Why Physics?
An Overview of Quarters 1 and 2
Physics is the study of the physical world
Read What is Physics? Found Below and Answer These QuestionsSheldon from the Big Bang explains physics
from Alom Shaha on Vimeo.
Over-Arching Concept: If a mass speeds up, slows down or changes direction, a net Force must be present. — Newton
What Is Physics?
Physics is the study of the physical world. It answers the questions you asked when you were a small child. These are the questions that many of us no longer ask. Why is the sky blue? Where does the sun go at night? Why does the moon change shape, and where does it go in the morning? Why does a pencil appear to bend when placed inside a glass of water? How come you can make a rainbow with a hose on a sunny day? And the question my wife asked her physicist uncle when she was a child: “How are those people able to talk from inside the radio, and how come you can hear different people when you turn the knob?” And my favorite question is, what makes the world go ‘round? And sorry, people, it's not love.
Physics has answers to all these questions. Einstein said the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. In other words, the most unbelievable thing about all the complexity we see around us is that it can be understood, described, and explained using a relatively small set of laws and theories. Physics is the science that sets out to discover the equations and laws that explain and describe the physical world.
The first topic we will investigate this year are the set of laws that governs motion. By the 16th century, astronomic observations had revealed that we were all traveling through space on a large, somewhat spherical rock that rotated on a tilted axis and orbited a medium-sized, orange star. That rock, the earth, also curved around the sun in an oval-shaped path. In the 17th century, a physicist explained why the Earth had rotated nonstop for over four billion years and why all the planets in our solar system curved around the sun. That physicist was named Isaac Newton, and in the 17th century, he shocked the world by stating that the movement of all the celestial bodies in our solar system was not guided by supernatural forces, as most people of his day thought, but could be explained using the very same physical laws that governed the movement of objects on the earth. For instance, the same forces that explain why a rock thrown across a field curves to the ground can also explain the moon's movement around the Earth and Saturn's path around the sun. Newton's 3 Laws of Motion and his Universal Law of Gravity were the first universal laws proposed by any scientist and helped us make sense of all the motion we see around us. How can the earth spin daily for over four billion years without a push? We will answer that question a few months after studying Newton's Laws concerning net forces and motion.
The journey to understanding how forces affect motion begins with a crucial step: meticulous measurement and description of motion. In science, understanding how something works often starts with precise measurements. Kinematics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical techniques to describe and measure motion.
Video Instruction
showmethephysics.com
Enduring Understandings
1. Speed is the distance traveled per unit time.
2. Speed is measured in meters/sec.
3. A meter is about a yard.
4. Average walking speed is 1 m/s.
Unit I - Mechanics
Study of the relationship between force and motion
I. Kinematics
Mathematical methods of describing and predicting motion
Continue on to Motion Terms for Average Speed and worked examples.
