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Orange and black vertical stripes; a girl is shown jumping within one of the solid color blocks.

Mechanics and Motion

Permanent exhibition

Mechanics and Motion

Why doesn’t an airplane fall out of the sky? Why don’t we fall down when riding a bike? Why do we keep moving even when we’re sitting still?

Motion and the Development of Science

In the “Mechanics and Motion” section, there are seesaws, swings, and pendulums you can use to explore the fundamentals of physics – or just to have a lot of fun.

Motion

The natural sciences progressed from around 400 B.C. to the mid-17th century thanks in large part to precise observations of motion. Very early on, it was known how things moved. Why things moved the way they did, however, long remained a mystery.

In a room, there is a dark wooden frame. Two swings hang from the frame, facing each other. They are connected to the mounting by two crossbars. A child is sitting on each swing, swinging.
On the partner swing, you become part of a synchronized swing. SDTB/ Photo: C. Kirchner 1/1

Mechanics

English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was the first to provide a coherent explanation for why things move the way they do. He formulated generally valid laws about gravitation and motion. Newton thus became the founder of what is called classical mechanics.

Did you know? According to legend, Newton arrived at his breakthrough idea while sitting under an apple tree and watching a ripe apple fall to the ground.

A group of people is standing around a slanted, transparent container in which a blue liquid is sloshing.
The wave rocker demonstrates how waves form in liquids. SDTB/ Photo: Ériver Hijano 1/1