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Physics n What is Physics? n Historical Perspective n Observation & Discovery n Superconductors n What and How, Not Why n Metrics
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What is Physics? n The study of the natural world –Laws, “rules,” principles, –patterns and relationships n The most BASIC Science –What are modern “compartments” of science? n Began as Natural Philosophy –Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) –“Law” when Church=State n From subatomic particles to galaxies
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PARADIGM n Paradigm Shifts (watches, bike seats)
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Plato (Greek philosopher, teacher of Aristotle) n 390 B.C. PLAT0: Theory of Knowledge, and Ether as fifth element (after earth, air, fire, and water as the first four).
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ARISTOTLE arguably the most influential person in all of western civilization For almost 2,000 years, Aristotle’s teachings were considered FACT and even LAW by the Roman Catholic Church/State. (Lived around 350 B.C. in Greece, and all of his theories and methods persisted until Galileo around 1600.)
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n 370 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Free falling bodies accelerate but heavier bodies fall faster n 340 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Earth is a sphere; Space is continuous and always filled with matter n 330 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Geocentric cosmology
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n All science began with ancient Greeks as “Natural Philosophy.” n All other science disciplines branched off from physics—the most BASIC, or the most foundational science.
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SCIENCE PARADIGM SHIFTS –Copernican Revolution 1500’s (pub. 1543)
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–Galileo late 1500’s & early 1600’s “father of experimental Physics”
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Paradigm shift of “natural” motion n From the time of Aristotle around 350 B.C., for 2,000 years until Galileo around 1650 A.D., it was believed that ALL objects eventually tend to stop moving. n It was believed that things had “natural” motion and “violent” motion. n It was believed that some force was required to keep an object moving.
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No separation between Church and State… n It was considered heresy against the church (and therefore state) to go against the teachings considered “right” by the church n Therefore Galileo got in huge trouble for experimenting and going against the science that was considered law.
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A few things Galileo got in trouble for… n Dropping objects and showing that ALL accelerated at same rate, regardless of mass (against Aristotle’s teachings) n First to USE a telescope to look at “heavenly bodies” as far as we know. Showed that the moon had craters. n Supported the Copernican view, or Heliocentric model, where the Earth was NOT the center of the universe (nor even the center of the solar system) n Published in Italian
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–Newton late 1600’s-- Newtonian/Classical Physics (most of what we will do in here) “If I have seen far, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” --Newton’s tribute to Galileo
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–1700’s explosion of science –Lyell 1830 said Earth millions of yrs. old –Darwin 1858 Natural Selection
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–Einstein early 1900’s “father of modern physics”
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Terms n Fact: Close agreement by competent observers who make a series of observations; always subject to CHANGE WITH NEW INFORMATION! n Hypothesis: Educated guess to be tested by experiment. Only SCIENTIFIC if it can be PROVEN wrong if it IS wrong. n Einstein said, “No number of experiments can prove me right, but one can prove me wrong.”
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Principles and Laws: n When hypotheses have stood up under repeated testing, they may become known as principles or laws. n Always subject to CHANGE with NEW KNOWLEDGE or testing.
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Theory: n A synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well- tested and verified hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world. For example--atomic theory, cell theory, the theory of relativity, theory of evolution.
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Facts vs. Theories n Facts are REVISABLE DATA about the world n Theories interpret facts (but are also revisable!)
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Science vs. Technology n Technology is a way of DOING n Application of Science n To design, create, build for human use n Science is a way of KNOWING n Knowledge for its own sake n Open-ended, always expanding
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Economics and Science n How does scientific research affect the economy? n Are dollars spent for pure scientific research well spent? n For example, if quarks and leptons are the building blocks of all matter, would 7 billion dollars to build a Superconducting Super Collider be well spent if it helps us understand all matter in the universe?
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How do science and technology overlap?
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n What are some problems associated with technology?
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Science vs. Religion: Actually Do NOT contradict each other in any broad sense; they ask different questions… n Science is about COSMIC ORDER n Science asks “HOW” n Mechanisms, patterns, quantify, show relationships n Religion is about COSMIC PURPOSE n Religion asks “WHY” n Underlying meaning
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Pseudo-Science: Paranormal, other studies which cannot be disproven even if they ARE wrong! (Called “a test for wrongness.”)
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MATH is the language of science. No translation, no ambiguity or nuances. n ENGLISH SYSTEM n Difficult to convert n Based on a KING’S measurements n Inconsistent n Not used in science textbooks (even in U.S.) in 20 years!
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METRIC SYSTEM and SI (System International) n Easy to convert (just move decimal place) n Based on TENS n Consistent n Used by most countries in the world
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METRIC STAIRCASE
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