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Physics

physical science Maturity 9-11 Vital Level 2

Science helps us learn how things work.

Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
It looks at how things move. It looks at how things act. This helps us make new tools. It helps us build computers. Do you want to learn more?
Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636.jpg
Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636.jpg

54 words

People study how things work. This is called physics.

Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
It looks at how things move. It looks at energy and force.
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg

Long ago, people watched the stars. They saw the sun and moon move.

Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Senenmut-Grab.JPG
This helped them learn about space.

Some thinkers used ideas to explain things. They thought everything had a cause. They used what they saw to learn.

Learning about physics helps us make tools. We can make computers and TVs. It helps us build many things.

Physics is a very old study. It helps us understand our world.

105 words

Physics is the study of how our world works.

Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
It looks at matter, which is what everything is made of. It also looks at how things move through space and time. Physics studies energy and force to explain these movements.
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg

Long ago, people studied the stars. This is called astronomy. Ancient groups like the Egyptians watched the sun and moon.

Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Later, thinkers like Aristotle tried to explain nature. He thought everything was made of four elements. He believed fire, air, water, and earth had natural places.

In the 1600s, physics changed a lot. This was the Scientific Revolution. Scientists began using tests to find new rules. Isaac Newton found rules for gravity. Johannes Kepler studied how planets move. These ideas helped create calculus, which is a way to study change.

Today, we use two main types of physics. Classical physics explains big things like moving cars. Modern physics explains very small or very fast things. It includes quantum mechanics, which is the study of tiny particles. It also includes relativity, which was studied by Albert Einstein.

Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg
Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg
These ideas help us make computers and TVs.

203 words

Physics is the study of how our world works. It looks at matter and its tiny parts. It also studies how things move through space and time.

Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
This science explores energy and force to explain everything. A person who studies this is called a physicist. Physics is one of the most important scientific fields. It helps us understand the very rules of nature.
Modernphysicsfields.svg
Modernphysicsfields.svg

How does physics work in our daily lives? It follows a step-by-step way of looking at the world. Scientists use observation and tests to find patterns. For example, they look at how objects fall. They also study how light travels in straight lines. This helps them build new tools. Understanding electromagnetism led to the creation of televisions and computers. Studying thermodynamics helped start the age of industry. Even the math called calculus grew from studying motion.

People have studied nature for a very long time. Long ago, people in Mesopotamia and Egypt watched the stars.

Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Senenmut-Grab.JPG
They saw the sun and moon move in patterns. In ancient Greece, thinkers like Aristotle wrote about physics. He believed everything was made of four elements. He thought fire, air, water, and earth had natural places.
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Later, Islamic scholars made big discoveries in optics. They studied how light rays work using controlled experiments.

History changed greatly during the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century. Scientists began using math and tests to find real laws. Johannes Kepler studied how planets move between 1609 and 1619.

JKepler.jpg
JKepler.jpg
Isaac Newton discovered the laws of motion and gravity. He also helped develop calculus to solve physical problems.
GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg
GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg
In the 1900s, physics changed again with modern ideas. Max Planck started quantum theory to explain tiny things. Albert Einstein created the theory of relativity for very fast objects.
Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg
Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg

Today, we divide physics into two main groups. Classical physics explains things we see every day. This includes big objects moving at slow speeds.

Atwood-machine.svg
Atwood-machine.svg
Modern physics explains the very small or very fast. Quantum mechanics studies tiny particles like electrons.
Doubleslitexperiment.svg
Doubleslitexperiment.svg
Relativity explains how space and time work. These ideas help us understand the whole universe. We even found the Higgs boson particle at CERN in 2012.
CMS Higgs-event.jpg
CMS Higgs-event.jpg

382 words

Physics is the fundamental scientific study of matter and its basic parts. It examines how matter moves and behaves through space and time. Scientists also study related concepts like energy and force. A person who specializes in this field is called a physicist. Physics is considered one of the most important scientific disciplines. It provides the rules that explain how the universe functions.

