Editing Physics (section)

=== Aristotle and Hellenistic physics ===
[[File:Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Aristotle]]<br />(384–322 [[BCE]])]]
During the [[Classical Greece|classical period]] in Greece (6th, 5th and 4th centuries BCE) and in [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic times]], [[natural philosophy]] developed along many lines of inquiry. [[Aristotle]] ({{langx|el|Ἀριστοτέλης}}, ''Aristotélēs'') (384–322 BCE), a student of [[Plato]],
wrote on many subjects, including a substantial treatise on "[[Physics (Aristotle)|Physics]]"&nbsp;– in the 4th century BC.  [[Aristotelian physics]] was influential for about two millennia. His approach mixed some limited observation with logical deductive arguments, but did not rely on experimental verification of deduced statements.  Aristotle's foundational work in Physics, though very imperfect, formed a framework against which later thinkers further developed the field. His approach is entirely superseded today.

He explained ideas such as [[motion (physics)|motion]] (and [[gravity]]) with the theory of [[classical elements|four elements]].
Aristotle believed that each of the four classical elements (air, fire, water, earth) had its own natural place.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daily 40 no. 2 – Aristotle and the Four Simple Bodies and Elements |website=Cal State LA |url=https://www.calstatela.edu/sites/default/files/dept/chem/09summer/158/daily40-aristotle.pdf |access-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106231001/https://www.calstatela.edu/sites/default/files/dept/chem/09summer/158/daily40-aristotle.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2023 }}</ref>  Because of their differing densities, each element will revert to its own specific place in the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite web |last=tbcaldwe |title=Natural Philosophy: Aristotle {{!}} Physics 139 |date=14 October 2012 |url=https://blogs.umass.edu/p139ell/2012/10/14/natural-philosophy-aristotle/ |access-date=17 December 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>  So, because of their weights, fire would be at the top, air underneath fire, then water, then lastly earth. He also stated that when a small amount of one element enters the natural place of another, the less abundant element will automatically go towards its own natural place.  For example, if there is a fire on the ground, the flames go up into the air in an attempt to go back into its natural place where it belongs.  His laws of motion included: that heavier objects will fall faster, the speed being proportional to the weight and the speed of the object that is falling depends inversely on the density object it is falling through (e.g. density of air).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Aristotle |url=https://galileoandeinstein.phys.virginia.edu/lectures/aristot2.html |access-date=17 December 2022 |website=galileoandeinstein.phys.virginia.edu}}</ref> He also stated that, when it comes to violent motion (motion of an object when a force is applied to it by a second object) that the speed that object moves, will only be as fast or strong as the measure of force applied to it.<ref name=":1" />   The problem of motion and its causes was studied carefully, leading to the philosophical notion of a "[[unmoved mover|prime mover]]" as the ultimate source of all motion in the world (Book 8 of his treatise ''[[Physics (Aristotle)|Physics]]'').