A View of Sir Isaac Newton's PhilosophyPemberton, Henry
Science
A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy
Pemberton, Henry
Newton, Isaac, 1642-1727. Principia
58. BUT to proceed, the first property, I shall take notice of in this
motion, is, that the greater arch the pendulous body moves through, the
greater time it takes up: though the length of time does not increase
in so great a proportion as the arch. Thus if C D be a greater arch,
and E F a lesser, where C A is equal to A D, and E A equal to A F;
the body, when it swings through the greater arch C D, shall take up
in its swing from C to D a longer time than in swinging from E to F,
when it moves only in that lesser arch; or the time in which the body
let fall from C will descend through the arch C A is greater than the
time, in which it will descend through the arch E A, when let fall from
E. But the first of these times will not hold the same proportion to
the latter, as the first arch C A bears to the other arch E A; which
will appear thus. Let C G and E H be two horizontal lines. It has been
remarked above[62], that the body in falling through the arch C A will
acquire as great a velocity at the point A, as it would have gained by
falling directly down through G A; and in falling through the arch E A
it will acquire in the point A only that velocity, which it would have
got in falling through H A. Therefore, when the body descends through
the greater arch C A, it shall gain a greater velocity, than when it
passes only through the lesser; so that this greater velocity will in
some degree compensate the greater length of the arch.
59. THE increase of velocity, which the body acquires in falling from
a greater height, has such an effect, that, if straight lines be drawn
from A to C and E, the body would fall through the longer straight
line C A just in the same time, as through the shorter straight line
E A. This is demonstrated by the geometers, who prove, that if any
circle, as A B C D (fig. 49.) be placed in a perpendicular situation;
a body shall fall obliquely through every line, as A B drawn from the
lowest point A in the circle to any other point in the circumference
just in the same time, as would be imployed by the body in falling
perpendicularly down through the diameter C A. But the time in which
the body will descend through the arch, is different from the time,
which it would take up in falling through the line A B.
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