Sir Isaac Newton Essay, Research Paper

Topics in Geometry

A Research Project

Presented To The Department Of Mathematics

Of Thomas Edison High School

In Partial Fulfillment Of The Course

In

Geometry

Sir Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire. He went to Grantham grammar school. When he was young, he was interested in mechanical devices than in studying. His youth inventions included, a water clock and a sundial. Isaac?s father had died when he was three years old and left the family with little money. His widowed spouse soon remarried, leaving Isaac in the of his grandmother. She had three more children and widowed a second time.

Since Isaac paid little attention to the family farm because he spent so much time reading, he was sent back to grammar school in Grantham. Later, in the summer of 1661, he went to Trinity College, at the University of Cambridge. He learned of the scientific revolution that had been going on in Europe through the work of Galileo, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Ren? Descartes.

Newton received his bachelor?s degree in 1665. Two years later after avoiding the plague, Newton return to Trinity College where he was elected to a fellowship in 1667. Newton received his master?s degree in 1668. Newton retracted much of the established curriculum of the university to pursue his interest such as mathematics and natural philosophy. Continuing entirely on his own, he analyzed recent developments in mathematics and natural philosophy. Eventually, he made discoveries that played an important part in his career in science. He became Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge in 1669. He lectured once a week on Geometry, astronomy, optics, arithmetic, or other mathematical subjects. Three years later he invented the reflecting telescope. In 1687 he published his work, ?Principia?(Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), setting forward the theory of gravity.

In 1696 Newton was named warden of the mint where at that time a complete recoinage and standardization of coins were taking place. When the project was finished in 1699, he was made master of the mint. He was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703 and was knighted in 1705. Newton also engaged in a vicious argument with Leibniz over the priority of the invention of calculus. The effects of the quarrel inevitably lend to his death. Newton died in London on March 20, 1727, and was honored with a burial.

Accomplishments

One of Isaac Newton greatest achievement was the three laws of motion. Despite these three laws, they are not related to things such as air resistance or other kinds of friction.

Newton?s first law states that any body moving uniformly in a straight line of in a state of rest will remain in uniform motion in a straight line or in a state of rest unless it is acted upon by some outside force. This means when in motion you will remain in motion or if in a state of rest you remain at rest unless you are move by something. When kept in motion when in motion or at rest, it is called inertia. Whenever in motion, both acceleration and deceleration require subduing the inertia of an object.

Newton?s second law of motion states what happens when a force is applied to a moving body. The change in motion depends on the force on the object. It also depends on the size of the force and the mass of the object. The greater the force, the greater the acceleration and the greater the mass of the object, the smaller the acceleration. Acceleration or deceleration of an object depends on the direction of the force.

The effects of two or more forces moving on the path of an object are determined by means of vectors. A vector is the of force and direction in which it moves. Forces acting on a single point are called concurrent forces. Suppose a rowboat is being pulled forward along a shore of a lake by someone. At the sametime, someone else in the rowboat uses an oar to push the boat away from the shore. This is an example of concurrent forces.

Newton?s third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is a perfect example of a jet propulsion engine. There are also many other examples of Newton?s third law of motion. Suppose you have a line of heavy bowling balls hanging from ceiling, so that each of the balls touches the other balls as it is hanging down from the ceiling. Take two balls from one end of the line and let hit the other balls. Two balls at the end would fly outward, away from the other balls. If you use one ball instead of two balls and let it strike the other balls, then one ball moves outward, away from the other balls.

Applications of the accomplishments in the world today.

Newton?s first law of motion states that when an object is in moving uniformly in a straight line will stay in motion in that straight line. Also when at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon. When constantly in motion and kept that way or at rest and continue to linger, that is called inertia.

An application of Newton?s first law of motion is outer space or in other words free space. When in outer space, there is no outer interference that can halt motion. Since there is no friction to stop us when in motion, we remain in motion unless something stops us like a myriad of debris or an asteroid.

Newton?s second law of motion states that what happens when force is applied to a moving object. At that moment, when force is push upon a moving object, acceleration occurs depending on what direction the force is acting on the object. Deceleration can also happen when force acting against the moving object. Therefore, the moving object will slow down.

There are many examples of applications for this law of motion. One example of Newton?s second law of motion is a car. The car is the moving object and the engine in the car is the force that accelerates the car. The brakes are the other force that decelerates the car. Another example of Newton?s law is kite in the sky. The kite would be the moving object and the wind would be the force that accelerates the kite.

Newton?s third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There are many examples of this law that shows there is an equal and opposite reaction for every action. One application of this is a jet propulsion engine. It would rocket one way but would get an opposite reaction making it move an object in the opposite direction. An additional usage of Newton?s law is a rotating lawn sprinkler that spins when water squirts out from their nozzles. As the water emerges from the nozzles, the arms are impelled in the opposite direction. A further use for Newton?s third law of motion is a baseball being dropped. As the ball is falling to the ground, the earth will move toward the ball. Although, this would happen extremely fast and would be unable to be seen or even measured.