Modernphysicsfields.svg
Modernphysicsfields.svg

To understand physics, one must look at how different forces interact. Scientists observe how one thing acts upon another to create a result. For example, a force applied to an object causes motion. This process can be studied through mathematical models and physical experiments. By tracing these causes and effects, physicists can predict how systems will behave. This method allows them to move from simple observations to universal laws.

Atwood-machine.svg
Atwood-machine.svg

Physicists divide the field into two major categories: classical and modern physics. Classical physics describes the world we experience every day. This includes objects that are much larger than an atom. It also covers objects moving much slower than the speed of light. Modern physics emerged in the early 20th century to explain different scales. This includes the very small world of atoms and the very fast speeds of light.

Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg

The history of physics began with ancient observations of the natural world. Before 3000 BCE, civilizations like the Sumerians and Egyptians tracked the Sun and Moon.

Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Senenmut-Grab.JPG
In ancient Greece, philosophers like Aristotle developed early theories. Aristotle believed everything was made of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. He argued that each element had a natural place based on its density. While his ideas were eventually proven wrong, they provided an early framework for study.
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg

During the Islamic Golden Age, scholars made massive leaps in understanding light. Scientists like Ibn al-Haytham used controlled experiments to study optics. He proposed that light travels in rays, which challenged older Greek ideas. Later, the Scientific Revolution changed everything through quantitative methods. Johannes Kepler discovered the laws of planetary motion between 1609 and 1619.

JKepler.jpg
JKepler.jpg
Isaac Newton then unified the laws of motion and universal gravitation. Newton also helped develop calculus, a mathematical tool for studying continuous change.
GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg
GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg

In the 20th century, classical physics faced several unexplained problems. For instance, classical electromagnetism could not explain why light intensity behaved certain ways. These gaps led to the birth of modern physics. Max Planck developed quantum theory to explain energy in discrete steps. Albert Einstein introduced the theory of relativity to explain fast-moving bodies.

Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg
Einstein1921 by F Schmutzer 2.jpg
These theories corrected the errors found in classical mechanics. They allowed scientists to understand the universe at its most extreme limits.

Today, physics connects to almost every other field of science. It intersects with biology to create biophysics and with chemistry to create quantum chemistry. Advances in physics have also driven massive technological shifts. Understanding electromagnetism and nuclear physics led to computers and televisions. The study of thermodynamics helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. Even the development of calculus was inspired by the study of mechanics.

Doubleslitexperiment.svg
Doubleslitexperiment.svg

Modern research continues to push the boundaries of what we know. Scientists use the Standard Model to describe fundamental particles. In 2012, researchers at CERN discovered a particle consistent with the Higgs boson.

CMS Higgs-event.jpg
CMS Higgs-event.jpg
This discovery helped confirm many predictions made by the Standard Model. However, physicists are still searching for answers beyond this model. They use complex mathematics, like probability and group theory, to explore new ideas. The journey to understand the origin and nature of everything continues.

598 words
🖼️ Images & Media (34)
File:Modernphysicsfields.svg
Modernphysicsfields.svg
File:Stylised atom with three Bohr model orbits and stylised nucleus.svg
Stylised atom with three Bohr model...
File:Atwood-machine.svg
Atwood-machine.svg
File:Doubleslitexperiment.svg
Doubleslitexperiment.svg
File:Pinhole-camera.svg
Pinhole-camera.svg
File:Hubble ultra deep field high rez edit1.jpg
Hubble ultra deep field high rez edit1.jpg
File:Virmalised 18.03.15 (4).jpg
Virmalised 18.03.15 (4).jpg
File:Bruce McCandless II during EVA in 1984.jpg
Bruce McCandless II during EVA in 1984.jpg
File:Pahoeoe fountain original.jpg
Pahoeoe fountain original.jpg
File:Military laser experiment.jpg
Military laser experiment.jpg
File:Senenmut-Grab.JPG
Senenmut-Grab.JPG
File:Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636.jpg
Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo...

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