The Science of Physics – Section 1, What is Physics? By: Bowman (Archer)

Section Objectives Identify activities and fields that involve the major areas within physics. Describe the processes of the scientific method Describe the role of models and diagrams in physics

Basic Introduction Physics is a field of science Nearly all things in our surrounding can be explain by the principles of physics

Areas Within Physics Name Subjects Examples Mechanics Motions and interactions between objects People movement, friction, weight, spinning object Thermodynamics Heat and temperature Melting and freezing, engines Vibration and Wave Phenomena Specific types of repetitive motions Springs, pendulum Optics Light Mirror, lenses, spectrum Electromagnetism Electricity, magnetism, and light Electrical charges, magnets, circuits Relativity Particles moving at any speed, including very high speeds Nuclear energy, particle collisions Quantum mechanics Behavior of submicroscopic particles Atom and its parts

The Scientific Method Scientific method are steps common in good scientific investigations

The Scientific Method Physicist often use models in order to simplify an event or phenomena The models isolate a single element in the phenomenon from other simultaneously occurring elements in the phenomenon That single element is called the system

The Scientific Method Example: When a player shoot in a football game The scientist wanted to study the motion of the ball So the system is the kicker, the ball, and the goal Other unnecessary information such as the ball’s color are disregarded

The Scientific Method The model may disregard some characteristics of the system which have little to no effect on the relevant part on the phenomenon

The Scientific Method A hypothesis is a reasonable explanation for observations A hypothesis is tested with experiment Modeling a situation can help determine the relevant variable and hypothesis for testing

The Scientific Method Example: Continuing the last example The variables can be figured as the mass of the ball, the force of the kick, and the air resistance, and gravity (variables that affect the ball’s trajectory) The hypothesis could be that the ball will curve down due to gravity and slow down due to air resistance and will enter the goal at the bottom right corner

The Scientific Method A hypothesis must be tested in a controlled experiment This means that other than the variable being tested, other variable must be kept constant in all trials.