Mean speed theorem

Galileo's demonstration of the law of the space traversed in case of uniformly varied motion. It is the same demonstration that Oresme had made centuries earlier.

The mean speed theorem, also known as the Merton rule of uniform acceleration,^[1] was discovered in the 14th century by the Oxford Calculators of Merton College, and was proved by Nicole Oresme. It states that a uniformly accelerated body (starting from rest, i.e. zero initial velocity) travels the same distance as a body with uniform speed whose speed is half the final velocity of the accelerated body.^[2]

^ Edward Grant A Source Book in Medieval Science (1974) Vol. 1, p. 252.
^ Boyer, Carl B. (1959). "III. Medieval Contributions". A History of the Calculus and Its Conceptual Development. Dover. pp. 79–89. ISBN 978-0-486-60509-8.

[1] Edward Grant A Source Book in Medieval Science (1974) Vol. 1, p. 252.

[2] Boyer, Carl B. (1959). "III. Medieval Contributions". A History of the Calculus and Its Conceptual Development. Dover. pp. 79–89. ISBN 978-0-486-60509-8.

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