Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica E-Book

Isaac Newton

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Beschreibung

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), often referred to as simply the Principia, is a work in three books by Isaac Newton, in Latin, first published 5 July 1687. After annotating and correcting his personal copy of the first edition, Newton published two further editions, in 1713 and 1726. The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics; Newton's law of universal gravitation; and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion (which Kepler first obtained empirically). The Principia is considered one of the most important works in the history of science. The French mathematical physicist Alexis Clairaut assessed it in 1747: "The famous book of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy marked the epoch of a great revolution in physics. The method followed by its illustrious author Sir Newton … spread the light of mathematics on a science which up to then had remained in the darkness of conjectures and hypotheses." A more recent assessment has been that while acceptance of Newton's theories was not immediate, by the end of the century after publication in 1687.

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PRINCIPIA

Philosophiae NaturalisPrincipia Mathematica

Isaac Newton

(1643-1727)

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ABOUT THE BOOK & AUTHOR

Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing the infinitesimal calculus.

In Principia, Newton formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that formed the dominant scientific viewpoint until it was superseded by the theory of relativity. Newton used his mathematical description of gravity to prove Kepler's laws of planetary motion, account for tides, the trajectories of comets, the precession of the equinoxes and other phenomena, eradicating doubt about the Solar System's heliocentricity. He demonstrated that the motion of objects on Earth and celestial bodies could be accounted for by the same principles. Newton's inference that the Earth is an oblate spheroid was later confirmed by the geodetic measurements of Maupertuis, La Condamine, and others, convincing most European scientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over earlier systems.Newton built thefirst practical reflecting telescopeand developed a sophisticated theory of colour based on the observation that aprismseparateswhite lightinto the colours of thevisible spectrum. His work on light was collected in his highly influential bookOpticks, published in 1704. He also formulated anempirical law of cooling, made the first theoretical calculation of thespeed of sound and introduced the notion of aNewtonian fluid. In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton contributed to the study of power series, generalised thebinomial theoremto non-integer exponents, developeda methodfor approximating theroots of a function, and classified most of thecubic plane curves.

Newton was a fellow ofTrinity Collegeand the secondLucasian Professor of Mathematicsat theUniversity of Cambridge. He was a devout but unorthodox Christian who privately rejected the doctrine of theTrinity. Unusually for a member of the Cambridge faculty of the day, he refused to takeholy ordersin theChurch of England. Beyond his work on the mathematical sciences, Newton dedicated much of his time to the study ofalchemyandbiblical chronology, but most of his work in those areas remained unpublished until long after his death. Politically and personally tied to theWhig party, Newton served two brief terms asMember of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, in 1689–90 and 1701–02. He wasknightedbyQueen Annein 1705 and spent the last three decades of his life in London, serving asWarden(1696–1700) andMaster(1700–1727) of theRoyal Mint, as well as president of theRoyal Society(1703–1727).

Early life and education

Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day, 1642, at Woolsthorpe, a village in southwestern Lincolnshire, England. His father died two months before he was born. When he was three years old, his mother remarried and moved away, leaving Isaac in the care of his grandmother. After a basic education in local schools, at the age of twelve he was sent to the King's School in Grantham, England, where he lived in the home of a pharmacist (one who prepares and distributes medication) named Clark. Newton was interested in Clark's chemical library and laboratory and built mechanical devices to amuse Clark's daughter, including a windmill run by a live mouse, floating lanterns, and sun dials.

After Newton's stepfather died, his mother returned to Woolsthorpe, and she pulled him out of school to help run the family farm. He preferred reading to working, though, and it became apparent that farming was not his destiny. At the age of nineteen he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, England. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1665, Newton stayed on for his master's, but an outbreak of the plague (a highly infectious and deadly disease often carried by rats)

Caused the university to close. Newton returned to Woolsthorpe for eighteen months, from 1666 to 1667, during which time he performed the basic experiments and did the thinking for his later work on gravitation (the attraction the mass of the Earth has for bodies near its surface) and optics (the study of light and the changes it experiences and produces). The story that a falling apple suggested the idea of gravitation to him seems to be true. Newton also developed his own system of calculus (a form of mathematics used to solve problems in physics).

Returning to Cambridge in 1667, Newton quickly completed the requirements for his master's degree and then began a period of expanding on the work he had started at Woolsthorpe. His mathematics professor, Isaac Barrow, was the first to recognize Newton's unusual ability. When Barrow resigned to take another job in 1669, he recommended that Newton take his place. Newton became a professor of mathematics at age twenty-seven and stayed at Trinity in that capacity for twenty-seven years.

Experiments in optics

Newton's main interest at the time was optics, and for several years his lectures were devoted to the subject. His experiments in this area had grown out of his interest in improving the effectiveness of telescopes (instruments that enable the user to view distant objects through the bending of light rays through a lens). His discoveries about the nature and properties of light had led him to turn to suggestions for a reflecting telescope rather than current ones based on the refractive (bending) principle. Newton built several reflecting models in which the image was viewed in a concave (rounded like the inside of a bowl) mirror through an eyepiece in the side of the tube. In 1672 he sent one of these to the Royal Society (Great Britain's oldest organization of scientists).

Newton was honored when the members of the Royal Society were impressed by his reflecting telescope and when they elected him to their membership. But when he decided to send the society a paper describing his experiments on light and the conclusions he had drawn from them, the results almost changed history for the worst. The paper was published in the society's Philosophical Transactions. Many scientists refused to accept the findings, and others were strongly opposed to conclusions that seemed to show that popular theories of light were false. At first Newton patiently answered his critics with further explanations, but when these produced more criticism, he became angry. He vowed he would never publish again, even threatening to give up science altogether. Several years later, at the urging of the astronomer Edmund Halley (c. 1656–1743), Newton put together the results of his work on the laws of motion, which became the great Principia.

His major work

Newton's greatest work, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, was completed in eighteen months. It was first published in Latin in 1687, when Newton was forty-five. Its appearance established him as the leading scientist of his time, not only in England but in the entire Western world. In the Principia Newton, with the law of universal gravitation, gave mathematical solutions to most of the problems relating to motion with which earlier scientists had struggled.

In the years after Newton's election to the Royal Society, the thinking of his peers and of scholars had been slowly developing along lines similar to those which his had taken, and they were more open to his explanations of the behavior of bodies moving according to the laws of motion than they had been to his theories about the nature of light. Yet the Principia 's mathematical form made it difficult for even the sharpest minds to follow. Those who did understand it saw that it needed to be made easier to read. As a result, in the years from 1687 to Newton's death, the Principia was the subject of many books and articles attempting to better explain Newton's ideas.

London years

After the publication of the Principia, Newton became depressed and lost interest in scientific matters. He became interested in university politics and was elected a representative of the university in Parliament. Later he asked friends in London to help him obtain a government appointment. The result was that in 1696, at the age of fifty-four, he left Cambridge to become warden and then master of the Mint (place where money is printed or manufactured). Newton took the job just as seriously as he had his scientific pursuits and made changes in the English money system that were effective for over one hundred years.

Newton's London life lasted as long as his professorship. He received many honors, including the first knighthood given for scientific achievement and election to life presidency of the Royal Society. In 1704 he published the Opticks, mainly a collection of earlier research, which he revised (changed) three times. In later years he supervised two updated versions of the Principia, he carried on a correspondence with scientists all over Great Britain and Europe, he continued his study and investigation in various fields, and, until his very last years, he performed his duties at the Mint.

His Opticks

The Opticks was written and originally published in English rather than Latin, and as a result it reached a wide range of readers in England. The reputation the Principia had prepared the way for the success of Newton's second published work. Also, its content and manner of presentation made the Opticks more approachable. It contained an account of experiments performed by Newton himself and his conclusions drawn from them, and it had greater appeal for the experimentally minded public of the time than the more mathematical Principia.

