newton

¹

[ noot-n, nyoot-n ]

noun

, Physics.

1. the standard unit of force in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the force that produces an acceleration of one meter per second per second on a mass of one kilogram. : N

Newton

²

[ noot-n, nyoot-n ]

noun

1. Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English philosopher and mathematician: formulator of the law of gravitation.
2. a city in eastern Massachusetts, near Boston.
3. a city in central Kansas.
4. a city in central Iowa, east of Des Moines.
5. a male given name: a family name taken from a placename meaning “new town.”

Newton

¹

/ ˈnjuːtən /

noun

1. NewtonSir Isaac16421727MEnglishSCIENCE: mathematicianSCIENCE: physicistSCIENCE: astronomerPHILOSOPHY: philosopher Sir Isaac . 1642–1727, English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and philosopher, noted particularly for his law of gravitation, his three laws of motion, his theory that light is composed of corpuscles, and his development of calculus independently of Leibnitz. His works include Principia Mathematica (1687) and Opticks (1704)

Newton

²

/ ˈnjuːtən /

noun

1. one of the deepest craters on the moon, over 7300 m deep and about 112 km in diameter, situated in the SE quadrant

newton

³

/ ˈnjuːtən /

noun

1. the derived SI unit of force that imparts an acceleration of 1 metre per second to a mass of 1 kilogram; equivalent to 10 ⁵dynes or 7.233 poundals N

Newton

¹

1. English mathematician and scientist. He invented a form of calculus and formulated principles of physics that remained basically unchallenged until the work of Albert Einstein, including the law of universal gravitation, a theory of the nature of light, and three laws of motion. His treatise on gravitation, presented in Principia Mathematica (1687), was in his own account inspired by the sight of a falling apple.

newton

²

/ no̅o̅t′n /

1. The SI derived unit used to measure force. One newton is equal to the force needed to accelerate a mass of one kilogram one meter per second per second.
2. See also joule

Word History and Origins

Origin of newton¹

First recorded in 1900–05; after I. Newton

Word History and Origins

Origin of newton¹

C20: named after Sir Isaac Newton

Biography

The British mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton stands as one of the greatest scientists of all time. Newton spent most of his working life at Cambridge University. In 1665, the year he received his bachelor's degree, an outbreak of the bubonic plague caused Cambridge to close for two years. Newton returned to his family home in Lincolnshire and, working alone, did some of his most important scientific work. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to demonstrate that scientific principles have universal applications. His universal law of gravitation states that there is an attractive force acting between all bodies in the universe. According to the famous—and possibly true—story, he observed an apple falling from a tree and, remarkably, connected the force drawing the apple to the ground with that keeping the Moon in its orbit. Along with his law of gravitation, Newton's three laws of motion, which laid the basis for the science of mechanics, bridged the gap between scientific thinking about terrestrial and celestial dynamics. The laws are: (1) A body at rest or moving in a straight line will continue to do so unless acted upon by an external force; (2) The acceleration of a moving object is proportional to and in the same direction as the force acting on it and inversely proportional to the object's mass; and (3) For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For nearly 400 years these laws have remained unchallenged; even Einstein's Theory of Relativity is consistent with them. Newton stated his laws of motion in his 1687 masterpiece, the Principia Mathematica, in which he also introduced his formulation of the calculus (what we now call simply “calculus,” a different version of which was simultaneously developed by Leibnitz). In optics, Newton demonstrated that white light contains all the colors of the spectrum and provided strong evidence that light was composed of particles.

Example Sentences

At the top end, this comes out at about 33,000 newtons.

From BBC

The robot's actuators are capable of reaching 9.5 newtons of force, compared to approximately 0.2 newtons for those of other similarly sized robots.

From Science Daily

They found the force in a realistic experiment would be about 10–16 newton.

From Scientific American

This new configuration now delivers a top speed of 19 mph, with 32 newton meters of torque, enabling a rider of up to 200lbs to cruise up steep hills with ease.

From The Verge

The current devices provide just a small push—counted in “micro newtons”—an apple exerts orders of magnitude more force on a kitchen counter.

From Scientific American