Isaac Newton Research Paper

1102 Words5 Pages

Born January 4th, 1643, in Woolsthrope Lincolnshire, England, Sir Isaac Newton was a physicist, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, theologian, and mathematician. He was considered a very influential and important factor in human history. Newton’s early life and struggles inspired him to be what he was to the world. His father was a successful local famer who also went by the name of “Isaac Newton”. Baby Newton was the only son of his fathers’. His father died 3 months before Newton’s premature birth, who was deemed unexpected to survive. At the age of 3, his mother, Hannah Ayscough Newton, remarried a well-to-do minister, leaving Newton to be with his maternal grandmother. This left him with an acute sense of insecurity. Newton …show more content…

Newton was responsible for discovering many scientific and mathematical concepts. He developed his theories in calculus, and initially started out to find the slope at any point on a curve whose slope was constantly varying. The “method of fluxions”, what he called it, is how he calculated the derivative to find the slope. The term “fluxion”, is the instantaneous rate of change at a point on the curve and fluents as the changing values of x and y. An example is the increasing speed of an object on a time-distance graph. The slope at a particular point can be approximated by taking the average slope (“rise over run”) of smaller segments of the curve. According to Newton, as the distance between point A and points b1, b2, and b3 become smaller, the approximation of the slope of the curve at point A becomes more and more exact. Newton with the help of Gottifired Leibniz calculated a derivative function f’(x), which gives the slope at any point at function f(x). For example, the derivative of a straight line of the type f(x)= 4x is just 4. The derivative of a squared function f(x) = x2 is 2x; the derivative of cubic function f(x) = x3 is 3x2, etc. Generalizing, the derivative of any power function f(x) = xr is rxr-1. Other derivative functions can be stated, according to certain rules, for exponential and logarithmic functions, trigonometric functions such as sin(x), cos(x), etc., so that a derivative function …show more content…

He was also recognized for the binomial theorem, which describes the algebraic expansion of powers of a binomial. A binomial is an algebraic expression with two terms, such as a2 & b2. He developed the “Newton Method” to find better approximations to the zeroes or roots of a function. Newton also made substantial contributions to the theory of finite differences such as f(x+b) – f(x+a). He used the fractional exponents and coordinate geometry to derive these solutions to Diophantine equations, which are algebraic equations with only inter variables. Both the introductory to calculus and the binomial theorem, contributed to modern day mathematics. They can be used in real life situations. For example, architecture. These two concepts would allow calculation of magnitudes of projects used in architecture that would give accurate estimates on time put into constructing the projects, and any measurements required. Another example is in weather forecasting. It helps reach the point of probability, which weather is based