In short, Aristotelian mechanics failed to explain forces because it did not include a concept of force. Instead, Aristotelian mechanics relied on the idea of motion being caused by an external mover, which is something that we now know is not always the case. For example, Newton’s laws of motion (which are based on the concept of force) explain that an object will continue to move in a straight line unless a force acts upon it. This is in contrast to Aristotelian mechanics, which would suggest that an object would continue to move in a straight line even if a force was acting upon it.
Other related questions:
Q: Why was Aristotle wrong about forces?
A: There is no easy answer to this question, as there are many possible reasons why Aristotle may have been wrong about forces. One possibility is that he did not have a clear understanding of the concept of force itself. Another possibility is that he incorrectly applied his understanding of force to the physical world.
Q: What was wrong with Aristotle’s law of motion?
A: There is no one answer to this question as there is significant debate surrounding Aristotle’s law of motion. Some criticisms levelled against Aristotle’s law of motion include that it does not adequately explain the cause of motion, that it is based on false premises, and that it is overly simplistic.
Q: What did Aristotle say about forces?
A: Aristotle famously said that “force is the cause of change.” He believed that all motion in the universe was caused by some sort of force, and that there were four fundamental forces: weight, friction, impact, and tension.
Q: Who disproved Aristotle’s theory of motion?
A: There is no definitive answer to this question as there is no single person who is universally agreed to have definitively disproved Aristotle’s theory of motion. While there were many people who critiqued and challenged Aristotle’s theory over the centuries, it was not until the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries that his theory began to be seriously questioned and eventually replaced by more modern theories. Some of the key figures involved in this process include Galileo Galilei, René Descartes, and Isaac Newton.