![]() ![]() Having said that, Maxwell's equations aren't numbered. ![]() In both cases, realizing the mathematical implications of assembling what were previously stray observations is what earns nominal recognition. You can call it Galileo's law of inertia if you like, but it makes sense to call the collection of laws Newton's, just as Gauss's law (and a magnetic counterpart), Ampère's law and Faraday's law are respectively Maxwell's equations. In the interest of motivating this convention, rather than just mulling its history (we're not on hsm.se yet): Therefore neither Galileo nor Descartes could include the general proviso about forces, such as "in the absence of external forces". Remember that the full concept of force, and gravitational force in particular, came later – largely due to Newton. ĭescartes, though, did state, before Newton, that a body's natural motion was in a straight line at constant speed. In some circumstances (such as for an object thrown horizontally and at the right speed), the natural motion would be at constant speed in a circle around the Earth. I believe that Galileo did not state clearly that the natural motion of a body would always be in a straight line. In case of Newton as well, although Galileo's law of inertia, predated Newton, Newton was the first to combine that with Newton's 2nd and 3rd law, combined with his brilliant work in calculus and was able to develop a complete theory of mechanics that was better than any other theory till then.įor what it's worth, I have seen many physics books where chapters on Newton's laws give honorable mention to the fact that Galileo came up with his law of inertia, years before Newton. But Einstein was the first one to take all of those, add his insight and combine all of it into a whole, consistent, complete theory that provided a much better explanation than any theory before that. Different scientists might discover certain parts of a theory and some other scientist might come later and be able to incorporate all the previous known bits of knowledge into a more complete, full theory.Įven in case of relativity, many parts of it were discovered by other scientists/mathematicians before Einstein. ![]() Then, the planet’s gravitational force will change the spacecraft’s course, resulting in a change in its speed and direction.This is not uncommon in the world of physics. The reason is that it is not under the influence of any other planet’s gravitational force and does not feel any force. After the last booster is exhausted, the spacecraft drifts into interstellar space on its own at a constant velocity. The tree applies the force necessary to cease the balloon’s motion.Ĭonsider a spacecraft that has been launched into space. The balloon can come to a stop if it is stuck in a tree. Here, the wind is the force responsible for changing the balloon’s direction. Friction between the wheels and the road develops and stops the car.Ī balloon moving in a straight line will continue to move in the same direction unless the wind sweeps it and changes its direction. The brake stops the rotation of the wheels. When an Object is MovingĪ car moving on a road at a constant speed comes to a stop upon braking. As the forces are balanced, astronauts inside it feel weightless. The ISS rotates around the Earth such that its centripetal force balances the Earth’s gravitational force. Now, consider astronauts in the International Space Station. It is for this reason that the book remains still.Īstronauts feel weightlessness in space because they are far from the influence of Earth’s gravity. However, both these forces balance each other such that there is no unbalanced force acting on the book. ![]() Force due to gravity, known as weight, and ii. A book lying motionless on a table has two forces acting on it – i. ![]()
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