Module 9- Ancient Greek Physics and Astronomy

Question 1

The ancients are known perhaps best for their

Answer 1

astronomy

Question 2

humans began identifying constellations in the heavens and used these signs of the _____ to define calendars and seasons.

Answer 2

zodiac

Question 3

Mathematics developed first in the

Answer 3

Middle east

Question 4

refused to accept the ancient supernatural explanations of nature and proclaimed categorically that every event had a natural cause.

Answer 4

Leucippus

Question 5

Student of leucippus

Answer 5

Democritus, he supported the concept suggested by leucippus

Question 6

Greek word for indivisible

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Atoms

Question 7

Mentor of Aristotle

Answer 7

Plato

Question 8

Mentor of aristotle

Answer 8

Plato

Question 9

Mentor of Plato

Answer 9

Socrates

Question 10

Philosophy of Plato and socrates

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Moral philosophy

Question 11

Aristotle philosophy

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Secular foundations

Question 12

Aristotle believed that

Answer 12

these natural laws were, ultimately, divine in nature.

His was a natural philosophy, an observational science based on reason but without experimentation. He has rightly been criticized for a lack of rigor (if not outright carelessness) in his observations.

Question 13

One of Aristotle’s interests was the motion of objects:

Answer 13

Why does a rock fall while smoke rises?

Why does water flow downward while flames dance into the air?

Why do the planets move across the sky?

Question 14

Aristotle says that all matter consist of 5 elements

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Fire

Earth

Air

Water

Aether (divine substance of the heavens)

Question 15

Aether

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worldly elements each had natural realms

Question 16

Different realms

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Earth realm (the ground beneath our feet)

Air realm (the air all around us and up as high as we can see)

Question 17

…

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The motion of objects, therefore, was an attempt by the object to reach its natural state. A rock falls because the Earth realm is down. Water flows downward because its natural realm is beneath the Earth realm. Smoke rises because it is comprised of both Air and Fire, thus it tries to reach the high Fire realm, which is also why flames extend upward.

Question 18

There was no attempt by Aristotle to _____ the reality that he observed.

Answer 18

mathematically describe

Question 19

Aristotle did extensive studies in other areas:

Answer 19

created a classification system, dividing animals with similar characteristics into “genera.”

studied, in his work Meteorology, the nature not only of weather patterns but also geology and natural history.

formalized the mathematical system called Logic.

extensive philosophical work on the nature of man’s relation to the divine, as well as ethical considerations

Question 20

created a classification system, dividing animals with similar characteristics into

Answer 20

genera

Question 21

nature not only of weather patterns but also geology and natural history.

Answer 21

Meteorology

Question 22

Aristotle formalized the mathematical system called

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logic

Question 23

Aristotle’s work was rediscovered by scholars in the Middle Ages and he was proclaimed the greatest

Answer 23

thinker of the ancient world.

Question 24

Aristotle views became the philosophical foundation of the

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Catholic Church

Question 25

is best known for the classic story of how he discovered the principles of density and buoyancy while taking a bath,

Answer 25

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse

Question 26

Archimedes discovered the principle of

Answer 26

density and buoyancy while taking a bath

Question 27

After discovery Archimedes immediately causing him to run through the streets of Syracuse naked screaming

Answer 27

Eureka

Question 28

eureka

Answer 28

I have found it

Question 29

Archimedes significant feats

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outlined the mathematical principles of the lever, one of the oldest machines created elaborate pulley systems, reputedly having been able to move a full-size ship by pulling on a single rope defined the concept of the center of gravity created the field of statics, using Greek geometry to find equilibrium states for objects that would be taxing for modern physicists reputed to have built many inventions, including a "water screw" for irrigation and war machines that helped Syracuse against Rome in the First Punic War. He is attributed by some with inventing the odometer during this time, though that has not been proven.

Question 30

One of the oldest machines created by archimedes

Answer 30

lever

Question 31

Archimedes having been able to move a full-size ship by pulling on a single rope

Answer 31

Pulley system

Question 32

Archimedes defined the concept of

Answer 32

Center of gravity

Question 33

Archimedes created the field of ______, using ______ to find equilibrium states for objects that would be taxing for modern physicists

Answer 33

Statics Greek geometry

Question 34

Archimedes invented "_____" for irrigation and war machines that helped Syracuse against Rome in the _____

Answer 34

water screw First Punic War

Question 35

Perhaps Archimedes' greatest achievement, however, was to ______. As the _____, he showed that detailed mathematics could be applied with creativity and imagination for both theoretical and practical results.

Answer 35

reconcile Aristotle's great error of separating mathematics and nature first mathematical physicist

Question 36

was born in Turkey, though he was a Greek.

Answer 36

Hipparchus

Question 37

greatest observational astronomer of ancient Greece

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Hipparchus

Question 38

Hipparchus developed

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Trigonometric tables

Question 39

Hipparchus applied ______ rigorously to the study of astronomy and was able to predict _____

Answer 39

geometry Solar eclipses

Question 40

Hipparchus studied the motion of _____ calculating with greater precision than any before him their _____

Answer 40

Sun and moon Distance, size, and parallax

Question 41

The mathematics used indicates that Hipparchus may have studied

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Babylonian mathematics

Question 42

Hipparchus reputed to have written

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14 books, but the only direct work that remains was a commentary on a popular astronomical poem.

Question 43

Hipparchus calculated the _______

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Circumference of the earth

Question 44

The last great astronomer of the ancient world was

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Claudius Ptolemaeus (known as Ptolemy to posterity)

Question 45

Claudius Ptolemaeus wrote a

Answer 45

summary of ancient astronomy

Question 46

summary of ancient astronomy which came to be known throughout Arabia as

Answer 46

Almagest (The greatest)

Question 47

Ptolemy formally outlined the

Answer 47

geocentric model of the universe

Question 48

describes a series of concentric circles and spheres upon which other planets moved.

