PHYSICS

Physics is the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of non-living matter and energy that are not dealt with by chemistry or
biology, and the fundamental laws of the material universe. As such, it is a huge and diverse area of study.

The Fields of Physics

Physics is sometimes broken into two broad categories, based on the history of the science: Classical Physics, which includes studies that arose
from the Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century; and Modern Physics, which includes those studies which have been begun since that
period. Part of the division might be considered scale: modern physics focuses on tinier particles, more precise measurements, and broader laws
that affect how we continue to study and understand the way the world works.

Another way to divide physics is applied or experimental physics (basically, the practical uses of materials) versus theoretical physics (the
building of overarching laws as to how the universe works).

Classical Physics

Before the turn of the 19th century, physics concentrated on the study of mechanics, light, sound and wave motion, heat and thermodynamics,
and electromagnetism. Classical physics fields that were studied before 1900 (and continue to develop and be taught today) include:

Acoustics: The study of sound and sound waves. In this field, you study mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids. Acoustics includes
applications for seismic waves, shock and vibration, noise, music, communication, hearing, underwater sound, and atmospheric sound. In this
way, it encompasses earth sciences, life sciences, engineering, and the arts.

Astronomy: The study of space, including the planets, stars, galaxies, deep space, and the universe. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences,
using mathematics, physics, and chemistry to understand everything outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

Chemical Physics: The study of physics in chemical systems. Chemical physics focuses on using physics to understand complex phenomena at a
variety of scales from the molecule to a biological system. Topics include the study of nano-structures or chemical reaction dynamics.

Computational Physics: The application of numerical methods to solve physical problems for which a quantitative theory already exists.

Electromagnetism: The study of electrical and magnetic fields, which are two aspects of the same phenomenon.

Electronics: The study of the flow of electrons, generally in a circuit.

Fluid Dynamics / Fluid Mechanics: The study of the physical properties of "fluids," specifically defined in this case to be liquids and gases.

Geophysics: The study of the physical properties of the Earth.

Mathematical Physics: Applying mathematically rigorous methods to solving problems within physics.

Mechanics: The study of the motion of bodies in a frame of reference.

Meteorology / Weather Physics: The physics of the weather.

Optics / Light Physics: The study of the physical properties of light.

Statistical Mechanics: The study of large systems by statistically expanding the knowledge of smaller systems.

Thermodynamics: The physics of heat.

Modern Physics

Modern physics embraces the atom and its component parts, relativity and the interaction of high speeds, cosmology and space exploration, and
mesoscopic physics, those pieces of the universe that fall in size between nanometers and micrometers. Some of the fields in modern physics are:

Astrophysics: The study of the physical properties of objects in space. Today, astrophysics is often used interchangeably with astronomy and
many astronomers have physics degrees.

Atomic Physics: The study of atoms, specifically the electron properties of the atom, as distinct from nuclear physics which considers the
nucleus alone. In practice, research groups usually study atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

Biophysics: The study of physics in living systems at all levels, from individual cells and microbes to animals, plants, and entire ecosystems.
Biophysics overlaps with biochemistry, nanotechnology, and bio-engineering, such as the derivation of the structure of DNA from X-ray
crystallography. Topics can include bio-electronics, nano-medicine, quantum biology, structural biology, enzyme kinetics, electrical conduction
in neurons, radiology, and microscopy.

Chaos: The study of systems with a strong sensitivity to initial conditions, so a slight change at the beginning quickly become major changes in
the system. Chaos theory is an element of quantum physics and useful in celestial mechanics.

Cosmology: The study of the universe as a whole, including its origins and evolution, including the Big Bang and how the universe will continue
to change.
Cryophysics / Cryogenics /Low-Temperature Physics: The study of physical properties in low-temperature situations, far below the freezing
point of water.

Crystallography: The study of crystals and crystalline structures.

High Energy Physics: The study of physics in extremely high energy systems, generally within particle physics.

High-Pressure Physics: The study of physics in extremely high-pressure systems, generally related to fluid dynamics.

Laser Physics: The study of the physical properties of lasers.

Molecular Physics: The study of the physical properties of molecules.

Nanotechnology: the science of building circuits and machines from single molecules and atoms.

Nuclear Physics: The study of the physical properties of the atomic nucleus.

Particle Physics: The study of fundamental particles and the forces of their interaction.

Plasma Physics: The study of matter in the plasma phase.

Quantum Electrodynamics: The study of how electrons and photons interact at the quantum mechanical level.

Quantum Mechanics / Quantum Physics: The study of science where the smallest discrete values, or quanta, of matter and energy become
relevant.

Quantum Optics: The application of quantum physics to light.

Quantum Field Theory: The application of quantum physics to fields, including the fundamental forces of the universe.