Of great interest for scientists were the questions with which Newton concluded the text of the Opticks —for example, "Do not Bodies act upon Light at a distance, and by their action bend its rays?" These make up a unique expression of Newton's ideas; posing them as negative (incorrect) questions made it possible for him to suggest ideas that he could not support by experimental evidence or mathematical proof, paving the way for further research by future scientists.

Later years

Two other areas to which Newton devoted much attention were chronology (the science of assigning to events their proper dates) and theology (the study of religion). His Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms, published in full after his death, attempts to link Egyptian, Greek, and Hebrew history and myths and to establish dates of historical events. In his Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, his aim was to show that the predictions of the Old and New Testaments had so far come true.

Newton died on March 20, 1727. His surviving writings and letters reveal a person with tremendous powers of concentration, the ability to stand long periods of intense mental strain, and the ability to remain free of distractions. The many portraits of Newton show him as a man with natural dignity, a serious expression, and large searching eyes. He had developed a mathematical explanation of the universe and opened the door for further study. In changing from pursuit of answers to the question "Why?" to focus upon "What?" and "How?," he prepared the way for the age of technology (a scientific way of achieving a practical purpose).

* * *

About the Principia

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), often referred to as simply the Principia, is a work in three books by Isaac Newton, in Latin, first published 5 July 1687. After annotating and correcting his personal copy of the first edition, Newton published two further editions, in 1713 and 1726. The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics; Newton's law of universal gravitation; and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion (which Kepler first obtained empirically).

The Principia is considered one of the most important works in the history of science. The French mathematical physicist Alexis Clairaut assessed it in 1747: "The famous book of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy marked the epoch of a great revolution in physics. The method followed by its illustrious author Sir Newton ... spread the light of mathematics on a science which up to then had remained in the darkness of conjectures and hypotheses."

A more recent assessment has been that while acceptance of Newton's theories was not immediate, by the end of the century after publication in 1687, "no one could deny that" (out of thePrincipia) "a science had emerged that, at least in certain respects, so far exceeded anything that had ever gone before that it stood alone as the ultimate exemplar of science generally".

In formulating his physical theories, Newton developed and used mathematical methods now included in the field ofCalculus. But the language of calculus as we know it was largely absent from thePrincipia; Newton gave many of his proofs in ageometricform ofinfinitesimal calculus, based on limits of ratios of vanishing small geometric quantities.In a revised conclusion to thePrincipia(seeGeneral Scholium), Newton used his expression that became famous.

In the preface of thePrincipia, Newton wrote:

... Rational Mechanics will be the sciences of motion resulting from any forces whatsoever, and of the forces required to produce any motion, accurately proposed and demonstrated ... And therefore we offer this work as mathematical principles of his philosophy. For all the difficulty of philosophy seems to consist in this—from the phenomenas of motions to investigate the forces of Nature, and then from these forces to demonstrate the other phenomena ...

ThePrincipiadeals primarily with massive bodies in motion, initially under a variety of conditions and hypothetical laws of force in both non-resisting and resisting media, thus offering criteria to decide, by observations, which laws of force are operating in phenomena that may be observed. It attempts to cover hypothetical or possible motions both of celestial bodies and of terrestrial projectiles. It explores difficult problems of motions perturbed by multiple attractive forces. Its third and final book deals with the interpretation of observations about the movements of planets and their satellites.

It shows:

·how astronomical observations prove the inverse square law of gravitation (to an accuracy that was high by the standards of Newton's time);

·offers estimates of relative masses for the known giant planets and for the Earth and the Sun;

·defines the very slow motion of the Sun relative to the solar-system barycenter;

·shows how the theory of gravity can account for irregularities in the motion of the Moon;

·identifies the oblateness of the figure of the Earth;

·accounts approximately for marine tides including phenomena of spring and neap tides by the perturbing (and varying) gravitational attractions of the Sun and Moon on the Earth's waters;

·explains theprecession of the equinoxesas an effect of the gravitational attraction of the Moon on the Earth's equatorial bulge; and

·gives theoretical basis for numerous phenomena about comets and their elongated, near-parabolic orbits.

The opening sections of thePrincipiacontain, in revised and extended form, nearlyall of the content of Newton's 1684 tractDe motu corporum in gyrum.

ThePrincipiabegin with "Definitions"and "Axioms or Laws of Motion",and continues in three books:

Book 1,“De motu corporum”:

Book 1, subtitledDe motu corporum(On the motion of bodies) concerns motion in the absence of any resisting medium. It opens with a mathematical exposition of "the method of first and last ratios",a geometrical form of infinitesimal calculus.

Newton's proof of Kepler's second law, as described in the book. If a continuous centripetal force (red arrow) is considered on the planet during its orbit, the area of the triangles defined by the path of the planet will be the same. This is true for any fixed time interval. When the interval tends to zero, the force can be considered instantaneous. (Click image for a detailed description).

The second section establishes relationships between centripetal forces and the law of areas now known as Kepler's second law (Propositions 1–3),and relates circular velocity and radius of path-curvature to radial force (Proposition 4), and relationships between centripetal forces varying as the inverse-square of the distance to the center and orbits of conic-section form (Propositions 5–10).

Propositions 11–31establish properties of motion in paths of eccentric conic-section form including ellipses, and their relation with inverse-square central forces directed to a focus, and includeNewton's theorem about ovals(lemma 28).

Propositions 43–45are demonstration that in an eccentric orbit under centripetal force where theapsemay move, a steady non-moving orientation of the line of apses is an indicator of an inverse-square law of force.

Book 1 contains some proofs with little connection to real-world dynamics. But there are also sections with far-reaching application to the solar system and universe:

Propositions 57–69deal with the "motion of bodies drawn to one another by centripetal forces". This section is of primary interest for its application to theSolar System, and includes Proposition 66along with its 22 corollaries:here Newton took the first steps in the definition and study of the problem of the movements of three massive bodies subject to their mutually perturbing gravitational attractions, a problem which later gained name and fame (among other reasons, for its great difficulty) as thethree-body problem.

Propositions 70–84deal with the attractive forces of spherical bodies. The section contains Newton's proof that a massive spherically symmetrical body attracts other bodies outside itself as if all its mass were concentrated at its centre. This fundamental result, called theShell theorem, enables the inverse square law of gravitation to be applied to the real solar system to a very close degree of approximation.

Book 2, part 2 of “De motu corporum”:

Part of the contents originally planned for the first book was divided out into a second book, which largely concerns motion through resisting mediums. Just as Newton examined consequences of different conceivable laws of attraction in Book 1, here he examines different conceivable laws of resistance; thusSection 1discusses resistance in direct proportion to velocity, andSection 2goes on to examine the implications of resistance in proportion to the square of velocity. Book 2 also discusses (inSection 5) hydrostatics and the properties of compressible fluids; Newton also derivesBoyle's law.The effects of air resistance on pendulums are studied inSection 6, along with Newton's account of experiments that he carried out, to try to find out some characteristics of air resistance in reality by observing the motions of pendulums under different conditions. Newton compares the resistance offered by a medium against motions of globes with different properties (material, weight, size). In Section 8, he derives rules to determine the speed of waves in fluids and relates them to the density and condensation (Proposition 48;this would become very important in acoustics). He assumes that these rules apply equally to light and sound and estimates that the speed of sound is around 1088 feet per second and can increase depending on the amount of water in air.

Less of Book 2 has stood the test of time than of Books 1 and 3, and it has been said that Book 2 was largely written on purpose to refute a theory ofDescarteswhich had some wide acceptance before Newton's work (and for some time after). According to this Cartesian theory of vortices, planetary motions were produced by the whirling of fluid vortices that filled interplanetary space and carried the planets along with them.Newton wrote at the end of Book 2his conclusion that the hypothesis of vortices was completely at odds with the astronomical phenomena, and served not so much to explain as to confuse them.

