Physics is one of the disciplines of natural sciences which deals with the study of the basic laws of nature and their manifestation in various natural phenomena.
Physicists attempt to explain several diverse natural phenomena in terms of certain scientific laws and concepts, such as Newton’s law of gravitation and Maxwell’s equations in electromagnetism.
Reductionism is a method used to derive the properties of larger and more complicated systems by studying the interactions and properties of their smaller, simpler constituent parts. This is a method that is at the very heart of physics.
There are two main domains of interest in physics – macroscopic and microscopic. Classical physics is mostly concerned with macroscopic phenomena and includes subjects like mechanics, thermodynamics, optics, and electrodynamics.
However, classical physics is insufficient to handle the microscopic domain of physics. As of now, quantum theory is accepted as the right framework for explaining microscopic phenomena.
The emerging domain of mesoscopic physics, which is intermediate between the macroscopic and the microscopic, deals with a few tens or hundreds of atoms.
The scope of physics, as you can clearly see, is unbelievably wide.
For example, the scale of length deals with everything from entities as small as protons and electrons (10-14 m or less) to massive galaxies (1026 m) and even the entire universe, whose extent is of the order of 1040 or more.
Similarly, the scale of mass in physics ranges from 10-30 kg (the mass of an electron) to 1055 kg (the mass of the observable universe).
The time scale ranges from around 10-22 seconds to 1018 seconds, which can be obtained by dividing the length scales by the speed of light.
A strong connection has always existed between physics, technology, and society. The technological advancements made with the help of physics have made great changes in society throughout history.
Likewise, technology has occasionally given rise to new physics as well. For example, the field of thermodynamics emerged as a result of scientists studying and trying to improve the working of heat engines.
Have you ever wondered how, over the centuries, mankind progressed from the simple wheel to the space shuttle? Many of the facilities that make our daily life so easy and comfortable today, from the internet to mobile phones to microwave ovens, have become possible because of physics.
Physics holds great importance in the field of medicine as well. It is the most fundamental of all sciences and has contributed to many current medical technologies and practices, such as X-Rays, MRI, Doppler ultrasound, electrocardiography (ECG), endoscopy, and much more.
The development of biotechnology and material technology has largely depended on microscopic instruments, such as the electron microscope (EM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM).
Physics has also been actively contributing to the development of alternative energy resources like solar energy, geothermal energy, and hydroelectricity.
Despite all the progress that mankind has made, many questions remain unanswered in physics. For example, are matter and energy two different aspects of the same entity? Can different forces in nature be unified?
Reduction and unification are two important thrusts in physics that physicists have been trying to solve.
Ensembles As a system is defined by the collection of a large number of particles, so the “ensembles” can be defined as a collection of a number of macroscopically identical but essentially independent systems. Here the term macroscopically identical means that each of the systems constituting an ensemble satisfies the same macroscopic conditions, like Volume,…
Part I: A fox chases a rabbit. Both run at the same speed $ v$ . At all times, the fox runs directly toward the instantaneous position of the rabbit , and the rabbit runs at an angle $ \alpha $ relative to the direction directly away from the fox. The initial separation between the…
All about the Light Absorption’s theory on the basis of Jablonski diagram. According to the Grotthus – Draper Law of photo-chemical activation: Only that light which is absorbed by a system, can bring a photo-chemical change. However it is not true that all the kind of light(s) that are absorbed could bring a photo-chemical change. The…
Henry Poincaré was trying to save the Old classical theory of Physics by Suitable Adjustments & Modifications in it. When the experiments, like Michelson Morley Experiment, in search of the ether drift failed, it began to be increasingly realized that there was no such thing as an absolute or privileged frame of reference and that…
Wondering what Cosmic Radiation & Cosmic Ray Showers are and how these are formed? If you are, you are at the perfect place. Cosmic radiation and cosmic ray showers are some of the most intriguing and fascinating phenomena in the universe. While the term “radiation” may have negative connotations, cosmic radiation is a natural occurrence…
Lord Rayleigh made an attempt to explain the energy distribution in black body radiation, which was completed by Jeans in 1900. The results obtained by then are known as Rayleigh-Jeans’ Rules on Black Body Radiation. The law covering these rules is called Rayleigh Jean’s Law. The black body emits radiation of continuously variable wavelengths right…
Various physicists tried to explain the problem of energy distribution in black body radiation, and finally, German Physicist Max Planck successfully solved the problem. Before him, German Physicist Wilhelm Wein and British Physicist Lord Rayleigh & James Jean have tackled this problem and have given important laws. In fact, the work of their scientists paved…
This is one of the top mysteries of universe.
Stars The universe is vast and amazing. There are many millions of trillions of stars in the sky, most of them being bigger than our sun. Stars account for 98% of the matter in a galaxy. The rest of 2% consists of interstellar or galactic gas & dust in a very attenuated form. The normal…
The environment is contaminated in numerous ways. Plastic on the land, sewage in the water, carbon in the air. But not every substance is radioactive and not every pollution is radioactive pollution. There is a category of atoms that try to become a stable isotope from its unstable state. This process involves emission of radioactivity.…
