Lesson test: The Principia and its price

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The Principia and its price

1.[3p]
Io orbits Jupiter at 2.819e-3 AU with a period of 4.843e-3 years. Jupiter's mass is one part in how many of the sun's?

CorrectNot quite: 1047

2.[3p]
What does the combination of a satellite's distance cubed over its period squared measure?

The mass of the body it orbits

Correct

The mass of the satellite

The answer is: The mass of the body it orbits

The distance to the sun

The answer is: The mass of the body it orbits

The eccentricity of the orbit

The answer is: The mass of the body it orbits

3.[3p]
Which of these did universal gravitation account for that nothing before it could?

Select all that apply

Two high tides a day, timed by the moon

Correct

The precession of the equinoxes

Correct

The oblate shape of a rotating earth

Correct

The return of a comet after 76 years

Correct

The cause of gravitational attraction itself

The answer is: Two high tides a day, timed by the moon, The precession of the equinoxes, The oblate shape of a rotating earth, The return of a comet after 76 years

4.[3p]
Why did Newton's predicted flattening of 1 part in 230 come out larger than the true 1 in 298?

He assumed uniform density, whereas the earth's mass is concentrated towards the centre

Correct

He used the wrong value for the length of the day

The answer is: He assumed uniform density, whereas the earth's mass is concentrated towards the centre

He neglected the moon's attraction

The answer is: He assumed uniform density, whereas the earth's mass is concentrated towards the centre

He measured the degree of latitude in France rather than in Lapland

The answer is: He assumed uniform density, whereas the earth's mass is concentrated towards the centre

5.[2p]
A degree of latitude measures 110.6 km at the equator and 111.7 km at the pole. What is the difference, in kilometres?

CorrectNot quite: 1.1

6.[3p]
Why does Clairaut's perturbation calculation make the 1759 comet a stronger test than a bare prediction of return?

It used the masses of Jupiter and Saturn to compute a specific delay, a question no rival theory could even ask

Correct

It was published in a journal rather than announced verbally

The answer is: It used the masses of Jupiter and Saturn to compute a specific delay, a question no rival theory could even ask

It was made by a different person from the one who predicted the return

The answer is: It used the masses of Jupiter and Saturn to compute a specific delay, a question no rival theory could even ask

It required no observation to confirm

The answer is: It used the masses of Jupiter and Saturn to compute a specific delay, a question no rival theory could even ask

7.[2p]
Newton regarded action at a distance as satisfactory and defended it as the natural way for matter to behave.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

8.[3p]
What does hypotheses non fingo amount to, as a change in what counts as knowledge?

A mathematically exact law with confirmed predictions counts, even with no account of what produces it

Correct

Only claims proved from first principles may be published

The answer is: A mathematically exact law with confirmed predictions counts, even with no account of what produces it

Experiments are to be preferred to mathematics

The answer is: A mathematically exact law with confirmed predictions counts, even with no account of what produces it

No theory may be accepted until its mechanism is known

The answer is: A mathematically exact law with confirmed predictions counts, even with no account of what produces it

9.[3p]
Match each critic or advocate to their part in the reception of the Principia.

Christiaan Huygens
Gottfried Leibniz
Voltaire
Emilie du Chatelet

promoted Newton's philosophy to a French readership in the 1730s
called gravitation an occult quality and a perpetual miracle
translated the Principia into French with her own commentary
admired the mathematics and called the principle of attraction absurd

Show the answer

Christiaan Huygens: admired the mathematics and called the principle of attraction absurd Gottfried Leibniz: called gravitation an occult quality and a perpetual miracle Voltaire: promoted Newton's philosophy to a French readership in the 1730s Emilie du Chatelet: translated the Principia into French with her own commentary

1.[3p] Io orbits Jupiter at 2.819e-3 AU with a period of 4.843e-3 years. Jupiter's mass is one part in how many of the sun's?

2.[3p] What does the combination of a satellite's distance cubed over its period squared measure?

3.[3p] Which of these did universal gravitation account for that nothing before it could?

4.[3p] Why did Newton's predicted flattening of 1 part in 230 come out larger than the true 1 in 298?

5.[2p] A degree of latitude measures 110.6 km at the equator and 111.7 km at the pole. What is the difference, in kilometres?

6.[3p] Why does Clairaut's perturbation calculation make the 1759 comet a stronger test than a bare prediction of return?

7.[2p] Newton regarded action at a distance as satisfactory and defended it as the natural way for matter to behave.

8.[3p] What does hypotheses non fingo amount to, as a change in what counts as knowledge?

9.[3p] Match each critic or advocate to their part in the reception of the Principia.

1.[3p]
Io orbits Jupiter at 2.819e-3 AU with a period of 4.843e-3 years. Jupiter's mass is one part in how many of the sun's?

2.[3p]
What does the combination of a satellite's distance cubed over its period squared measure?

3.[3p]
Which of these did universal gravitation account for that nothing before it could?

4.[3p]
Why did Newton's predicted flattening of 1 part in 230 come out larger than the true 1 in 298?

5.[2p]
A degree of latitude measures 110.6 km at the equator and 111.7 km at the pole. What is the difference, in kilometres?

6.[3p]
Why does Clairaut's perturbation calculation make the 1759 comet a stronger test than a bare prediction of return?

7.[2p]
Newton regarded action at a distance as satisfactory and defended it as the natural way for matter to behave.

8.[3p]
What does hypotheses non fingo amount to, as a change in what counts as knowledge?

9.[3p]
Match each critic or advocate to their part in the reception of the Principia.