Book 3,“De mundi systemate”:

Book 3, subtitledDe mundi systemate(On the system of the world), is an exposition of many consequences of universal gravitation, especially its consequences for astronomy. It builds upon the propositions of the previous books, and applies them with further specificity than in Book 1 to the motions observed in the Solar System. Here (introduced by Proposition 22,and continuing in Propositions 25–35) are developedseveral of the features and irregularitiesof the orbital motion of the Moon, especially thevariation. Newton lists the astronomical observations on which he relies, and establishes in a stepwise manner that the inverse square law of mutual gravitation applies to Solar System bodies, starting with the satellites of Jupiterand going on by stages to show that the law is of universal application.He also gives starting at Lemma 4and Proposition 40the theory of the motions of comets, for which much data came fromJohn FlamsteedandEdmond Halley, and accounts for the tides,attempting quantitative estimates of the contributions of the Sunand Moonto the tidal motions; and offers the first theory of the precession of the equinoxes. Book 3 also considers theharmonic oscillatorin three dimensions, and motion in arbitrary force laws.

In Book 3 Newton also made clear his heliocentric view of the Solar System, modified in a somewhat modern way, since already in the mid-1680s he recognised the "deviation of the Sun" from the centre of gravity of the Solar System.

For Newton, "the common centre of gravity of the Earth, the Sun and all the Planets is to be esteem'd the Centre of the World",and that this centre "either is at rest, or moves uniformly forward in a right line".Newton rejected the second alternative after adopting the position that "the centre of the system of the world is immoveable", which "is acknowledg'd by all, while some contend that the Earth, others, that the Sun is fix'd in that centre".Newton estimated the mass ratios Sun:Jupiter and Sun:Saturn, and pointed out that these put the centre of the Sun usually a little way off the common center of gravity, but only a little, the distance at most "would scarcely amount to one diameter of the Sun".

* * *

PHILOSOPHIÆ

NATURALIS

PRINCIPIA

MATHEMATICA

Autore:

ISAAC. NEWTON

Trin. Coll. Cantab. Soc. Matheseos

Professore Lucasiano, & Societatis Regalis Sodali.

IMPRIMATUR.

S. PEPYS, Reg. Soc. PRÆSES.

Julii 5. 1686.

LONDINI,

Jussu Societatis Regiæ ac Typis Josephi Streater. Prostat apudplures Bibliopolas. Anno MDCLXXXVII.

PRÆFATIO AD LECTOREM.

§

Cum Veteres Mechanicam (uti Author est Pappus) in verum Naturalium investigatione maximi fecerint, & recentiores, missis formis substantialibus & qualitatibus occultis, Phænomena Naturæ ad leges Mathematicas revocare aggressi sint: Visum est in hoc Tractatu Mathesin excolere quatenus ea ad Philosophiam spectat. Mechanicam vero duplicem Veteres constituerunt: Rationalem quæ per Demonstrationes accurate procedit, & Practicam. Ad practicam spectant Artes omnes Manuales, a quibus utiq; Mechanica nomen mutuata est. Cum autem Artifices parum accurate operari soleant, fit ut Mechanica omnis a Geometria ita distinguatur, ut quicquid accuratum sit ad Geometriam referatur, quicquid minus accuratum ad Mechanicam. Attamen errores non sunt Artis sed Artificum. Qui minus accurate operatur, imperfectior est Mechanicus, & si quis accuratissime operari posset, hic foret Mechanicus omnium perfectissimus. Nam & Linearum rectarum & Circulorum descriptiones in quibus Geometria fundatur, ad Mechanicam pertinent. Has lineas describere Geometria non docet sed postulat. Postulat enim ut Tyro easdem accurate describere prius didicerit quam limen attingat Geometriæ; dein, quomodo per has operationes Problemata solvantur, docet. Rectas & circulos describere Problemata sunt sed non Geometrica. Ex Mechanica postulatur horum solutio, in Geometria docetur solutorum usus. Ac gloriatur Geometria quod tam paucis principiis aliunde petitis tam multa præstet. Fundatur igitur Geometria in praxi Mechanica, & nihil aliud est quam Mechanicæ universalis pars illa quæ artem mensurandi accurate proponit ac demonstrat. Cum autem artes Manuales in corporibus movendis præcipue versentur, fit ut Geometria ad magnitudinem, Mechanica ad motum vulgo reseratur. Quo sensu Mechanica rationalis erit Scientia Motuum qui ex viribus quibuscunq; resultant, & virium quæ ad motus quoscunq; requiruntur, accurate proposita ac demonstrata. Pars hæc Mechanicæ a Veteribus in Potentiis quinque ad artes manuales spectantibus exculta fuit, qui Gravitatem (cum potentia manualis non sit) vix aliter quam in ponderibus per potentias illas movendis considerarunt. Nos autem non Artibus sed Philosophiæ consulentes, deq; potentiis non manualibus sed naturalibus scribentes, ea maxime tractamus quæ ad Gravitatem, levitatem, vim Elasticam, resistentiam Fluidorum & ejusmodi vires seu attractivas seu impulsivas spectant: Et ea propter hæc nostra tanquam Philosophiæ principia Mathematica proponimus. Omnis enim Philosophiæ difficultas in eo versari videtur, ut a Phænomenis motuum investigemus vires Naturæ, deinde ab his viribus demonstremus phænomena reliqua. Et hac spectant Propositiones generales quas Libro primo & secundo pertractavimus. In Libro autem tertio exemplum hujus rei proposuimus per explicationem Systematis mundani. Ibi enim, ex phænomenis cælestibus, per Propositiones in Libris prioribus Mathematice demonstratas, derivantur vires gravitatis quibus corpora ad Solem & Planetas singulos tendunt. Deinde ex his viribus per Propositiones etiam Mathematicas deducuntur motus Planetarum, Cometarum, Lunæ & Maris. Utinam cætera Naturæ phænomena ex principiis Mechanicis eodem argumentandi genere derivare liceret. Nam multa me movent ut nonnihil suspicer ea omnia ex viribus quibusdam pendere posse, quibus corporum particulæ per causas nondum cognitas vel in se mutuo impelluntur & secundum figuras regulares cohærent, vel ab invicem fugantur & recedunt: quibus viribus ignotis, Philosophi hactenus Naturam frustra tentarunt. Spero autem quod vel huic Philosophandi modo, vel veriori alicui, Principia hic posita lucem aliquam præbebunt.

In his edendis, Vir acutissimus & in omni literarum genere eruditissimus Edmundus Halleius operam navavit, nec solum Typothetarum Sphalmata correxit & Schemata incidi curavit, sed etiam Author fuit ut horum editionem aggrederer. Quippe cum demonstratam a me figuram Orbium cælestium impetraverat, rogare non destitit ut eadem cum Societate Regali communicarem, Quæ deinde hortatibus & benignis suis auspiciis effecit ut de eadem in lucem emittenda cogitare inciperem. At postquam Motuum Lunarium inæqualitates aggressus essem, deinde etiam alia tentare cæpissem quæ ad leges mensuras Gravitatis & aliarum virium, ad figuras a corporibus secundum datas quascunque leges attractis describendas, ad motus corporum plurium inter se, ad motus corporum in Mediis resistentibus, ad vires, densitates & motus Mediorum, ad Orbes Cometarum & similia spectant, editionem in aliud tempus differendam esse putavi, ut cætera rimarer & una in publicum darem. Quæ ad motus Lunares spectant, (imperfecta cum sint,) in Corollariis Propositionis LXVI. simul complexus sum, ne singula methodo prolixiore quam pro rei dignitate proponere, & sigillatim demonstrare tenerer, & seriem reliquarum Propositionum interrumpere. Nonnulla sero inventa locis minus idoneis inserere malui, quam numerum Propositionum & citationes mutare. Ut omnia candide legantur, & defectus, in materia tam difficili non tam reprehendantur, quam novis Lectorum conatibus investigentur, & benigne suppleantur, enixe rogo.

IN

VIRI PRÆSTANTISSIMI

D. ISAACI NEWTONI

OPUS HOCCE

MATHEMATICO-PHYSICUM

Sæculi Gentisque nostræ Decus egregium.

En tibi norma Poli, & divæ libramina Molis,

Computus atque Jovis; quas, dum primordia rerum

Pangeret, omniparens Leges violare Creator

Noluit, æternique operis fundamina fixit.

Intima panduntur victi penetralia cæli,

Nec latet extremos quæ Vis circumrotat Orbes.

Sol solio residens ad se jubet omnia prono

Tendere descensu, nec recto tramite currus

Sidereos patitur vastum per inane moveri;

Sed rapit immotis, se centro, singula Gyris.

Jam patet horrificis quæ sit via flexa Cometis;

Jam non miramur barbati Phænomena Astri.

Discimus hinc tandem qua causa argentea Phœbe

Passibus haud æquis graditur; cur subdita nulli

Hactenus Astronomo numerorum fræna recuset:

Cur remeant Nodi, curque Auges progrediuntur.

Discimus & quantis refluum vaga Cynthia Pontum

Viribus impellit, dum fractis fluctibus Ulvam

Deserit, ac Nautis suspectas nudat arenas;

Alternis vicibus suprema ad littora pulsans.

Quæ toties animos veterum torsere Sophorum,

Quæque Scholas frustra rauco certamine vexant

Obvia conspicimus nubem pellente Mathesi.

Jam dubios nulla caligine prægravat error

Queis Superum penetrare domos atque ardua Cœli

Scandere sublimis Genii concessit acumen.

Surgite Mortales, terrenas mittite curas

Atque hinc cœligenæ vires dignoscite Mentis

A pecudum vita longe lateque remotæ.

Qui scriptis jussit Tabulis compescere Cædes

Furta & Adulteria, & perjuræ crimina Fraudis;

Quive vagis populis circumdare mœnibus Urbes

Autor erat; Cererisve beavit munere gentes;

Vel qui curarum lenimen pressit ab Uva;

Vel qui Niliaca monstravit arundine pictos

Consociare sonos, oculisque exponere Voces;

Humanam sortem minus extulit; utpote pauca

Respiciens miseræ solummodo commoda vitæ.

Jam vero Superis convivæ admittimur, alti

Jura poli tractare licet, jamque abdita cœcæ

Claustra patent Terræ rerumque immobilis ordo,

Et quæ præteriti latuerunt sæcula mundi.

Talia monstrantem mecum celebrate Camænis,

Vos qui cœlesti gaudetis nectare vesci,

NEWTONVM clausi reserantem scrinia Veri,

NEWTONVM Musis charum, cui pectore puro

Phœbus adest, totoque incessit Numine mentem:

Nec fas est propius Mortali attingere Divos.

EDMOND HALLEY.

PHILOSOPHIÆ

NATURALIS

Principia

MATHEMATICA.

DEFINITIONES.

§

Def. I.

Quantitas Materiæ est mensura ejusdem orta ex illius Densitate & Magnitudine conjunctim.

Aer duplo densior in duplo spatio quadruplus est. Idem intellige de Nive et Pulveribus per compressionem vel liquefactionem condensatis. Et par est ratio corporum omnium, quæ per causas quascunq; diversimode condensantur. Medii interea, si quod fuerit, interstitia partium libere pervadentis, hic nullam rationem habeo. Hanc autem quantitatem sub nomine corporis vel Massæ in sequentibus passim intelligo. Innotescit ea per corporis cujusq; pondus. Nam ponderi proportionalem esse reperi per experimenta pendulorum accuratissime instituta, uti posthac docebitur.

Def. II.

Quantitas motus est mensura ejusdem orta ex Velocitate et quantitate Materiæ conjunctim.

Motus totius est summa motuum in partibus singulis, adeoq; in corpore duplo majore æquali cum Velocitate duplus est, et dupla cum Velocitate quadruplus.

Def. III.

Materiæ vis insita est potentia resistendi, qua corpus unumquodq;, quantum in se est, perseverat in statu suo vel quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum.

Hæc semper proportionalis est suo corpori, neq; differt quicquam ab inertia Massæ, nisi in modo concipiendi. Per inertiam materiæ fit ut corpus omne de statu suo vel quiescendi vel movendi difficulter deturbetur. Unde etiam vis insita nomine significantissimo vis inertiæ dici possit. Exercet vero corpus hanc vim solummodo in mutatione status sui per vim aliam in se impressam facta, estq; exercitium ejus sub diverso respectu et Resistentia et Impetus: Resistentia quatenus corpus ad conservandum statum suum reluctatur vi impressæ; Impetus quatenus corpus idem, vi resistentis obstaculi difficulter cedendo, conatur statum ejus mutare. Vulgus Resistentiam quiescentibus et Impetum moventibus tribuit; sed motus et quies, uti vulgo concipiuntur, respectu solo distinguuntur ab invicem, neq; semper vere quiescunt quæ vulgo tanquam quiescentia spectantur.

Def. IV.

Vis impressa est actio in corpus exercita, ad mutandum ejus statum vel quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum.

Consistit hæc vis in actione sola, neq; post actionem permanet in corpore. Perseverat enim corpus in statu omni novo per solam vim inertiæ. Est autem vis impressa diversarum originum, ut ex ictu, ex pressione, ex vi centripeta.

Def. V.

Vis centripeta est qua corpus versus punctum aliquod tanquam ad centrum trahitur, impellitur, vel utcunq; tendit.

Hujus generis est gravitas, qua corpus tendit ad centrum Terræ: Vis magnetica, qua ferrum petit centrum Magnetis, et vis illa, quæcunq; sit, qua Planetæ perpetuo retrahuntur a motibus rectilineis, et in lineis curvis revolvi coguntur. Est autem vis centripetæ quantitas trium generum, absoluta, acceleratrix et motrix.

Def. VI.

Vis centripetæ quantitas absoluta est mensura ejusdem major vel minor pro efficacia causæ eam propagantis a centro per regiones in circuitu.

Uti virtus Magnetica major in uno magnete, minor in alio.

Def. VII.

Vis centripetæ quantitas acceleratrix est ipsius mensura Velocitati proportionalis, quam dato tempore generat.

Uti Virtus Magnetis ejusdem major in minori Distantia, minor in majori: vel vis gravitans major in Vallibus, minor in cacuminibus præaltorum montium (ut experimento pendulorum constat) atq; adhuc minor (ut posthac patebit) in majoribus distantiis a Terra; in æqualibus autem distantiis eadem undiq; propterea quod corpora omnia cadentia (gravia an levia, magna an parva) sublata Aeris resistentia, æqualiter accelerat.

Def. VIII.

Vis centripetæ quantitas motrix est ipsius mensura proportionalis motui, quem dato tempore generat.

Uti pondus majus in majori corpore, minus in minore; inq; corpore eodem majus prope terram, minus in cælis. Hæc vis est corporis totius centripetentia seu propensio in centrum & (ut ita dicam) pondus, & innotescit semper per vim ipsi contrariam & æqualem, qua descensus corporis impediri potest.