Quantum Gravity: The application of quantum physics to gravity and unification of gravity with the other fundamental particle interactions.

Relativity: The study of systems displaying the properties of Einstein's theory of relativity, which generally involves moving at speeds very close
to the speed of light.

String Theory / Superstring Theory: The study of the theory that all fundamental particles are vibrations of one-dimensional strings of energy, in
a higher-dimensional universe.

HOW EXPERIMENTATION AND HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES ENHANCES STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Students learn science by direct experience with the methods and process of inquiry. Moreover, they learn better when they measure, touch, feel,
make charts, manipulate, draw, record data instead of passive recipients of textbook material. The laboratories have long been a distinctive
feature of science education. Because, everyone knows that laboratory experiments provide students considerably learning science and
developing their Scientific Processing Skill

. Learning by doing is the idea that we learn more when we actually “do” the activity. The American philosopher, John Dewey, first popularized
learning by doing. For Dewey, this meant a heavy emphasis on student engagement. This approach upended the traditional notion that learning
happens through lectures and rote memorization. Dewey became famous by arguing that we learn best when we deeply engage with the material.
He believed that the best way to achieve that was to create a practical curriculum that had relevance to students’ lives and experiences. Dewey’s
insight, already nearing a century old, is freshly becoming relevant again today as modern researchers empirically show the importance of
learning doing (with some major caveats.)

What is experiential learning?

Learning by doing. This is the basis for the experiential learning theory. Experiential learning focuses on the idea that the best ways to learn
things is by actually having experiences. Those experiences then stick out in your mind and help you retain information and remember facts.

For teachers, creating opportunities for students to have experiences based on the things they are learning about is key. Teachers can help create
environments where students can learn and have experiences at the same time.

Mathematical tools

Mathematical tools: SI units (length, mass, time, area, volume, density, force); conversions, eg imperial to metric and vice versa; prefixes, eg
giga, mega, kilo, deci, centi, milli, micro, nano, pico; accuracy of data (decimal places and significant figures); fractions; percentages; ratios;
standard form; use of scientific calculators.

Physics is all about observing our surroundings and explaining phenomena with the help of laws and theories. Mathematics is an integral part of
this, as whenever we need to study processes we need to measure and quantify them. For example, consider the speed of a moving object,
density of a substance or force applied to something. To completely study these quantities, we need some number and hence we need maths.

There is certainly a lot of math in physics, but the concepts and theories of physics cannot be derived from only mathematics. If you wish to
build a complex mechanical structure, it is pointless to begin without wrenches and screwdrivers. To build mechanical structures, you must have
tools. One of the primary tools for working in physics is mathematics. This particular physics resource requires algebra, geometry, and
trigonometry, but higher-level physics courses also require calculus. In fact, calculus was invented by Isaac Newton specifically to solve physics
problems; most advanced calculus problems are actually physics problem.

Math and physics are two closely connected fields. For physicists, math is a tool used to answer questions. For example, Newton invented
calculus to help describe motion. For mathematicians, physics can be a source of inspiration, with theoretical concepts such as general relativity
and quantum theory providing an impetus for mathematicians to develop new tools.

WHERE MATH MEETS PHYSICS

An example of mathematical thinking

Mathematicians look for patterns and ask if that pattern is just a special case or indicative of something deeper. A simple example of a
mathematical pattern:

One can manually calculate additional values in the series, but it’s impossible to prove that this pattern exists beyond this series without infinite
calculations. Instead, mathematicians use proofs, a logical argument that shows that something is true.

But despite their close connections, physics and math research relies on distinct methods. As the systematic study of how matter behaves,
physics encompasses the study of both the great and the small, from galaxies and planets to atoms and particles. Questions are addressed using
combinations of theories, experiments, models, and observations to either support or refute new ideas about the nature of the universe.

While physicists rely heavily on math for calculations in their work, they don’t work towards a fundamental understanding of abstract
mathematical ideas in the way that mathematicians do. Physicists “want answers, and the way they get answers is by doing computations

Mathematics is commonly referred to as “the language of science” and we typically require our physics students to
take mathematics as prerequisites to their study of physics. As instructors, we are often surprised by how little math
our students seem to know, despite successful performances in their math classes. When students appear to have
trouble with math in our physics classes, we might ask them to “study more math.” But using math in science (and
particularly in physics) is not just doing math. It has a different purpose – representing meaning about physical
systems rather than expressing abstract relationships – and it even has a distinct semiotics – the way meaning is put
into symbols – from pure mathematics. It almost seems that the “language” of mathematics we use in physics is not
the same as the one taught by mathematicians. There are many notable differences.
Mathematics is used because it provides tools for both theoretical development and for bringing theory to bear on data. It is thus an instrument
for expanding the frontiers of knowledge and for keeping that knowledge in touch with the empirical world.

