Newton's Bucket
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
A bucket filled with water is rotated. Initially, the water does not rotate and its surface is flat; later, the water rotates with the bucket and its surface becomes concave. Newton asks: relative to what is the water rotating? Not the bucket (because when the water and bucket are relatively stationary, the surface is still concave), but relative to "absolute space."
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
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Seeking an absolute frame of reference. In an era dominated by relativism (everyone has their own opinion), Newton's bucket reminds us that certain physical phenomena (such as centrifugal force or the concave water surface) reveal the existence of objective truth or absolute standards that do not depend on the observer's will.
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Newton used the rotating bucket experiment to argue for the existence of absolute space: the degree of concavity of the water surface depends on the bucket's rotation relative to absolute space, not on its relative motion with respect to the bucket's walls. The mechanism is that rotation produces centrifugal effects, and absolute space provides the reference for acceleration.
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- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E6%A1%B6%E5%AE%9E%E9%AA%8Cverified
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