Hasce virium quantitates brevitatis gratia nominare licet vires absolutas, acceleratrices & motrices, & distinctionis gratia referre ad corpora, ad corporum loca, & ad centrum virium: Nimirum vim motricem ad corpus, tanquam conatum & propensionem totius in centrum, ex propensionibus omnium partium compositum; & vim acceleratricem ad locum corporis, tanquam efficaciam quandam, de centro per loca singula in circuitu diffusam, ad movenda corpora quæ in ipsis sunt; vim autem absolutam ad centrum, tanquam causa aliqua præditum, sine qua vires motrices non propagantur per regiones in circuitu; sive causa illa sit corpus aliquod centrale (quale est Magnes in centro vis Magneticæ vel Terra in centro vis gravitantis) sive alia aliqua quæ non apparet. Mathematicus saltem est hic conceptus. Nam virium causas & sedes physicas jam non expendo.

Est igitur vis acceleratrix ad vim motricem ut celeritas ad motum. Oritur enim quantitas motus ex celeritate ducta in quantitatem Materiæ, & vis motrix ex vi acceleratrice ducta in quantitatem ejusdem materiæ. Nam summa actionum vis acceleratricis in singulas corporis particulas est vis motrix totius. Unde juxta Superficiem Terræ, ubi gravitas acceleratrix seu vis gravitans in corporibus universis eadem est, gravitas motrix seu pondus est ut corpus: at si in regiones ascendatur ubi gravitas acceleratrix fit minor, pondus pariter minuetur, eritq; semper ut corpus in gravitatem acceleratricem ductum. Sic in regionibus ubi gravitas acceleratrix duplo minor est, pondus corporis duplo vel triplo minoris erit quadruplo vel sextuplo minus.

Porro attractiones et impulsus eodem sensu acceleratrices & motrices nomino. Voces autem attractionis, impulsus vel propensionis cujuscunq; in centrum, indifferenter et pro se mutuo promiscue usurpo, has vires non physice sed Mathematice tantum considerando. Unde caveat lector ne per hujusmodi voces cogitet me speciem vel modum actionis causamve aut rationem physicam alicubi definire, vel centris (quæ sunt puncta Mathematica) vires vere et physice tribuere, si forte aut centra trahere, aut vires centrorum esse dixero.

Scholium.

Hactenus voces minus notas, quo in sensu in sequentibus accipiendæ sunt, explicare visum est. Nam tempus, spatium, locum et motum ut omnibus notissima non definio. Dicam tamen quod vulgus quantitates hasce non aliter quam ex relatione ad sensibilia concipit. Et inde oriuntur præjudicia quædam, quibus tollendis convenit easdem in absolutas & relativas, veras & apparentes, Mathematicas et vulgares distingui.

I. Tempus absolutum verum & Mathematicum, in se & natura sua absq; relatione ad externum quodvis, æquabiliter fluit, alioq; nomine dicitur Duratio; relativum apparens & vulgare est sensibilis & externa quævis Durationis per motum mensura, (seu accurata seu inæquabilis) qua vulgus vice veri temporis utitur; ut Hora, Dies, Mensis, Annus.

II. Spatium absolutum natura sua absq; relatione ad externum quodvis semper manet similare & immobile; relativum est spatii hujus mensura seu dimensio quælibet mobilis, quæ a sensibus nostris per situm suum ad corpora definitur, & a vulgo pro spatio immobili usurpatur: uti dimensio spatii subterranei, aerei vel cælestis definita per situm suum ad Terram. Idem sunt spatium absolutum & relativum, specie & magnitudine, sed non permanent idem semper numero. Nam si Terra, verbi gratia, movetur, spatium Aeris nostri quod relative & respectu Terræ semper manet idem, nunc erit una pars spatii absoluti in quam Aer transit, nunc alia pars ejus, & sic absolute mutabitur perpetuo.

III. Locus est pars spatii quam corpus occupat, estq; pro ratione spatii vel absolutus vel relativus. Partem dico spatii, non situm corporis vel superficiem ambientem. Nam solidorum æqualium æquales semper sunt loci; Superficies autem ob dissimilitudinem figurarum ut plurimum inæquales sunt; situs vero proprie loquendo quantitatem non habent, neq; tam sunt loca quam affectiones locorum. Motus totius idem est cum summa motuum partium, hoc est, translatio totius de ipsius loco eadem cum summa translationum partium de locis suis, adeoq; locus totius idem cum summa locorum partium, & propterea internus & in corpore toto.

IV. Motus absolutus est translatio corporis de loco absoluto in locum absolutum, relativus de relativo in relativum. Sic in Navi quæ velis passis fertur, relativus corporis locus est navis regio illa in qua corpus versatur, seu cavitatis totius pars illa quam corpus implet, quæq; adeo movetur una cum Navi; & Quies relativa est permansio corporis in eadem illa navis regione vel parte cavitatis. At Quies vera est permansio corporis in eadem parte spatii illius immoti in qua Navis ipsa una cum cavitate sua & contentis universis movetur. Unde si Terra vere quiescit, corpus quod relative quiescit in Navi, movebitur vere et absolute ea cum Velocitate qua Navis movetur in Terra. Sin Terra etiam movetur, orietur verus et absolutus corporis motus partim ex Terræ motu vero in spatio immoto, partim ex Navis motu relativo in Terra; et si corpus etiam movetur relative in Navi, orietur verus ejus motus partim ex vero motu Terræ in spatio immoto, partim ex relativis motibus tum Navis in Terra, tum corporis in Navi, et ex his motibus relativis orietur corporis motus relativus in Terra. Ut si Terræ pars illa ubi Navis versatur moveatur vere in Orientem, cum Velocitate partium 10010, et velis ventoq; feratur Navis in Occidentem cum Velocitate partium decem, Nauta autem ambulet in Navi Orientem versus cum Velocitatis parte una, movebitur Nauta vere et absolute in spatio immoto cum Velocitatis partibus 10001 in Orientem, et relative in Terra Occidentem versus cum Velocitatis partibus novem.

Tempus absolutum a relativo distinguitur in Astronomia per Æquationem Temporis vulgi. Inæquales enim sunt dies Naturales, qui vulgo tanquam æquales pro Mensura Temporis habentur. Hanc inæqualitatem corrigunt Astronomi ut ex veriore Tempore mensurent motus cælestes. Possibile est ut nullus sit motus æquabilis quo Tempus accurate mensuretur. Accelerari & retardari possunt motus omnes, sed fluxus Temporis absoluti mutari nequit. Eadem est duratio seu perseverantia existentiæ rerum, sive motus sint celeres, sive tardi, sive nulli; proinde hæc a mensuris suis sensibilibus merito distinguitur, & ex ijsdem colligitur per Æquationem Astronomicam. Hujus autem æquationis in determinandis Phænomenis necessitas, tum per experimentum Horologii oscillatorii, tum etiam per Eclipses Satellitum Jovis evincitur.

Ut partium Temporis ordo est immutabilis, sic etiam ordo partium Spatii. Moveantur hæ de locis suis, & movebuntur (ut ita dicam) de seipsis. Nam Tempora & Spatia sunt sui ipsorum & rerum omnium quasi loca. In Tempore quoad ordinem successionis; in Spatio quoad ordinem situs locantur universa. De illorum Essentia est ut sint loca, & loca primaria moveri absurdum est. Hæc sunt igitur absoluta loca, & solæ translationes de his locis sunt absoluti motus.

Verum quoniam hæ spatii partes videri nequeunt, & ab invicem per sensus nostros distingui, earum vice adhibemus mensuras sensibiles. Ex positionibus enim & distantiis rerum a corpore aliquo, quod spectamus ut immobile, definimus loca universa; deinde etiam & omnes motus æstimamus cum respectu ad prædicta loca, quatenus corpora ab iisdem transferri concipimus. Sic vice locorum & motuum absolutorum relativis utimur, nec incommode in rebus humanis: in Philosophicis autem abstrahendum est a sensibus. Fieri etenim potest ut nullum revera quiescat corpus, ad quod loca motusq; referantur.

