(Gregory L. Hansen) writes:

In article ,
Donald G. Shead wrote:
"Pyriform" wrote in message
...
Donald G. Shead wrote:


Galileo discovered - with the crude methods available to him at the
time - that the rate of free fall starting from rest, was 16' per
second, and _changed_: Increasing at a _constant rate_ of 16' per
second each consecutive second that it continued: This constant rate
of change in the rate of free fall can be written in the language of
mathematics; as (16'/sec)/(1 second) = 16'/sec^2, and is a constant;
which is only one half [g/2] of Newton's acceleration of free fall [g
= (vt-vi)/t = 2s/t^2 = 32'/sec^2].

The *rate* of fall is 32 ft/second in the first second,

Wrong. _After_ the first second.

64 ft/second in the second second, and so on.

_After_ the second second.

The *distance* fallen is 16 feet in the first second,

Because the average rate is 16 feet _in_ the first second.

64 feet in the second second,

_After_ the second second.

The average rate _in_ the second second is 48ft/sec for a total of
64ft when you add the distances in the first and second second.

--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum