So since my freshman year of undergrad (Christmas 2007), I have been a fan of a certain collection of Physics Carols, a complete catalog found HERE. I enjoyed them so much that one year I had my fellow physics majors sing them at our Holiday Party, videos can be found HERE. But, also since freshman year of undergrad I have been working on my physics education, so over the past 9 years I have learned something about what the songs are referring to.
Today, I give you 12 Days of Newton - Explained.
On the first day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
The acceleration due to Gravity
Sir Isaac Newton (hereafter abbreviated SIN) studied the work of Kepler and Galileo, from which he was deduced a gravitational constant - which will be touched on more on the Sixth Day, but for now: the acceleration due to gravity is a constant that is dependent on the gravitational constant, the mass of the planet in question, and the distance from the center of mass. This constant is different based on which planet you are on, for Earth see Day Nine.
On the second day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Two torques a balanced
Torque is a turning or twisting action on a body about a rotation axis due to a force. A necessary step when balancing torques in an introductory physics problem is summing all the torques, and this process is usually completed by invoking Newton's Second Law in Angular Form. (Newton's 2nd law can be seen on Day Three).
On the third day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Three laws of motion
Newton's Three Laws of Motion, quoted from Halliday & Resnick's Fundamentals of Physics:
1. "If no force acts on a body, the body's velocity cannot change; that is, the body cannot accelerate." An object at rest remains at rest, unless acted upon by a force. Conversely, and object moving will continue to move, unless acted upon by a force. Also articulated this way: "If no net force acts on a body, the body's velocity cannot change; that is, the body cannot accelerate."
2. "The net force on a body is equal to the product of the body's mass and it's acceleration." Or, in equation form, which is very important for so much of physics, F = ma.
3. "When two bodies interact, the forces on the bodies from each other are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction." This law is probably the most familiar to all people, even the Broadway people who might think that they don't know any physics. (Hamilton's Washington on Your Side) 'Ev'ry action has its equal, opposite reactions...' sings Jefferson when he complains about Hamilton. SIN is obviously thinking of something different, but hey it works.
On the fourth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Four apples falling
Much like the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, SIN has his own illustrative adage. Albeit, SIN is believed to be inspired by an apple falling, but not that apple falling on his head, it does make for a good School House Rock song (Victim of Gravity - see HERE)
On the fifth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me:
Five Newton rings
Five Newton rings
The first four days I understood and knew why they were associated with SIN, but then came day five. It is fitting that it is the crescendo of the song. Newton Rings are an optics topic, SIN used them to quantify the quality of his optical telescopes. The rings are an interference pattern that is created by the reflection between a spherical surface and touching flat surface. SIN wasn't the first to discover this phenomenon, but he was the first to analyze it (53 years after it was first described by Robert Hooke).
Newton Rings can be seen as the rainbow glimmer in soap bubbles or oil deposits.
On the sixth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Six point six seven
As hinted on in Day One, 6.67 refers to the Gravitational Constant, abbreviated G = 6.67 x 10^-11 m^3/(km s^2). It is a necessary quantity for a large amount of classical physics, and some astronomy classes. It was July of 1687 that SIN published his Law of Universal Gravitation. This law is yet another version of SIN 2nd law; it states every particle attracts any other particle with a gravitational force.
On the seventh day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Seven spectrum colors
SIN chose to denote the seven discreet colors of the spectrum (made up of different particles of light), even though it is a continuum. But ROY G BIV is all SIN. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. As far as I know, (seeing as I have no direct connection to what they are teaching grade schoolers), elementary schools are not teaching it as ROY G BIV anymore, indigo is no longer part of the rainbow.
On the eighth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Eight mints of money
1696, SIN has been appointed the Warden of the Mint. He came into this position at a bad time for British money, coin shaving was a thing, but with the meticulous nature of SIN the mint was about to get a much needed overhaul. New equipment, plus SIN knowledge of alchemy helped turn around the grim outlook. Coin amounts were redefined, (aside: as an American, I don't understand British currency but way to go SIN for helping out), 21 shillings and 6 pence equals 1 gold guinea. SIN also used his position to cut down on counterfeiting and was an enforcer of the death penalty for counterfeiters, (hanging plus drawn-and-quartering, I wouldn't counterfeit). Credit: J. Lienhard
On the ninth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Nine point eight
Another constant I hinted at on Day One, 9.8 is the acceleration due to gravity on earth. It is the a from F = ma, and is one of the first constants I memorized, I prefer to use 9.81 m/s^2, but Nine point eight one doesn't roll off the tongue as easily.
On the tenth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Ten z-components
Okay, this one is the one that throws me for a loop. The only z-component I understand is in coordinate systems. My first assumption is that there are not 10 of them, it just is convenient to put the z-component on this day. SIN's connection with z-components is the next mystery to solve... Okay this might remain a mystery. Any thoughts from any of my readers? I can come up with something like the sum of Forces and Torques rely on the sum of all components, including the z-component, if applicable.
On the eleventh day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Eleven speeds of sound
Like Day Ten we are not talking about eleven different speeds of sound but instead we are referencing that SIN calculated the speed of sound as one of his numerous experiments. In 1687, SIN was the first to publish a value for the speed of sound (979 feet/second ~ 298 meters/second, which is about 15% smaller than the actual speed of sound). The missing variable was how temperature effects the speed of sound.
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| Sir Isaac Newton (12/25/1642 - 03/20/1727) |
On the twelfth day of Newton , Sir Isaac gave to me
Twelve particles of light
Like Day Ten and Day Eleven, it isn't exactly 12, but Newton believe light was made up of particles. Wave/Particle duality is a common topic of debate throughout the history of physics. As far as our science has gotten us, scientists have shown how light acts as both a wave (Diffraction patterns when light is shined through a thin slit) and a particle (reflection and refraction through a prism). SIN believed light was made up of discreet particles.
I post these day on the 12 days leading up to Christmas, as a kind of countdown to the day of Sir Isaac Newton's birth. This, and the other carols do not need to be just Christmas carols, but can be used to celebrate a love of Physics and science all year long.
I post these day on the 12 days leading up to Christmas, as a kind of countdown to the day of Sir Isaac Newton's birth. This, and the other carols do not need to be just Christmas carols, but can be used to celebrate a love of Physics and science all year long.
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