Scientific Contributions
The greatest contributions and achievements made by Newton are detailed in the influential book in the world of physics, titled 'Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' which proposed the 'Three Laws of Motion'.
First Law of Motion
The First Law of Motion is also called 'The Law of Inertia'. An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force and an object in motion will stay in motion at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This means that there is a tendency of an object to move when force is applied to it. Force is required to change the speed and direction of something that is moving and the tendency to resist any change in motion is called an object's 'inertia'.
The First Law of Motion is also called 'The Law of Inertia'. An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force and an object in motion will stay in motion at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This means that there is a tendency of an object to move when force is applied to it. Force is required to change the speed and direction of something that is moving and the tendency to resist any change in motion is called an object's 'inertia'.
Second Law of Motion
Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The greater the mass of the object accelerated the greater the amount of force will be required. This law can be expressed as a mathematical equation: F= m x a where F is the total force on an object and measured in Newtons; Mass is the object (kg) and A is the acceleration
Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The greater the mass of the object accelerated the greater the amount of force will be required. This law can be expressed as a mathematical equation: F= m x a where F is the total force on an object and measured in Newtons; Mass is the object (kg) and A is the acceleration
Third Law of Motion
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that for every force there is a reaction force equal in size but opposite in direction. The force exerted on objects can be described with the example of a bird flying - the wings of the bird push down on the air while the air pushes the wings up, allowing them to lift and fly.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that for every force there is a reaction force equal in size but opposite in direction. The force exerted on objects can be described with the example of a bird flying - the wings of the bird push down on the air while the air pushes the wings up, allowing them to lift and fly.
Why did the apple fall to the ground?
Newton observed an apple fall from a tree to the ground and this triggered an insight as to why did the apple fall and there must be a force that has caused this action. The notion about the Law of gravity was explained. Due to gravity the moon revolved around the earth and planets revolved around the sun. Newton came to the conclusion with his "Universal Law of Gravitation' that all bodies attract each other with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance squared.
In simpler words this means that large or heavy objects pull each other harder than the small or lighter objects. The attraction is greater between objects that are close to each other than those far apart. The more mass objects have the more they attract each other. Every mass attracts another mass by a force pointing along the line that intersects both points.
Newton observed an apple fall from a tree to the ground and this triggered an insight as to why did the apple fall and there must be a force that has caused this action. The notion about the Law of gravity was explained. Due to gravity the moon revolved around the earth and planets revolved around the sun. Newton came to the conclusion with his "Universal Law of Gravitation' that all bodies attract each other with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance squared.
In simpler words this means that large or heavy objects pull each other harder than the small or lighter objects. The attraction is greater between objects that are close to each other than those far apart. The more mass objects have the more they attract each other. Every mass attracts another mass by a force pointing along the line that intersects both points.
Isaac Newton's investigation into optics commenced around 1664 as a result of a series of experiments, Newton discovered that white light is a combination of different colours. He experimented with optics in a dark room with a small slit in the wall to allow a beam of light to pass. The beam passed through a prism that refracted white light into many colours of the spectrum. He then selected one colour of the spectrum and passed its beam through a second prism. The beam passed through the prism without refraction. This showed that white light was composed of many colours, but the colours of the spectrum were primary or not composed of other colours. Newton's 'Opticks' was published in 1704.
Newton also made the first reflecting telescope, as he discovered that mirrors would work far better than lenses as they do not observe light like lenses do. He built his own telescope and was able to fix the fuzziness, with an inwardly curved surface. The telescope produced was only 6 inches long but was able to magnify an object 40 times.
Newton also made the first reflecting telescope, as he discovered that mirrors would work far better than lenses as they do not observe light like lenses do. He built his own telescope and was able to fix the fuzziness, with an inwardly curved surface. The telescope produced was only 6 inches long but was able to magnify an object 40 times.
As early as 1666, Newton started to develop calculus, which he termed as the 'the science of fluxions' (Calculus) . Calculus is a method of maths to calculate the rates of change. With the help of calculus he was able to create his three laws of motion and the theory of gravity. He shared this accomplishment with Wilhelm Leibniz. For Newton calculus was geometrical and while Leibniz used dy/dx notation; Newton used y.