Physics is an important subject that helps us understand the processes that take place in biological systems. Physics helps medical personnel in
three major ways. First, it is the foundation for many technological tools used in the medical sciences. Second, it helps explain the physical
aspects of systems in the body. Finally, an understanding of physics can be applied in many other fields, providing the framework for solving
problems.

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Scientific notation is used to make extremely large or small numbers more manageable. Numbers written in scientific notation are the products
of a digit term and an exponential term and are written in the general form a x 10^n. For example, 0.0000234 is written 2.34 x 10^n and 456,000
is written as 4.56 x 10^5.

CONVERSION OF UNITS

It is often necessary to convert from one unit to another.

A conversion factor is a ratio that expresses how many of one unit are equal to another unit. For example, there are 12 in. in 1 ft, 1609 m in 1 mi,
100 cm in 1 m, 60 s in 1 min, and so on. Refer to Appendix B for a more complete list of conversion factors. In this case, we know that there are
1000 m in 1 km.

In physics, we usually need to convert units from one standard to another, such as mile to meter, hour to second, meter to an inch, feet to meter,
kilogram to the gram, and so on. You'll need to know how to convert meter to the inch, a kilometer to a mile, and so on, such as 1m = 39.37in or
1km = 0.6214mi.

When the quantity expressed is not in our familiar format, such as when we want to convert units to SI units, unit conversions are required (in
physics, we always convert units to SI units). We may not be familiar with the value of a physical quantity when expressed in a different unit
format. Instead, you might want to add the values in a calculation that involves another unit. In this article, we have provided different
conversion units for measuring different parameters. Let us start by understanding the conversion of units in the coming section.

Why is SI unit preferred internationally than English unit?

The greatest advantage of SI is that it has only one unit for each quantity (type of measurement). This means that it is never necessary to convert
from one unit to another (within the system) and there are no conversion factors for students to memorize. For example, the one and only SI unit
of length is the metre (m).
PHYTAGOREAM THEOREM

Real Life Application of the Pythagoras Theorem

Some real life applications to introduce the concept of Pythagoras’s theorem to your middle school students are given below:

The Pythagorean Theorem is useful for two-dimensional navigation. You can use it and two lengths to find the shortest distance. … The
distances north and west will be the two legs of the triangle, and the shortest line connecting them will be the diagonal. The same principles can
be used for air navigation.

Painting on a Wall: Painters use ladders to paint on high buildings and often use the help of Pythagoras’ theorem to complete their work. The
painter needs to determine how tall a ladder needs to be in order to safely place the base away from the wall so it won’t tip over.

What Size TV Should You Buy : Tv size is always given in terms of diagonal. Suppose a tv size is given 32 inch, then it’s size is actually the
value of the diagonal or hypotenuse.

Finding the Right Sized Computer: Monitor size is always is given as measure of diagonal.

The Pythagorean Theorem

The Pythagorean theorem is a useful method for determining the result of adding two (and only two) vectors that make a right angle to each
other. The method is not applicable for adding more than two vectors or for adding vectors that are not at 90-degrees to each other. The
Pythagorean theorem is a mathematical equation that relates the length of the sides of a right triangle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right
triangle.

SOHCAHTOA

Trigonometric functions are also known as Circular Functions can be simply defined as the functions of an angle of a triangle. It means that the
relationship between the angles and sides of a triangle are given by these trig functions. The basic trigonometric functions are sine, cosine,
tangent, cotangent, secant and cosecant.

Six Trigonometric Functions

The angles of sine, cosine, and tangent are the primary classification of functions of trigonometry. And the three functions which are cotangent,
secant and cosecant can be derived from the primary functions. Basically, the other three functions are often used as compared to the primary
trigonometric functions.

Sine Function
Sine function of an angle is the ratio between the opposite side length to that of the hypotenuse. From the above
diagram, the value of sin will be:

 Sin a =Opposite/Hypotenuse = CB/CA

Cos Function
Cos of an angle is the ratio of the length of the adjacent side to the length of the hypotenuse. From the above
diagram, the cos function will be derived as follows.

 Cos a = Adjacent/Hypotenuse = AB/CA

Tan Function
The tangent function is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to that of the adjacent side. It should be noted
that the tan can also be represented in terms of sine and cos as their ratio. From the diagram taken above, the
tan function will be the following.

 Tan a = Opposite/Adjacent = CB/BA

Tan a = sin a/cos a

Secant, Cosecant and Cotangent Functions

 Sec a = 1/(cos a) =  Hypotenuse/Adjacent = CA/AB