.
When will the sun be eclipsed?
Whenever the moon comes between the sun and the earth.
When will the moon be eclipsed?
21
Whenever the earth comes between the sun and the moon.
Who made the sun, the moon, and the stars?
God, the creator of all things, made the sun, the moon, and the
stars. He placed them in the heavens, where they remain in
obedience to His will. He made the bright rays from the sun to light
up the day, and give beauty to the world; but the feebler rays of the
moon and the stars are seen best at night, when the sun is hid.
22
CHAPTER II.
Light.
Color.
In what way is the sun useful to us?
It gives heat, which makes us warm, and it gives light, so that we
can see.
Is it useful in any other way?
It gives light and warmth to all animals as well as to all plants.
What make the flowers and leaves so beautiful?
The light and heat from the sun make them beautiful.
What do the light and heat from the sun ripen?
They ripen the apples, cherries, and other fruits; also, the wheat,
corn, and other grains, and make them fit for food.
When it is night-time or dark, can we distinguish objects?
No; because all things are then without color, and they cannot be
seen.
As it grows light in the morning, what takes place?
At first, we see the objects around us faintly; but as it grows
lighter, we see them more distinctly.
Do they all show the same color in the light?
23
They do not; they show different colors.
What enables us to see the color of different things?
Light enables us to see the color of everything.
What kinds of light have we?
We have the light of the sun, moon, and stars; also, the light from
the burning of any substance.
Does the light show many colors?
It does show many colors or shades of color.
How may some colors be made?
They may be made by mixing other colors together.
How can we make a purple color?
By mixing a red and a blue color together.
How can a green color be made?
By mixing a blue and a yellow color together.
How can an orange color be made?
By mixing a red and a yellow color together.
How does the light come from the sun?
It comes in rays or straight lines.
What may be done with a ray of light?
It may be separated into different colors.
Into how many colors may a ray of light be separated?
Into seven colors, like the colors of the rainbow.
What names are given to these colors?
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
How may these colors be separated?
By a prism, or three-sided piece of glass.
How may this be done?
If a sunbeam, shining through a hole in the window-shutter 24
of a dark room, should fall upon a prism, it will be broken up
as it passes through the prism, and be shown on the opposite wall,
in the seven rainbow colors.
Fig. 6.
In Fig. 6, D is a sunbeam passing through a shutter. When it passes through the
prism, at E, it is separated into the seven rainbow colors, as is shown on the
opposite wall.
In what order will these colors appear?
They will always appear one above the other, in the order named.
How may this order be remembered?
By the word Roy-g-biv, made from their initial letters, beginning at
the bottom.
From what are the colors of the rainbow made?
From the rays of light coming from the sun.
When is a rainbow seen?
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