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Physics Fundamental Science

Physics is concerned with fundamental principles of the Universe and is divided into six major areas. It aims to find fundamental laws governing natural phenomena and express them mathematically. Measurements are used to describe phenomena and standards are needed for consistent measurements. Models of matter have evolved from early Greek ideas to current understanding of atoms containing protons, neutrons, and electrons, which are composed of quarks.

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26 views1 page

Physics Fundamental Science

Physics is concerned with fundamental principles of the Universe and is divided into six major areas. It aims to find fundamental laws governing natural phenomena and express them mathematically. Measurements are used to describe phenomena and standards are needed for consistent measurements. Models of matter have evolved from early Greek ideas to current understanding of atoms containing protons, neutrons, and electrons, which are composed of quarks.

Uploaded by

Kyra Mae Urbano
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Physics Fundamental Science  Concerned with the fundamental principles of the Universe 

Foundation of other physical sciences  Has simplicity of fundamental concepts Divided into six major
areas:  Classical Mechanics  Relativity  Thermodynamics  Electromagnetism  Optics  Quantum
Mechanics 10 Objectives of Physics To find the limited number of fundamental laws that govern natural
phenomena To use these laws to develop theories that can predict the results of future experiments
Express the laws in the language of mathematics  Mathematics provides the bridge between theory
and experiment. Theory and Experiments Should complement each other When a discrepancy occurs,
theory may be modified or new theories formulated.  A theory may apply to limited conditions. 
Example: Newtonian Mechanics is confined to objects traveling slowly with respect to the speed of light.
 Try to develop a more general theory 11 Measurements Used to describe natural phenomena Each
measurement is associated with a physical quantity Need defined standards Characteristics of standards
for measurements  Readily accessible  Possess some property that can be measured reliably  Must
yield the same results when used by anyone anywhere  Cannot change with time Standards of
Fundamental Quantities Standardized systems  Agreed upon by some authority, usually a
governmental body SI – Systéme International (Main system used in this text)  Agreed to in 1960 by an
international committee 12 13 Fundamental Quantities and Their Units Quantity SI Unit Length meter
Mass kilogram Time second Temperature Kelvin Electric Current Ampere Luminous Intensity Candela
Amount of Substance mole  In mechanics, three fundamental quantities are used: Length, Mass, Time
 All other quantities in mechanics can be expressed in terms of the three fundamental quantities.
Derived quantities can be expressed as a mathematical combination of fundamental quantities.
Examples:  Area  A product of two lengths  Speed  A ratio of a length to a time interval  Density
 A ratio of mass to volume 14 Prefixes Prefixes correspond to powers of 10. Each prefix has a specific
name and has a specific abbreviation. The prefixes can be used with any basic units. They are multipliers
of the basic unit. Examples: 1 mm = 10-3 m 1 mg = 10-3 g 15 16 Models of Matter Some Greeks thought
matter is made of atoms. No additional structure JJ Thomson (1897) found electrons and showed atoms
had structure. Rutherford (1911) determined a central nucleus surrounded by electrons. Nucleus has
structure, containing protons and neutrons  Number of protons gives atomic number  Number of
protons and neutrons gives mass number Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks. Six Quarks: Up,
down, strange, charmed, bottom, top  Fractional electric charges  +⅔ of Up, charmed, top  ⅓ of
Down, strange, bottom Basic Quantities and Their Dimension Dimension has a specific meaning – it
denotes the physical nature of a quantity. Dimensions are often denoted with square brackets.  Length
[L]  Mass [M]  Time [T] Dimensions and Units Each dimension can have many actual units. Table 1.5
for the dimensions and units of some derived quantities

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