Isaac+Newton

= =  __**Personal Life**__ Sir Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1942 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire. Newton, who was born prematurely, lived the first three years of his life with his mother (his father had died before he was born). He was then given to his grandmother when his mother decided to marry again and start a new family. It is thought that because Newton grew up with a mother who abandoned him and a deceased father, he became very troubled and that "throughout his life he verged on emotional collapse." Although Newton was initially sent to school in Woolsthorpe to become a farmer, he left and attended King's School at Grantham, as a preparation for [|Trinity College]. Finally, in 1661, Newton left Woolsthorpe and enrolled at Trinity College in Cambridge where he began to make his contributions to science. Although he did not graduate from Trinity with honors or awards of any kind, during those years he “conceived his 'method of fluxions' (infinitesimal calculus), laid the foundations for his theory of light and color, and achieved significant insight into the problem of planetary motion.” In 1669, Newton became a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University while also spending time researching and writing papers. Some of his papers were considered controversial, including one on the study of the nature of color. Nine years later in 1678, Newton had a mental breakdown, and the next year his mother passed away. During this time, Newton sheltered himself, losing all contact with friends and completely submerging himself in his work. As a compilation of many of his discoveries and inventions, Newton wrote the //[|Philosophiae Na]// //[|turalis Principia Mathematica],// which included his universal laws of motion, his law of universal gravitation, and also his deviation of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. It is a well-known story that Newton's everyday experience of seeing an apple fall from a tree led him to the discovery of gravitational force. Newton's breakthrough discoveries became the foundation for the modern science of astrophysics. As Newton continued to contribute to the scientific world, he was also elected to represent Cambridge in the Parliament due to his opposition of King James II's attempt to turn the universities into Catholic institutions. During these years he suffered another mental breakdown and decided to leave Cambridge for London. While in London, Newton served as the Warden and the Master of Mint and later was elected president of the [|Royal Society]. He was knighted in 1705. While in London, Newton also published another major work, titled //[|Opticks]//. While he served as President of the Royal Society, Newton became a tyrannical leader and used his status to control those who worked below him. Until his death in 1727, Newton continued to dominate and advance the scientific world. Throughout Newton's life he had over one hundred pieces of writing, ranging from alchemical, religious, astronomic to scientific studies. There is now a group called [|The Newton Project] which is currently trying to make all of his writings available online for free.

__**Scientific Contributions**__ Newton is arguably most well-known for his **// laws of planetary motion //.** Newton's three laws of planetary motion apply to all motion in the universe, including everyday movements here on Earth to movements among all stars and planets. Newton's first law states that an object moves at constant velocity if there is no net force acting upon it. Therefore, objects that are resting, remain at rest, and moving objects remain in motion unless some force acts upon them. This means that if a ball is thrown at a constant velocity, it will continue to travel as long as no force stops it. In most cases in our everyday life, friction or air is what stops an object from continuing movement. The second law states that force equals mass times acceleration. This law explains why larger planets have a greater effect on comets and asteroids than smaller planets do, because the larger the mass, the larger the gravitational force, leading to a greater acceleration. For planets orbiting around the sun, the gravity is the force that keeps the planets always accelerating towards the sun. Newton's third law is that for any force, there is always an equal and opposite reaction force. This law explains that as the Earth puts a force on us, we also put a force on the Earth. However, because the Earth is so much more massive than we are, we are pulled with a greater acceleration to the Earth than it is to us. media type="youtube" key="iH48Lc7wq0U" height="215" width="301" align="right" See video.

Newton also created the // **universal law of gravitation** //. This law describes how gravity works and can be summarized using three simple statements: In other words, this law explains that because of gravity, every mass in the universe attracts every other mass in the universe. The larger the masses, the larger the force is that is attracting them to each other, and the further the distance between the two, the weaker the force. Using the formula F g = G (M 1 M 2 ) / d 2 we can determine the force of gravitational attraction for two masses. Here, F g represents the force of gravitational attraction, M 1 and M 2 represent the masses of the two different objects, d is the distance between the centers of the two objects, and G is the gravitational constant.
 * Every mass attracts every other mass through the force called gravity
 * The strength of the gravitational force attracting any two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses.
 * The strength of gravity between two objects decreases with the square of the distance between their centers.

Finally, Newton also created his own **// version of Kepler's third law //.** Kepler's law states that more distant planets orbit the sun at slower average speeds, obeying a precise mathematical relationship. Newton took this law a step further by explaining why Kepler's law is true. Newton put together his laws of motion and his universal law of gravitation to show that planets closer to the sun move faster because they have a greater gravitational attraction to the sun. With this new discovery, Newton also showed that not only does the law apply to the Earth orbiting the sun, but also to any object in orbit of another (moons to planets, asteroids to sun). Furthermore, Newton was able to prove that two objects in orbit, orbit around their common center of mass (meaning both objects are in orbit). Although normally people think of a stationary sun with planets orbiting around it, the Sun is in fact moving as well. However, because the sun is so extremely massive compared to the planets, it appears that it is not moving at all. Newton's version of Kepler's law has became the way astronomers measure masses throughout the universe. By having the object's orbital speed and any measurement of distance, the mass can be determined. Also, this law shows that the orbital period of a small object depends on an objects orbital distance, not it's mass. Newton's version of Kepler's third law is shown where M and M2 are the masses of the objects, p is the orbital period, and a is the distance between their two centers.

__**Other Achievements**__ Some of Newton's other major achievements include inventing infinitesimal calculus, calculating the formula for the velocity of a sound in gas, constructing the first reflecting telescope, inventing the generalized binomial theorem, creating Newton's theories of [|color], [|time], [|optics], and [|light]. and calculating a new formula for Pi, all while remaining a member of the Royal Society until his death. Newton is still arguably famed as history's most influential scientist. The newton (SI unit of force) is also named after Isaac Newton, because he was one of the first people to clearly understand the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.