Coin and Feather References
References:
- Conant "Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science"
- Case 1 Robert Boyle's Experiments in Pneumatics
Experiment 40 About the falling, in the exhausted receiver, of a light body, fitted to have its motion visibly varied by a small resistance of the air.
[describes an experiment in which Boyle contrived to drop a small cross made of four feathers in an evacuated container. This is presumably a fore runner of the coin and feather demonstration. Will type out the quote at some time in the future.]
- Millikan and Gale "A First Course in Physics" Revised Edition, 1913, page 89
That the air resistance is indeed the chief factor in the slowness of fall of feathers and other light objects can be shown by pumping the air out of a tube containing a feather and a coin (Fig.92). The more complete the exhaustion the more nearly do the feather and coin fall side by side when the tube is inverted. The air pump, however, was not invented until sixty years after Galileo's time.
Disclaimer: All demonstrations are posted for the convenience and benefit of faculty and staff in the Department of Physics at Simon Fraser University and are not intended for outside use. The author(s) assume no responsibility or liability for the use of information contained on this site. Warnings and precautionary measures listed on this site assume normal operation of equipment and are not inclusive. Demonstrations may pose a significant hazard and can, in some instances, result in death; reasonable safety precautions must be taken. Demonstrations should be performed by qualified individuals only.
Prepared by Jeff Rudd, 1999
Revised by Laura Schmidt, May 2007