Newtonianism

(noun)

A doctrine that involves following the principles and using the methods of natural philosopher Isaac Newton. Newton's broad conception of the universe as being governed by rational and understandable laws laid the foundation for many strands of Enlightenment thought.

Related Terms

Examples of Newtonianism in the following topics:

  • Gallilean-Newtonian Relativity

    • Specifically, the term Galilean invariance today usually refers to this principle as applied to Newtonian mechanics—that is, Newton's laws hold in all inertial frames.
    • In this context it is sometimes called Newtonian relativity.
    • Both Newtonian mechanics and the Maxwell's equations were well established by the end of the 19th century.
    • That is, unlike Newtonian mechanics, Maxwell's equations are not invariant under a Galilean transformation.
    • Newtonian mechanics is invariant under a Galilean transformation between observation frames (shown).

  • Relativistic Momentum

    • Newtonian physics assumes that absolute time and space exist outside of any observer.
    • It is important to note that for speeds much less than the speed of light, Newtonian momentum and relativistic momentum are approximately the same.
    • As one approaches the speed of light, however, relativistic momentum becomes infinite while Newtonian momentum continues to increases linearly.
    • Newtonian momentum increases linearly with speed.
    • Compare Newtonian and relativistic momenta for objects at speeds much less and approaching the speed of light

  • Relativistic Energy and Mass

    • It is important to note that for objects with speeds that are well below the speed of light that the expressions for relativistic energy and mass yield values that are approximately equal to their Newtonian counterparts.
    • This figure illustrates how relativistic and Newtonian Kinetic Energy are related to the speed of an object.
    • On the other hand, Newtonian kinetic energy continues to increase without bound as the speed of an object increases.

  • Einstein's Postulates

    • In the late 19th century, the Newtonian mechanics was considered to be valid in all inertial frames of reference, which are moving at a constant relative velocity with respect to each other.
    • (See our previous lesson on "Galilean-Newtonian Relativity. ") One issue, however, was that another well-established theory, the laws of electricity and magnetism represented by Maxwell's equations, was not "invariant" under Galilean transformation—meaning that Maxwell's equations don't maintain the same forms for different inertial frames.

  • Which Methodology is "Correct?"

    • Methodological problems apply to all knowledge including Newtonian mechanics, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics as well as economics.

  • Matter Exists in Space and Time

    • The principle topics covered in elementary mechanics are: fundamental abstracts, the Newtonian system, position and velocity, and Newton's second law.

  • Problems

    • Let's use Newtonian gravity for simplicity here.
    • We are also using Newtonian gravity.

  • Poiseuille's Equation and Viscosity

    • Different fluids exhibit different viscous behavior yet, in this analysis, only Newtonian fluids (fluids with constant velocity independent of applied shear stress) will be considered.
    • Considering laminar flow of a constant density, incompressible fluid such as for a Newtonian fluid traveling in a pipe, with a Reynolds number below the upper limit level for fully laminar flow, the pressure difference between two points along the pipe can be found from the volumetric flow rate, or vice versa.

  • Viscosity

    • Fluids that display a constant viscosity over a range of shear rates are called Newtonian, while those with a non-constant viscosity are non-Newtonian.

  • Origin of Pressure

    • In Newtonian mechanics, if pressure is the force divided by the area on which the force is exerted, then what is the origin of pressure in a gas?