Distinguuntur autem Quies & Motus absoluti & relativi ab invicem per eorum proprietates, causas & effectus. Quietis proprietas est, quod corpora vere quiescentia quiescunt inter se. Ideoq; cum possibile sit ut corpus aliquod in regionibus fixarum, aut longe ultra, quiescat absolute; sciri autem non possit ex situ corporum ad invicem in regionibus nostris, utrum horum aliquod ad longinquum illud datam positionem servet, quies vera ex horum situ inter se definiri nequit.

Motus proprietas est, quod partes quæ datas servant positiones ad tota, participant motus eorundem totorum. Nam gyrantium partes omnes conantur recedere de axe motus, et progredientium impetus oritur ex conjuncto impetu partium singularum. Igitur motis corporibus ambientibus, moventur quæ in ambientibus relative quiescunt. Et propterea motus verus et absolutus definiri nequit per translationem e vicinia corporum, quæ tanquam quiescentia spectantur. Debent corpora externa non solum tanquam quiescentia spectari, sed etiam vere quiescere. Alioquin inclusa omnia, præter translationem e vicinia ambientium, participabunt etiam ambientium motus veros, et sublata illa translatione non vere quiescent, sed tanquam quiescentia solummodo spectabuntur; sunt enim ambientia ad inclusa ut totius pars exterior ad partem interiorem, vel ut cortex ad nucleum. Moto autem cortice, nucleus etiam, absq; translatione de vicinia corticis, ceu pars totius, movetur.

Præcedenti proprietati affinis est, quod moto loco movetur una locatum, adeoq; corpus, quod de loco moto movetur, participat etiam loci sui motum. Igitur motus omnes, qui de locis motis fiunt, sunt partes solummodo motuum integrorum et absolutorum, et motus omnis integer componitur ex motu corporis de loco suo primo, et motu loci hujus de loco suo, et sic deinceps, usq; dum perveniatur ad locum immotum, ut in exemplo Nautæ supra memorato. Unde motus integri et absoluti non nisi per loca immota definiri possunt, et propterea hos ad loca immota, relativos ad mobilia supra retuli: Loca autem immota non sunt, nisi quæ omnia ab infinito in infinitum datas servant positiones ad invicem, atq; adeo semper manent immota, spatiumq; constituunt quod immobile appello.

Causæ, quibus motus veri et relativi distinguuntur ab invicem, sunt vires in corpora impressæ ad motum generandum. Motus verus nec generatur nec mutatur nisi per vires in ipsum corpus motum impressas: at motus relativus generari et mutari potest absq; viribus impressis in hoc corpus. Sufficit enim ut imprimantur in alia solum corpora ad quæ fit relatio, ut ijs cedentibus mutetur relatio illa in qua hujus quies vel motus relativus consistit. Rursus motus verus a viribus in corpus motum impressis semper mutatur, at motus relativus ab his viribus non mutatur necessario. Nam si eædem vires in alia etiam corpora, ad quæ fit relatio, sic imprimantur ut situs relativus conservetur, conservabitur relatio in qua motus relativus consistit. Mutari igitur potest motus omnis relativus ubi verus conservatur, et conservari ubi verus mutatur; et propterea motus verus in ejusmodi relationibus minime consistit.

Effectus quibus motus absoluti et relativi distinguuntur ab invicem, sunt vires recedendi ab axe motus circularis. Nam in motu circulari nude relativo hæ vires nullæ sunt, in vero autem et absoluto majores vel minores pro quantitate motus. Si pendeat situla a filo prælongo, agaturq; perpetuo in orbem donec filum a contorsione admodum rigescat, dein impleatur aqua, et una cum aqua quiescat; tum vi aliqua subitanea agatur motu contrario in orbem, et filo se relaxante, diutius perseveret in hoc motu: superficies aquæ sub initio plana erit, quemadmodum ante motum vasis, at postquam, vi in aquam paulatim impressa, effecit vas, ut hæc quoq; sensibiliter revolvi incipiat, recedet ipsa paulatim e medio, ascendetq; ad latera vasis, figuram concavam induens, (ut ipse expertus sum) et incitatiore semper motu ascendet magis & magis, donec revolutiones in æqualibus cum vase temporibus peragendo, quiescat in eodem relative. Indicat hic ascensus conatum recedendi ab axe motus, & per talem conatum & innotescit & mensuratur motus aquæ circularis verus & absolutus, motuiq; relativo hic omnino contrarius. Initio ubi maximus erat aquæ motus relativus in vase, motus ille nullum excitabat conatum recedendi ab axe: Aqua non petebat circumferentiam ascendendo ad latera vasis, sed plana manebat, & propterea motus illius circularis verus nondum inceperat. Postea vero ut aquæ motus relativus decrevit, ascensus ejus ad latera vasis indicabat conatum recedendi ab axe, atq; hic conatus monstrabat motum illius circularem verum perpetuo crescentem, ac tandem maximum factum ubi aqua quiescebat in vase relative. Igitur conatus iste non pendet a translatione aquæ respectu corporum ambientium, & propterea motus circularis verus per tales translationes definiri nequit. Unicus est corporis cujusq; revolventis motus vere circularis, conatui unico tanquam proprio & adæquato effectui respondens; motus autem relativi pro varijs relationibus ad externa innumeri sunt, & relationum instar, effectibus veris omnino destituuntur, nisi quatenus de vero illo & unico motu participant. Unde & in Systemate eorum qui Cælos nostros infra Cælos fixarum in orbem revolvi volunt, & Planetas secum deferre; Planetæ & singulæ Cælorum partes, qui relative quidem in Cælis suis proximis quiescunt, moventur vere. Mutant enim positiones suas ad invicem (secus quam fit in vere quiescentibus) unaq; cum cælis delati participant eorum motus, & ut partes revolventium totorum, ab eorum axibus recedere conantur.

Igitur quantitates relativæ non sunt eæ ipsæ quantitates quarum nomina præ se ferunt, sed earum mensuræ illæ sensibiles (veræ an errantes) quibus vulgus loco mensuratarum utitur. At si ex usu definiendæ sunt verborum significationes; per nomina illa Temporis, Spatij, Loci & Motus proprie intelligendæ erunt hæ mensuræ; & sermo erit insolens & pure Mathematicus si quantitates mensuratæ hic subintelligantur. Proinde vim inferunt Sacris literis qui voces hasce de quantitatibus mensuratis ibi interpretantur. Neq; minus contaminant Mathesin & Philosophiam qui quantitates veras cum ipsarum relationibus & vulgaribus mensuris confundunt.

Motus quidem veros corporum singulorum cognoscere, & ab apparentibus actu discriminare, difficillimum est; propterea quod partes spatij illius immobilis in quo corpora vere moventur, non incurrunt in sensus. Causa tamen non est prorsus desperata. Nam suppetunt argumenta partim ex motibus apparentibus, qui sunt motuum verorum differentiæ, partim ex viribus quæ sunt motuum verorum causæ & effectus. Ut si globi duo ad datam ab invicem distantiam filo intercedente connexi, revolverentur circa commune gravitatis centrum; innotesceret ex tensione fili conatus globorum recedendi ab axe motus, & inde quantitas motus circularis computari posset. Deinde si vires quælibet æquales in alternas globorum facies ad motum circularem augendum vel minuendum simul imprimerentur, innotesceret ex aucta vel diminuta fili tensione augmentum vel decrementum motus; & inde tandem inveniri possent facies globorum in quas vires imprimi deberent, ut motus maxime augeretur, id est facies posticæ, sive quæ in motu circulari sequuntur. Cognitis autem faciebus quæ sequuntur & faciebus oppositis quæ præcedunt, cognosceretur determinatio motus. In hunc modum inveniri posset & quantitas & determinatio motus hujus circularis in vacuo quovis immenso, ubi nihil extaret externum & sensibile, quocum globi conferri possent. Si jam constituerentur in spatio illo corpora aliqua longinqua datam inter se positionem servantia, qualia sunt stellæ fixæ in regionibus nostris: sciri quidem non posset ex relativa globorum translatione inter corpora, utrum his an illis tribuendus esset motus. At si attenderetur ad filum & inveniretur tensionem ejus illam ipsam esse quam motus globorum requireret; concludere liceret motum esse globorum, & tum demum ex translatione globorum inter corpora, determinationem hujus motus colligere. Motus autem veros ex eorum causis, effectibus & apparentibus differentijs colligere, & contra, ex motibus seu veris seu apparentibus, eorum causas & effectus, docebitur fusius in sequentibus. Hunc enim in finem Tractatum sequentem composui.

