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Newton and the Mechanical Laws of Motion


I. Newton
(1642-1727)

Isaac Newton embraced Galileo's Principle of Relativity. Newton developed his Laws of Motion, which respected the Galilean Principle of Relativity.

NEWTON'S LAW OF INERTIA
A body, not acted on by any force, remains in uniform motion.

NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION
Moving an object with twice the mass will require twice the force.
Force is proportional to the mass of an object and
to the acceleration (the change in velocity).
F=ma.

Newton's statements are APPROXIMATELY TRUE. For practical purposes (i.e., everyday life), we can (and usually do) take them to be TRUE.

Newton's Mechanics and Galileo's Relativity

Newton's Law of Inertia and Law of Motion are mechanical laws of physics, and should respect the Galileo Principle of Relativity.

That is to say:



Home PREFACE PRIMEVAL SPECIAL GENERAL CONCLUSION
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Rob Salgado
27-Nov-1995