In physics, the newton (symbol: N) is the SIunit of force, named after Sir Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on classical mechanics. It was first used around 1904, but not until 1948 was it officially adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) as the name for the mks unit of force.
Since one definition of weight is the force acting between two objects due to gravity, the newton is also the unit of weight. A mass of one kilogram near the Earth's surface has a weight of approximately 9.81 newtons, although this figure varies by a few tenths of one per cent over the Earth's surface. Conversely, an object with a mass of 9.81-1 kg (≈101.94 grams) weighs roughly one newton. Rather fittingly, given the story about Newton's discovery of gravity, this is about the mass of a small apple.
Newton was born in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth (at Woolsthorpe Manor), a hamlet in the county of Lincolnshire.
Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England from 1689 to 1690 and in 1701, but his only recorded comments were to complain about a cold draft in the chamber and request that the window be closed.
Newton rejected the church's doctrine of the trinity, and was probably a follower of arianism.
Newton treated the moving body as the passive subject of external forces acting upon it, and this new approach to impact dynamics remains the basis for the analysis of impact today.
Newton took his studies on impact a step further, and used them to show that the earth's rotation does not fling bodies into the air because the force of gravity, measured by the rate of falling bodies, is greater than the centrifugal force arising from the rotation.
Newton realised that this was not the case - a white page with fl writing did not appear coloured when viewed from a distance and the fl and white blended, it appeared as grey.
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