AXIOMATASIVELEGES MOTUS

Lex. I.

Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.

Projectilia perseverant in motibus suis nisi quatenus a resistentia aeris retardantur & vi gravitatis impelluntur deorsum. Trochus, cujus partes cohærendo perpetuo retrahunt sese a motibus rectilineis, non cessat rotari nisi quatenus ab aere retardatur. Majora autem Planetarum & Cometarum corpora motus suos & progressivos & circulares in spatiis minus resistentibus factos conservant diutius.

Lex. II.

Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressæ, & fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.

Si vis aliqua motum quemvis generet, dupla duplum, tripla triplum generabit, sive simul & semel, sive gradatim & successive impressa suerit. Et hic motus quoniam in eandem semper plagam cum vi generatrice determinatur, si corpus antea movebatur, motui ejus vel conspiranti additur, vel contrario subducitur, vel obliquo oblique adjicitur, & cum eo secundum utriusq; determinationem componitur.

Lex. III.

Actioni contrariam semper & æqualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales & in partes contrarias dirigi.

Quicquid premit vel trahit alterum, tantundem ab eo premitur vel trahitur. Siquis lapidem digito premit, premitur & hujus digitus a lapide. Si equus lapidem funi allegatum trahit, retrahetur etiam & equus æqualiter in lapidem: nam funis utrinq; distentus eodem relaxandi se conatu urgebit Equum versus lapidem, ac lapidem versus equum, tantumq; impediet progressum unius quantum promovet progressum alterius. Si corpus aliquod in corpus aliud impingens, motum ejus vi sua quomodocunq; mutaverit, idem quoque vicissim in motu proprio eandem mutationem in partem contrariam vi alterius (ob æqualitatem pressionis mutuæ) subibit. His actionibus æquales fiunt mutationes non velocitatum sed motuum, (scilicet in corporibus non aliunde impeditis:) Mutationes enim velocitatum, in contrarias itidem partes factæ, quia motus æqualiter mutantur, sunt corporibus reciproce proportionales.

Corol. I.

Corpus viribus conjunctis diagonalem parallelogrammi eodem tempore describere, quo latera separatis.

Si corpus dato tempore, vi sola M, ferretur ab A ad B, & vi sola N, ab A ad C, compleatur parallelogrammum ABDC, & vi utraq; feretur id eodem tempore ab A ad D. Nam quoniam vis N agit secundum lineam AC ipsi BD parallelam, hæc vis nihil mutabit velocitatem accedendi ad lineam illam BD a vi altera genitam. Accedet igitur corpus eodem tempore ad lineam BD sive vis N imprimatur, sive non, atq; adeo in fine illius temporis reperietur alicubi in linea illa BD. Eodem argumento in fine temporis ejusdem reperietur alicubi in linea CD, & idcirco in utriusq; lineæ concursu D reperiri necesse est.

Corol. II.

Et hinc patet compositio vis directæ AD ex viribus quibusvis obliquis AB & BD, & vicissim resolutio vis cujusvis directæ AD in obliquas quascunq; AB & BD. Quæ quidem Compositio & resolutio abunde confirmatur ex Mechanica.

Ut si de rotæ alicujus centro O exeuntes radij inæquales OM, ON filis MA, NP sustineant pondera A & P, & quærantur vires ponderum ad movendam rotam: per centrum O agatur recta KOL filis perpendiculariter occurrens in K & L, centroq; O & intervallorum OK, OL majore OL describatur circulus occurrens filo MA in D: & actæ rectæ OD parallela sit AC & perpendicularis DC. Quoniam nihil refert utrum filorum puncta K, L, D affixa sint vel non affixa ad planum rotæ, pondera idem valebunt ac si suspenderentur a punctis K & L vel D & L. Ponderis autem A exponatur vis tota per lineam AD, & hæc resolvetur in vires AC, CD, quarum AC trahendo radium OD directe a centro nihil valet ad movendam rotam; vis autem altera DC, trahendo radium DO perpendiculariter, idem valet ac si perpendiculariter traheret radium OL ipsi OD æqualem; hoc est idem atq; pondus P, quod sit ad pondus A ut vis DC ad vim DA, id est (ob similia triangula ADC, DOK,) ut OK ad OD seu OL. Pondera igitur A & P, quæ sunt reciproce ut radii in directum positi OK & OL, idem pollebunt & sic consistent in æquilibrio: (quæ est proprietas notissima Libræ, Vectis & Axis in Peritrochio:) sin pondus alterutrum sit majus quam in hac ratione, erit vis ejus ad movendam rotam tanto major.

Quod si pondus p ponderi P æquale partim suspendatur silo Np, partim incumbat plano obliquo pG: agantur pH, NH, prior horizonti, posterior plano pG perpendicularis; & si vis ponderis p deorsum tendens, exponatur per lineam pH, resolvi potest hæc in vires pN, HN. Si filo pN perpendiculare esset planum aliquod pQ secans planum alterum pG in linea ad horizontem parallela; & pondus p his planis pQ, pG solummodo incumberet; urgeret illud hæc plana viribus pN, HN perpendiculariter, nimirum planum pQ vi pN & planum pG vi HN. Ideoque si tollatur planum pQ ut pondus tendat filum, quoniam filum sustinendo pondus, jam vicem præstat plani sublati, tendetur illud eadem vi pN, qua planum antea urgebatur. Unde tensio fili hujus obliqui erit ad tensionem fili alterius perpendicularis PN, ut pN ad pH. Ideoq; si pondus p sit ad pondus A in ratione quæ componitur ex ratione reciproca minimarum distantiarum filorum suorum AM, pN a centro rotæ, & ratione directa pH ad pN; pondera idem valebunt ad rotam movendam, atq; adeo se mutuo sustinebunt, ut quilibet experiri potest.

Pondus autem p planis illis duobus obliquis incumbens, rationem habet cunei inter corporis fissi facies internas: & inde vires cunei & mallei innotescunt: utpote cum vis qua pondus p urget planum pQ sit ad vim, qua idem vel gravitate sua vel ictu mallei impellitur secundum lineam pH in plano, ut pN ad pH; atq; ad vim qua urget planum alterum pG ut pN ad NH. Sed & vis Cochleæ per similem virium divisionem colligitur; quippe quæ cuneus est a vecte impulsus. Usus igitur Corollarij hujus latissime patet, & late patendo veritatem ejus evincit, cum pendeat ex jam dictis Mechanica tota ab Authoribus diversimode demonstrata. Ex hisce enim facile derivantur vires Machinarum, quæ ex Rotis, Tympanis, Trochleis, Vectibus, radijs volubilibus, nervis tensis & ponderibus directe vel oblique ascendentibus, cæterisq; potentijs Mechanicis componi solent, ut & vires Nervorum ad animalium ossa movenda.

Corol. III.

Quantitas motus quæ colligitur capiendo summam motuum factorum ad eandem partem, & differentiam factorum ad contrarias, non mutatur ab actione corporum inter se.

