Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-01-21
lFrom The Louisville Journal
PuzzIe and ats solution

lffem y soaAbeA
Puzz1s and ats ISOLATION
Washington Irving 10 psr e~zeeL<nee the
American classic, and the KuIcksrbocker Is b..
frst and most famous work. Every American
youth With the slightest pretensions 20 literary
taste'has read il. 0fthis well written and anus.
Ing book the first, or Introductory chapter. con-
corning The origin Of the world and the dlnefebi
theories of the system OF the rord. ranging
from the crude fancies Of red Indian and b moo
To an exposition OF the lava OF efsvitation and
eonpoun5 notion. a. discovered by Ne-ton, -
the most humorous, aud perhaps The most sIde'J
known. Unfortunately, our author here throws
out = sneeripg ossectioB against a lnudanent.i
truth Of physicaI science. which be answers With
an Intentionally traing aud frivolous eIplana-
ton.
And bis red faced Lerden professor has, with
hi. outs,retched arm and bucket oil water. how
the centnpetsl force. answering TO the universal
attraction working between the sun and the earth,
and also the tangentisi force. occasioned by some
original impulse In another direction, our author
queries thus: II this tAlgentlal or centrifugal
force operated only once. and the other or attrac
tive force works on. all the time, must not the
latter very soon get the better OF the former, so
that thereupon the earth would fall into the sun
Just ss . cannon ball falls back on the groundt
And a. this Ia not the ease, as nature would not
obey The professors. the professors had to invent
another theory 10 make up their difference with
nature.
Thi. other theory. that when a moving body
has underlogces operating continuously and by a
steady Law, returned 10 the place from which IL
came, IL will repeat the same orbit as long az the
Law regulating the force prevails, Is true and ca
pablo of mathematical demonstration, but Irving
states IL 20 quantity "a TO make IL appear q mere
cant phrase invented by the learned TO correct
their Ignorance OF the ways OF nature.
To a trained mathematician. the deDonstr4.
II Ia a -. e. A.
discover, can now be easily msde-that the at
~tractive force. together with an impulse in any
other direction. will drive the earth or any other
planet round the sun ia unvarying elliptic orbits.
But 10 the non-mathematical reader | will now
try to show the reason why a stone thrown from
the hand or n cannon-ball falls to the ground
and the planet does not fall into the sun or.
what Is the same. the moon does not fall into
the earth.
Suppose = connon-bsll flea from the court
house at Louisville for three miles due west 10
the space Of fifteen seconds then during all
these fifteen seconds the force Of gravity will op
perate on IL ia a line OF direction towards the
centre OF tho earth. Nov IL Is obvious that for
all practical purposes the line TO the centre Of
the earth from the court thousc and from the city
limit beyond Portland. and all intermediate lines
TO that centre. may be considered as parallel
consequently the downward force gained Ia each
moment of time ia added to that already possess
cd by the ball, and 10 will fall faster and faster
and must soon reach the earth
But at the distance Of the moon FROM the
earth, the force Of attraction IL SO small that the
tangential. ssIoHies sideways. impulse which the
moon for some reason or other has ut some given
time. will carry il a great ways around the earth.
Let Us call the point at which We begin watch
ing the moons movement round the earth, north.
and the point to which We have followed it. west
Of the earth. Ii sister moon has succeeded In
getting that far in safety. then the force Of at
traction. which at FIRST tended TO bring It south.
has entirely changed into one which tends to take
il east. Now a force tending eastward, cannot
in any vay strengthen a force tending south
ward. Thus the orbit can be pursued without
danger Of the centripetai force growing too
strong. By the time the moon gets south of the
earth. the force OF attraction will tend to move
il northwaad. and thus destroy, neutral.ze or
cancel, the tendency southwark that had been
impressed half q month before. And SO every
element of active force. eIerted st any moment
of time. is countesacted ty the element of like
force exerted. when the moon was in the opposite
place ia its orbit. The same. OF course. will ap
ply TO the earth's or other planets path round
the sun If a cannon ball could be shot so fal
that its line Of direction to the eaTth's centre
were materially altered. it might thenceforwar arc
move round our earth like d little satellite Their
the force OF attraction. ever changing in dlTec
ton. might operate only To bend its path and turr
Il Into a never ending coil. whilst a steady at
traction exerted in the same line, down. down
down, soon ends the career of the fastest projec
tile vet invented.