
Newton also developed a strand of mathematics called calculus. He also discovered that something appears to be a certain colour because of the amount of light that it absorbs and/or reflects. He experimented in a dark room with light and prisms and discovered that light could be split into lots of different colours – a rainbow.

Newton was interested in light and colour. Newton developed the universal law of gravitation, which states that two things will be attracted to one another and that the mass of each object will affect the amount of attraction. This led to his work on defining gravity. Newton told the story of seeing an apple fall to the ground from a tree which inspired him to wonder why it fell down, rather than up or across. He also noted that gravity keeps the moon in orbit. Newton described gravity as a pulling force that keeps people on the ground rather than floating off. His third law of motion says that ‘ for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’.He created a mathematical formula for the second law of motion: F=ma (the force (F) needed is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by the rate of acceleration). The second law of motion is that the bigger the mass of an object, the bigger the force is needed to make it accelerate and move.The first of his three laws of motion states that an object will keep moving in the same direction unless a force acts on it to make it change direction, speed up or slow down.

#Isaac newton education how to#
Newton was also interested in alchemy – he spent a lot of time trying to discover how to change things like lead and mercury into gold.He became Professor of Mathematics and worked at the university for over 30 years. Newton studied maths, physics and astronomy at Cambridge University.Since then other scientists have been buried there, including Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford, and Sir JJ Thompson. Newton was the first scientist to be buried at Westminster Abbey.Newton was the first person to build a reflecting telescope, which made the images seen through a telescope much clearer.Isaac Newton was not very keen on school work and preferred reading and making things.Newton was knighted by Queen Anne on April 16, 1705.When he was an MP, Newton only ever spoke one sentence – and that was to ask for a window to be closed!.Newton owned more books on history than on science.During this time he bought a book on maths but didn’t understand it. Newton initially studied for a law degree at Cambridge University.Newton’s mum wanted him to become a farmer.Newton discovered that white light is made up of a range of colours.Newton was a grumpy man and often argued with people.

