Home > History Fact Finder > Science and Invention - Did Isaac Newton Really Discover The Law Of Gravitation When An Apple Fell From A Tree And Hit Him On The Head?
Science and Invention - Did Isaac Newton Really Discover The Law Of Gravitation When An Apple Fell From A Tree And Hit Him On The Head?
Did Isaac Newton really discover the law of gravitation when an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the head?
Historians have confirmed that the story of the apple is true. In 1665 British physicist (a scientist specializing in the study of matter, energy, and their interactions) Isaac Newton (1642–1727) discovered the law of gravitation, the force that holds in place all objects in the universe (also called universal gravitation), after an apple hit him on the head while he was sitting under a tree. The legendary incident took place when he was visiting his family's farm in Woolsthorpe, England, after graduating from Cambridge University. This simple experience led him to groundbreaking ideas on gravitation. (Gravitation is commonly called gravity, but gravitation is the correct term because it describes the force that operates throughout the universe. Gravity refers only to the Earth's...
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