Final answer:
Galileo Galilei discovered that objects accelerate uniformly when falling and that their speed is not proportional to the distance fallen. This led to the understanding that in the absence of air resistance, all objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass, an insight foundational to Newton's laws of motion. Galileo's experiments, such as that at the Tower of Pisa, were crucial in advancing the study of gravity and motion.
Step-by-step explanation:
Galileo Galilei, a pivotal figure in the Scientific Revolution, made groundbreaking observations pertaining to the laws of motion, particularly those of falling bodies. He dispelled the common belief at the time that the speed of a falling object is proportional to the distance fallen. Galileo recognized that if this were true, an object could not start to fall since its speed would be zero at the moment it is released - where the distance fallen is also zero. Through his observations and experiments, Galileo concluded that falling objects accelerate uniformly, meaning they gain equal increments of speed in equal intervals of time.
By studying the motion of objects, Galileo determined the correct mathematical law for acceleration: the total distance covered, starting from rest, is directly proportional to the square of the time. This understanding laid the foundation for Newton's laws of motion, specifically Newton's First Law, which states that an object will maintain its velocity unless acted upon by a force. Furthermore, Galileo showed that, in the absence of air resistance, objects of varying masses will fall at the same rate, a fact later encapsulated by the principle of gravitational mass being equivalent to inertial mass.
Galileo's famous Tower of Pisa experiment demonstrated that without air resistance, two objects of different masses would hit the ground simultaneously. This experimental conclusion was critical for the advancement of the understanding that all objects fall with the same constant acceleration due to gravity.