What Is Physics? Flashcards
(27 cards)
Where is ‘physics’ derived from?
And what does it mean?
The Greek word ‘physis’.
It means ‘nature’.
What are quasars?
The most luminous objects in the known universe.
What are quarks?
The most unbelievably small particles within the atomic nucleus.
What is particle physics?
And what does it seek to answer?
It looks at the smallest things in the universe: atoms and subatomic particles.
It seeks to answer questions about the origins of the universe and building blocks of matter.
Before supernovas were discovered, what did physicists believe?
That the stars were unchanging.
What is astrophysics?
It explores the universe (stars, galaxies, black holes, quasars, pulsars, and supernovas),
What principles applies to astrophysics?
Relativity and quantum mechanics.
What is nuclear physics?
Uncovers the potential hidden within the atomic nucleus. Helps develop efficient forms of energy.
What are examples that nuclear physics has made?
Nuclear weapons, nuclear power, advances in medicine, engineering, exploring history.
What is the difference between theorists and experimentalists?
Theorists use maths to find physics answers. Using previous experiments.
Experimentalists use equipment to provide insights into workings of nature.
Quote from Richard Feynman.
‘To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature.’
Quote from Max Planck.
‘Science can not solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.’
Which three physicists ‘started’ physics in the sixteenth century?
Nicolas Copernicus
Johannesburg Kepler
Galileo Galilei
What two things did Newton do?
Discover gravity
Invent calculus
What did Newton think about the universe?
It is a massive mechanical machine (clock) and everything is operated under a set of rules.
Everything is wound up and set in motion.
What did Einstein believe?
That time could speed up or slow down.
Any objects length could expand and contract along with the fabric of space-time.
Who shattered the notion of ‘clockwork universe’?
Max Planck
Einstein
Niels Bohr
And more
Why are the behaviours of a particle not predictable?
Their movements are based on probability.
What happened in 1514?
Nicolas Copernicus begins work on a ‘Sun-centred’ model of the universe.
What happened in 1632?
Galileo Galilei publishes ‘Dialogue concerning the Two Chiefs World Systems’ popularising the Copernican Theory.
What happened in 1687?
Isaac Newton publishes ‘Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ providing the world with his laws of motion and gravitation and a fully functional theory of physics.
What happened in 1802?
John Dalton discovers the atoms.
What happened in 1861?
James Clerk Maxwell provides a mathematical description of light.
What happened in 1896?
Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
