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Mechanical explanations of gravitation - Quiz
Contributed by: Shields
  • 1. Which edition of Optics did Newton update with a mechanical-ether theory of gravity?
A) Third edition (1720)
B) Second edition (1717)
C) Fourth edition (1730)
D) First edition (1675)
  • 2. In Newton's 1717 theory, how does the density of the aether behave near celestial bodies?
A) It gets denser
B) It remains constant
C) It gets thinner
D) It fluctuates randomly
  • 3. What did Newton suggest to minimize drag in his 1717 gravitational theory?
A) Extremely low density of the aether
B) Rotation of the aether
C) Extreme hardness of the celestial bodies
D) High velocity of the aether
  • 4. What did Leonhard Euler assume about the density of the gravitational aether in 1760?
A) It is infinite
B) It follows the inverse square law
C) It follows the inverse cube law
D) It is uniform everywhere
  • 5. According to Euler, why does matter consist mostly of empty space?
A) To maintain mass proportionality
B) To minimize heat production
C) To increase gravitational pull
D) To allow light to travel through
  • 6. What did James Clerk Maxwell criticize about the hydrostatic model's stress?
A) It causes the aether to evaporate
B) It contradicts the inverse square law
C) It is 3000 times greater than steel can support
D) It is too weak to affect matter
  • 7. Who speculated in 1671 that gravitation results from bodies emitting waves?
A) Leonhard Euler
B) Isaac Newton
C) James Clerk Maxwell
D) Robert Hooke
  • 8. What analogy did Hooke use to explain how objects move toward the source of waves?
A) Particles in a pressurized pipe
B) Magnets attracting iron filings
C) Sound waves in a vacuum
D) Objects on a disturbed water surface
  • 9. Under what condition did James Challis claim attraction occurs in his wave theory?
A) If the wavelength is large compared to the distance
B) If the wavelength is small compared to the distance
C) If the wavelength is equal to the distance
D) If the waves have zero frequency
  • 10. What happens if the wavelength is small in Challis's theory?
A) The bodies attract each other
B) The bodies repel each other
C) The bodies explode
D) The bodies remain stationary
  • 11. What major criticism did Maxwell raise against the wave theory of gravitation?
A) It contradicts the laws of thermodynamics
B) The aether density is too low
C) It cannot explain magnetism
D) It requires infinite energy consumption
  • 12. Which two scientists proposed the pulsation theory in 1871?
A) Robert Hooke and James Challis
B) George Gabriel Stokes and Woldemar Voigt
C) Isaac Newton and Leonhard Euler
D) Lord Kelvin and Carl Anton Bjerknes
  • 13. In the pulsation theory, what condition causes two spheres to attract each other?
A) If they have different densities
B) If they are stationary
C) If they pulsate in phase
D) If they pulsate out of phase
  • 14. What is a major implausibility of the pulsation theory regarding universal gravitation?
A) The spheres would eventually dissolve
B) All pulsations would have to be in phase
C) The aether is too thin to pulsate
D) It cannot explain electricity
  • 15. What property did the aether need in the pulsation theory to ensure attraction at distance?
A) High elasticity
B) Superfluidity
C) Infinite temperature
D) Incompressibility
  • 16. Which mechanism, according to the text, was also explained using the pulsation hypothesis?
A) Nuclear decay
B) Light refraction
C) Electric charges
D) Magnetic monopoles
  • 17. Who is credited with the first development of the screening theory of gravitation?
A) William Thomson.
B) René Descartes.
C) Christiaan Huygens.
D) Nicolas Fatio de Duillier.
  • 18. According to Descartes, what causes gravity in a vortex model?
A) The centrifugal force of the vortex.
B) The straight-line movement of aether.
C) The attraction between rough and fine matter.
D) Inward pressure from condensed outer matter.
  • 19. To whom did Newton write a letter in 1675 regarding his thoughts on gravitation as an ether flow?
A) Daniel Bernoulli
B) Bernhard Riemann
C) Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky
D) Henry Oldenburg
  • 20. What principle formalizes Newton's idea of a pressure drop associated with increased velocity of flow?
A) Bernoulli's principle
B) The Principle of Equivalence
C) The Law of Universal Gravitation
D) Kepler's Laws of Motion
  • 21. In what year was Daniel Bernoulli's book Hydrodynamica published?
A) 1675
B) 1888
C) 1692
D) 1738
  • 22. What does the Latin phrase 'Hypotheses non fingo' mean in the context of Newton's work?
A) I do not feign hypotheses
B) Matter is ether
C) Gravity is divine
D) I define all laws
  • 23. According to Newton's friends like Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, what did Newton think was the basis of gravitation?
A) Absorption of mass
B) Divine influence
C) Mechanical ether pressure
D) Inherent properties of matter
  • 24. What year did Newton write his third letter to Bentley discussing the absurdity of innate gravity?
A) 1713
B) 1853
C) 1692
D) 1675
  • 25. Which scientist's theory of gravitation was mentioned alongside Le Sage's as being subject to criticism regarding energy conservation?
A) Boyle
B) Bentley
C) Riemann
D) Oldenburg
  • 26. What did Riemann consider normal matter to be in the aether?
A) Sources
B) Obstructions
C) Catalysts
D) Sinks
  • 27. What did Pierre Varignon assume existed at a certain distance from the Earth's surface?
A) A vacuum chamber
B) A layer of dense gas
C) A magnetic shield
D) A limitation boundary
  • 28. What property of bodies did Lomonosov assume existed?
A) Enormous penetrability
B) High reflectivity
C) Thermal resistance
D) Infinite density
  • 29. Who showed that Herapath's theory failed because thermal expansion is compensated by increased particle speed?
A) Lomonosov
B) Radzievskii
C) Varignon
D) Taylor
  • 30. What was the general status of these mechanical explanations by the beginning of the twentieth century?
A) Verified by experiment
B) Conclusively discredited
C) Universally accepted
D) Incorporated into quantum theory
  • 31. Which researcher studied gravity due to static pressure recently?
A) Lomonosov
B) Arminjon
C) Herapath
D) Varignon
  • 32. Which of the following researchers studied Le Sage's theory in 2014?
A) Lomonosov
B) Edwards
C) Taylor
D) Varignon
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