Re: Galileo's law of falling bodies (was e: free fall data)

[herbgottlieb@juno.com]

> I do a nice demo of this with a string onto which have been tied
> a number of hex nuts at intervals of one, three, five,... units
> starting from its "lower end". The string is suspended vertically
> from its other end with its lower end just touching the bottom of
> an inverted cardboard box which acts as a sounding board. (I must
> stand on a ladder to hold the string.) When I release the string
> the nuts strike the box in a perceptibly constant rhythm. I also
> have a string of nuts tied at constant intervals for comparison.
> This demo is very cheap and easy to perform.
>
> Leigh
I tried this procedure several times but I could not tell the 
difference in rhythm when the nuts were evenly spaced or 
when they were correctly spaced.  My ceiling is only 8 feet high.
Is this a sufficient height for the demo?  When you released the
string and nuts, how high was the release point from the floor?

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where we have the finest musicians and philharmonic but 
my musical talent for hearing differences in tones will
never get me on a Lincoln Center concert stage.)