Answer 48

geocentric model of the universe

Question 49

is an area where the Greeks displayed a remarkable talent.

Answer 49

Astronomy

Question 50

______ which was the main form of astronomy elsewhere, was taken a step further in ______: they attempted to build a model of the universe that could account for the observations.

Answer 50

Observational astronomy Greece

Question 51

Even at the time of Isaac Newton, some aspects of Aristotelian cosmology were still taught at the

Answer 51

University of Cambridge

Question 52

_____ administration relied on well-established calendars to anticipate the flooding of the _____

Answer 52

Egyptian Nile

Question 53

_____ believed in the reading of omens in the sky as a mean to secure the state

Answer 53

Babylonians

Question 54

______ is credited as the first Greek to think the earth spherical, but this idea was probably founded on mystic reasons rather than scientific.

Answer 54

Pythagors

Question 55

...

Answer 55

Pythagoreans found conclusive evidence in favour of a spherical earth after it was discovered that the moon shines by reflecting light, and the right explanation for eclipses was found. The earth’s shadow on the moon’s surface suggested that the shape of our planet was spherical.

Question 56

Aristotle's book "_____" summarizes some astronomical notions before his time

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On the Heavens

Question 57

...

Answer 57

Aristotle says, for example, that Xenophanes of Colophon claimed the earth below us is infinite, that it has “pushed its roots to infinity”; others believed the earth rested upon water, a claim whose original author seems to be Thales (according to Aristotle); Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, and Democritus believed the earth was flat which “covers like a lid, the earth beneath it”.

Question 58

the general consensus among Greek astronomers was that the universe was

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earth-centred

Question 59

...

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Plato and Aristotle agreed on a geocentric model but both thinkers did so based on mystical arguments: The stars and planets were carried around the earth on spheres, arranged in a concentric fashion.

Question 60

Plato even described the universe as the

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Spindle of Necessity, attended by the Sirens and turned by the three Fates.

Question 61

a student of Plato, challenged the views of his teacher by working on a more myth-free mathematical model

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Eudoxus

Question 62

While Aristotle’s justifications for an earth-centred universe lack scientific support, he says

Answer 62

difference in the position of the polar star as one changes latitud

Question 63

Aristotle, based on the position of the polar star between _____, estimated the size of _____.

Answer 63

Greece and Egypt 400,000 stadia

Question 64

400,000 stadia would be around

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64,000 km

Question 65

accurate figure for the size of our planet would appear later with

Answer 65

Eratosthenes

Question 66

Eratosthenes

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compared the shadows cast by the sun at two different latitudes (Alexandria and Syene) at the exact same time.

Question 67

2 different latitudes

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Alexandria and Syene

Question 68

According to Eratosthenes earth’s circumference to be

Answer 68

250,000 stadia, which is about 40,000 kilometres.

Question 69

Eratosthenes’ calculation is about _____, but the accuracy of his figure would not be equalled until modern times.

Answer 69

15% too high

Question 70

claimed that the surface of the moon was as imperfect as our planet and filled with mountains and craters

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Galileo

Question 71

it was not possible for the geocentric model to explain either the changes in the brightness of the planets or their retrograde motions. _____ was an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer who came up with an alternative astronomical hypothesis that could address some of these concerns.

Answer 71

Aristarchus of Samos (310 BCE - 290 BCE)

Question 72

claimed the sun, not the earth, was the fixed centre of the universe, and that the earth, along with the rest of the planets, revolved around the sun.

Answer 72

Aristarchus of Samos

Question 73

knew that the sun was much larger than the earth.

Answer 73

Aristarchus

Question 74

In reality planets’ orbits are

Answer 74

Elliptical, not circular

Question 75

The most respected and talented Greek astronomer in antiquity, calculated the length of the lunar month with an error of less than one second and estimated the solar year with an error of six minutes.

Answer 75

Hipparchus of Nicea

Question 76

Hipparchus of Nicea calculated

Answer 76

Length of Lunar mont - 1 sec error Solar year - 6 min error

Question 77

Hipparchus of Nicea made

Answer 77

a catalogue of the sky providing the positions of 1080 stars by stating their precise celestial latitude and longitude.

Question 78

_____ 166 years before Hipparchus, had also made a chart.

Answer 78

Timocharis

Question 79

Hipparchus calculated that the stars had shifted their apparent position by around

Answer 79

2 degrees

Question 80

Hipparchus of Nicea discovered and measured

Answer 80

Equinoctial Precession

Question 81

Equinoctial Precession. He calculated the precession to be _____, an estimation a little too short according to modern calculations, which is ______.

Answer 81

36 seconds per year 50

Question 82

Hipparchus provided most of the calculations that are the backbone of Ptolemy’s work

Answer 82

almagest

Question 83

The Aristotelian model was “rescued” by introducing two geometrical tools created by ______ around 200 BCE and perfected by Hipparchus.

Answer 83

Apollonius of Perga

Question 84

the planets moved as usual in a uniform circular motion around the earth, but our planet was not the centre of the circle, rather, offset the centre.

Answer 84

Eccentric cycle

Question 85

Between Hipparchus and Ptolemy’s Almagest we have a three century gap

Answer 85

Dark age

Question 86

Ptolemy was also the author of a work named _____ a classic work on astrology.

Answer 86

Tetrabiblos,

Question 87

Ptolemy added still another device to “save the appearances” of the model:

Answer 87

Equant point

Question 88

was the point symmetrically opposite the eccentric earth, and the planet was required to move in its orbit in such a way that from the perspective of the equant, it would appear to be moving uniformly across the sky.

Answer 88

equant