what exactly did isaac newton do?

Answer 1

He invented modern physics. He invented the calculus.

Pretty much, everything we know depends on his work.

Answer 2

Most importantly, he figured out Newton's Laws - inertia, F=ma, and action-reaction. Inertia means that an object changes its motion only if their is a force on it. F=ma is a formula that says that the force on an object is proportional to its mass and the acceleration (change of velocity). In fact, Newton developed the concept of "force", and the unit of force was later named the newton. So the same force on a heavier object provides less acceleration. You've heard of action-reaction.

Then he developed universal gravitiation. This means that all objects attract each other with gravity, and this force is proportional to their masses, and inversely proportional to their distance squared (one of the many, and one of the first, inverse-square laws that show up everywhere in science). The formula is F = G M1 M2 / d^2. Because this force is proportional to both masses, and F=ma means force is proportional to mass and acceleration, then the acceleration of an object from gravity does NOT depend on its own mass. (This is why, if there is no air to provide resistance, a cannon and a feather would fall at the same rate.)

Then he developed calculus. His basic concept was the derivative (to be exact, the time derivative), or as he called it, the "fluxion" - a function which measures how fast another function is changing. Acceleration is the fluxion of velocity, and velocity itself is the fluxion of position. Force is the fluxion of momentum. Newton derived his work before Leibniz in Germany (who developed pretty much the same system), but published later, leading to controversy. Both were the first to develop calculus in Europe, and the first in the world to realize the fundamental theorem of calculus (which says that derivatives and integrals are related, opposite actions, instead of just two fun things you can do with calculus.)

Newton also did a lot of work with optics (as published in the book he spelled Opticks), most importantly realizing that white light is the combination of all colors, and colored objects merely reflect some of the white and absorb the rest - instead of generating a color.

Oh, and he also did a lot of interesting religious studies, as could be expected of someone who just figured out why the solar system holds together. He got more religious texts published in his lifetime than scientific texts, and although he was a firm believer in God, he rejected the Trinity. And he dabbled in alchemy and may have poisoned himself by accumulated mercury.

Answer 3

Wow, where do you begin when he is considered, by many, to be the greatest scientist of the modern age?

He discovered new laws of gravitation and devised three laws of motion
He developed principles relating to momentum
He contibuted to the developed of calculus
He discovered that white light is composed of all the colors of the visible spectrum and theorized that light is composed of particles
He developed theories of terrestrial and celestial mechanics, published in his Pricipia, one of the most important books in the field of science.
He studied the speed of sound
His work is part of the fundamental foundation of mathematics, astronomy, and physics
He was a representative in Parliament
He was knighted

Believe it or not, he wrote more on religion than he did on science. which he hoped to be most remembered for.

While his best known discovery is the law of gravity, "He said, 'Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done.'" "To Newton, his scientific and religious experiments were one and the same, observing and understanding how the world functioned." Newton also placed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at 3 April, AD 33, which is now the accepted traditional date. He also worked to prove that the prophecies of the book of Revelations were unfolding in his lifetime.

"Newton was the greatest genius that ever existed and the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of the world to establish." -- Joseph Louis Lagrange

Answer 4

Explained Gravity

Answer 5

Not only did he define the laws of gravity Newton proved that white light was made up of colours mixed together, and aprism merely separated them, he was the first person to understand the rainbow.
Also, it was the reflecting telescope, made in 1668, that finally brought him into full view of the scientific community. His work with colours led him to believe that refracting telescopes, which were subject to colour interference, were outdated. He made his reflecting telescope entirely on his own.
Hope this helps

Answer 6

are the 3 basic laws of motion familar to you?

Newtons First law of motion- An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force

Newtons Second law of motion(i always forget this one, i geuss its because its a formula)- The relationship between an objects mass and its acceleration and the force applied is F=ma.

Newtons third law-(easy to remeber) for every reaction is an equal and oppisite reaction.

wow thank goodness for 8th grade science

Answer 7

well lets see there was a bunch of physics he couldnt explain with the current math they had at the time, so newton being the genius he is, invents calculus, using that he formed a bunch of laws of motion that are still used today

Answer 8

he formulated the Laws of Motion.
Law of Inertia, Dynamics and Reciprocal Motion

Answer 9

It's in your text book. Do your own homework. The least you could do is do an actual search on yahoo or google.

Answer 10

described gravity, and invented one of the forms of calculus.