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Isaac Newton

Definition

Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian who is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists ever. His laws of motion and universal gravitation laid much groundwork for classical physics.

Analogy

Imagine Newton as your favorite video game designer. Just like how game designers set rules that govern how everything works within their games (like gravity or speed), Newton discovered fundamental laws that explain how things move in our world.

Related terms

Laws of Motion: Three physical laws that form the foundation for classical mechanics describing motion produced by forces; they include inertia, acceleration proportional to force (F=ma), and action-reaction pairs.

Universal Gravitation: The law proposed by Newton stating every particle attracts every other particle with a force directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to their distance squared.

Classical Physics: Branches of physics based on principles developed before the advent of quantum mechanics, including Newton's laws of motion.