Questions tagged [newton]
For questions about Isaac Newton (1643-1727), mathematician and physicist, and his works
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How many times did Isaac Newton repeat things if he didn't understand something?
When I was taking a class in university, I heard the professor say that if there was a part of Isaac Newton that he didn't understand, he had to read it over and over again hundreds of times. Is this ...
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Why Isaac Newton published his discoveries so much later than he discovered them?
Principia was completed in 1686 and published in 1687, but he discovered calculus, gravity and laws of motion long before (1665-1666 "Year of Wonders").Is this correct?
He wrote book Method ...
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What means dual dating at cover page of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica?
On cover page of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica write two years,
Julii 5, 1686 and "Anno MDCLXXXVII(1687)".
What these two years represent?
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What sort of science is satirized in Hogarth's Weighing House?
William Hogarth produced the satirical etching "The Weighing House" in 1763. What is the background to this? What aspect of science was Hogarth being satirical about? What was the ...
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Did Isaac Newton boil his watch?
Through Google Gemini I was referred to a weird anecdote about Isaac Newton. The story goes more or less like this: Newton was absent-minded, he wanted to boil an egg, and ended up boiling his watch.
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About the acceptance of Newton's light experiment
I originally posted this question in History Stack Exchange, but I was recommended to post it here instead.
My question starts with the following statement from a book I'm reading
"Moreover, ...
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F = ma -- How was did we come to understand that this compact form expressed what Newton said in words?
My understanding is, Newton in the 17th century did not use this formula but rather said, in words basically that if you apply a force it will cause a mass to accelerate in the direction of that force....
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What are the origins of calculating the area of a v/t graph to determine displacement?
I'm curious as to the origins of thinking of displacement as the area under a v/t curve.
I assume that Newton (and/or Leibniz) was already familiar with the concept and knew that calculating the area ...
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How good was Newton at definite integration?
On Math Stack Exchange, I am impressed by users' skill at finding closed form expressions for definite integrals. For example:
Example 1: $\int_{-1}^1\frac1x\sqrt{\frac{1+x}{1-x}}\ln\left(\frac{2\,x^...
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What is the relationship between the Newtonian laws of motion and gravity and the Keplerian laws of planetary motion?
In the Wikipedia article for "Kepler's laws of planetary motion," the article suggests that "Isaac Newton showed in 1687 that relationships like Kepler's would apply in the Solar System ...
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Where does the famous equation $F = G\cfrac{m_1m_2}{r^2}$ come from?
The famous equation $F = G\cfrac{m_1m_2}{r^2}$ is not in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, as it has been pointed out by a commentator on another question about where the equation is in ...
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Could Newton have come up with General Relativity? [closed]
I was reading this question. There I read somewhere that he would have discovered modern physics if he had studied electromagnetism and nuclear physics.
It was most likely in jest. But I ask
How much ...
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Did Newton know about non-inertial frames?
When answering a Physics.SE question, I made a claim that Newton realized that $F=ma$ worked in some frames, which are called "inertial frames." Nowadays, we know that there are non-...
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Did Newton say: "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been due more to patient attention, than to any other talent"?
I came across the above quote, and found it quite interesting. However, I struggled to find an actual source. Did Newton truly say this?
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Fatio de Dullier's Theory of Gravity -- Why ridiculed in 17th/18th century?
I read in Newton and the Counterfeiter about the young mathematician who was friends with Sir Isaac and competent enough to have detected an error in Principia.
He offered a theory of gravity, I ...
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