Isaac Newton
- born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, England
- only son of a farmer who died 3 months before he was born
- at 3 years old his mother, Hannah, remarried a minister and went to live with him, leaving Newton with his crazy grandmother
- he later became an established physicist and mathematician
- is known as one of the greatest thinkers of the 17th century Scientific Revolution.
- died on March 31, 1727 in Kensington, London
Discovery of Gravity
Isaac Newton is the Most Important Scientist of the Age Because he...
- the falling apple
- the apple is accelerated, since its velocity changes from zero as it is hanging on the tree and then falls
- by Newton's 2nd Law there must be a force that causes this acceleration
- we expect the apple to be accelerated toward the ground
- so, gravity reaches to the top of the tallest apple tree
- Newton created a hypothesis that the rate of the apple's fall was directly proportional to the attractive force Earth exerted upon it, using the scientific method
Could gravity reach the moon? And if so could that be the reason why the moon orbits the earth?
The Reflecting Telescope
Newton's Work:
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
- discovered gravity
- invented the Laws of Motion
- was an amazing mathematician
- supported other amazing scientists
- is known as one of the greatest thinkers of the 17th century
- helped move science forward
- built first reflecting telescope in 1668
- used mirrors to reflect and magnify lights of distant objects, making it much stronger than other telescopes
- objects could be seen more clearly, allowing more discoveries about the planets and other celestial bodies to be made
- aided the study of optics
- helped prove his theory of light and color
- parts of the scientific method, like research, were used
- no affect on human condition due to the telescope
Laws of Motion
The three Laws of Motion are...
1. Every object in a state of motion will remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
2. The relationship between an object's mass , its acceleration , and the applied force is F = ma (Force = Mass ~ acceleration)
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.