Galileo and Inertia

**Galileo** developed this concept with his **ramp experiment**. He rolled a ball down a ramp from a certain height. It sped up as it rolled down the ramp, travelled at a constant speed along the flat portion and slowed down as it went up the other ramp. **It stopped at about the same height it was initially released from**.



Galileo thought of what would happen if the ramp was infinitely long and had an infinitesimally small upward slope. *Since the ball would never achieve the original height from which it was released, it would roll forever*. Upon this, he developed the concept of **inertia**, where an **object in motion will continue its motion in a straight line unless an unbalanced force acts on it**.