Etenim actio eiq; contraria reactio æquales sunt per Legem 3, adeoq; per legem 2, æquales in motibus efficiunt mutationes versus contrarias partes. Ergo si motus fiunt ad eandem partem, quicquid additur motui corporis fugientis subducetur motui corporis insequentis sic, ut summa maneat eadem quæ prius. Sin corpora obviam eant, æqualis erit subductio de motu utriusq;, adeoq; differentia motuum factorum in contrarias partes manebit eadem.

Ut si corpus sphæricum A sit triplo majus corpore sphærico B, habeatq; duas velocitatis partes, et B sequatur in eadem recta cum velocitatis partibus decem, adeoq; motus ipsius A sit ad motum ipsius B ut sex ad decem; ponantur motus illis esse partium sex & decem, & summa erit partium sexdecim. In corporum igitur concursu, si corpus A lucretur motus partes tres vel quatuor vel quinq; corpus B amittet partes totidem, adeoq; perget corpus A post reflexionem cum partibus novem vel decem vel undecim; & B cum partibus septem vel sex vel quinq; existente semper summa partium sexdecim ut prius. Sin corpus A lucretur partes novem vel decem vel undecim vel duodecim, adeoq; progrediatur post concursum cum partibus quindecim vel sexdecim vel septendecim vel octodecim; corpus B amittendo, tot partes quot A lucratur, vel progredietur cum una parte, amissis partibus novem, vel quiescet amisso motu suo progressivo partium decem, vel regredietur cum una parte amisso motu suo & (ut ita dicam) una parte amplius, vel regredietur cum partibus duabus ob detractum motum progressivum partium duodecim. Atq; ita summæ motuum conspirantium 15 + 1 vel 16 + 0, differentiæ contrariorum 17 - 1 & 18 - 2 semper erunt partium sexdecim ut ante concursum & reflexionem. Cognitis autem motibus quibuscum corpora post reflexionem pergent, invenietur cujusq; velocitas ponendo eam esse ad velocitatem ante reflexionem ut motus post ad motum ante. Ut in casu ultimo, ubi corporis A motus erat partium sex ante reflexionem; partium octodecim postea, & velocitas partium duarum ante reflexionem; invenietur ejus velocitas partium sex post reflexionem, dicendo, ut motus partes sex ante reflexionem ad motus partes octodecim postea, ita velocitatis partes duæ ante reflexionem ad velocitatis partes sex postea.

Quod si corpora vel non Sphærica vel diversis in rectis moventia incidant in se mutuo oblique, & requirantur eorum motus post reflexionem, cognoscendus est situs plani a quo corpora concurrentia tanguntur in puncto concursus; dein corporis utriusq; motus (per Corol. 2.) distinguendus est in duos, unum huic plano perpendicularem, alterum eidem parallelum: motus autem paralleli, propterea quod corpora agant in se invicem secundum lineam huic plano perpendicularem, retinendi sunt iidem post reflexionem atq; antea, & motibus perpendicularibus mutationes æquales in partes contrarias tribuendæ sunt sic, ut summa conspirantium & differentia contrariorum maneat eadem quæ prius. Ex hujusmodi reflexionibus oriri etiam solent motus circulares corporum circa centra propria. Sed hos casus in sequentibus non considero, & nimis longum esset omnia huc spectantia demonstrare.

Corol. IIII.

Commune gravitatis centrum ab actionibus corporum inter se non mutat statum suum vel motus vel quietis, & propterea corporum omnium in se mutuo agentium (exclusis actionibus & impedimentis externis) commune centrum gravitatis vel quiescit vel movetur uniformiter in directum.

Nam si puncta duo progrediantur uniformi cum motu in lineis rectis & distantia eorum dividatur in ratione data, punctum dividens vel quiescet vel progredietur uniformiter in linea recta, Hoc postea in Lemmate xxiii demonstratur in plano, & eadem ratione demonstrari potest in loco solido. Ergo si corpora quotcunq; moventur uniformiter in lineis rectis, commune centrum gravitatis duorum quorumvis, vel quiescit vel progreditur uniformiter in linea recta, propterea quod linea horum corporum centra in rectis uniformiter progredientia jungens, dividitur ab hoc centro communi in ratione data: similiter & commune centrum horum duorum & tertii cujusvis vel quiescit vel progreditur uniformiter in linea recta, propterea quod ab eo dividitur distantia centri communis corporum duorum & centri corporis tertii in data ratione. Eodem modo & commune centrum horum trium & quarti cujusvis vel quiescit vel progreditur uniformiter in linea recta, propterea quod ab eo dividitur distantia inter centrum commune trium & centrum quarti in data ratione, & sic in infinitum. Igitur in systemate corporum quæ actionibus in se invicem, alijsq; omnibus in se extrinsecus impressis, omnino vacant, adeoq; moventur singula uniformiter in rectis singulis, commune omnium centrum gravitatis vel quiescit vel movetur uniformiter in directum.

Porro in systemate duorum corporum in se invicem agentium, cum distantiæ centrorum utriusq; a communi gravitatis centro sint reciproce ut corpora, erunt motus relativi corporum eorundem vel accedendi ad centrum illud vel ab eodem recedendi, æquales inter se. Proinde centrum illud a motuum æqualibus mutationibus in partes contrarias factis, atq; adeo ab actionibus horum corporum inter se, nec promovetur nec retardatur nec mutationem patitur in statu suo quoad motum vel quietem. In systemate autem corporum plurium, quoniam duorum quorumvis in se mutuo agentium commune gravitatis centrum ob actionem illam nullatenus mutat statum suum; & reliquorum, quibuscum actio illa non intercedit, commune gravitatis centrum nihil inde patitur; distantia autem horum duorum centrorum dividitur, a communi corporum omnium centro, in partes summis totalibus corporum, quorum sunt centra, reciproce proportionales, adeoq; centris illis duobus statum suum movendi vel quiescendi servantibus, commune omnium centrum servat etiam statum suum; manifestum est quod commune illud omnium centrum, ob actiones binorum corporum inter se, nunquam mutat statum suum quoad motum & quietem. In tali autem systemate actiones omnes corporum inter se, vel inter bina sunt corpora, vel ab actionibus inter bina compositæ, & propterea communi omnium centro mutationem in statu motus ejus vel Quietis nunquam inducunt. Quare cum centrum illud ubi corpora non agunt in se invicem, vel quiescit, vel in recta aliqua progreditur uniformiter, perget idem, non obstantibus corporum actionibus inter se, vel semper quiescere, vel semper progredi uniformiter in directum, nisi a viribus in systema extrinsecus impressis deturbetur de hoc statu. Est igitur systematis corporum plurium Lex eadem quæ corporis solitarii, quoad perseverantiam in statu motus vel quietis. Motus enim progressivus seu corporis solitarii seu systematis corporum ex motu centri gravitatis æstimari semper debet.

Corol. V.

Corporum dato spatio inclusorum ijdem sunt motus inter se, sive spatium illud quiescat, sive moveatur idem uniformiter in directum absq; motu circulari.

Nam differentiæ motuum tendentium ad eandem partem, & summæ tendentium ad contrarias, eadem sunt sub initio in utroq; casu (ex hypothesi) & ex his summis vel differentiis oriuntur congressus & impetus quibus corpora se mutuo feriunt. Ergo per Legem 2 æquales erunt congressuum effectus in utroq; casu, & propterea manebunt motus inter se in uno casu æquales motibus inter se in altero. Idem comprobatur experimento luculento. Motus omnes eodem modo se habent in Navi, sive ea quiescat, sive moveatur uniformiter in directum.

Corol. VI.

Si corpora moveantur quomodocunq; inter se & a viribus acceleratricibus æqualibus secundum lineas parallelas urgeantur; pergent omnia eodem modo moveri inter se ac si viribus illis non essent incitata.