Question

Sir Isaac Newton was contemplating the universe in his garden one day in 1665 when he noticed an apple fall from a tree. Newton wondered to himself, “Why should the apple always fall to the ground? Why does it not go sideways or upwards but directly toward the Earth’s center?” After much contemplation Newton concluded that objects are pulled to the Earth through a force that he called gravity, which means heaviness in Latin. On July 5th, 1687 Newton formally expressed his law of universal gravitation in series of books called The Principia.

What is the main idea of this text (What is the author trying to say about the topic)?

Options:

A. A falling apple inspired Newton to think about gravity


B. Gravity is when objects are pulled to the Earth

C. Newton wrote a series of books called Principia


D. Newton discovers gravity

Answer 1

Answer: D (or A, but I believe it's D)

                                                 Explanations

"A. A falling apple inspired Newton to think about gravity." Yes this is true, but instead of only thinking about it, he expressed his law of universal gravitation, etc. I understand how this could be the answer though. :>

"B. Gravity is when objects are pulled to the Earth." This is true aswell, but the text gives off more information than just what Gravity is. Newton is a big part of the text. Mostly the main character but narrating in third person.

"C. Newton wrote a series of books called Principia." Newton did this, but this isn't the main idea. If it was, the text would've explained more about it. This is more of a detail or maybe key detail.

"D. Newton discovers gravity.' I choose this as the correct answer because, the text talks about Newton discovering gravity, and when using the word discover in this, it's also like saying he discovered gravity from a falling apple, and contemplated about gravity.

Answer 2

the answer to this question is D