Chapter-1 Physical World

1. What is Science?
Science in broad sense means “to know”. The word science originates from the latin word Scientia,
which means “to know”. The Sanskrit word Shastra and Arabic word Ilm also convey similar
meaning namely organized knowledge.
Science is a systematic attempt to understand natural phenomenon and use the knowledge so gained to
predict, modify and use in a controlled manner.

2. What is Physics?
Physics is the branch of science which deals with nature and natural phenomenon. It has come from
Greek word Fusis, meaning nature.

3. What are physical and biological sciences?

Physical Sciences: The two main physical sciences are Physics and Chemistry.
➢ Physics is the study of natural world which deals with the concepts of space, time, motion,
matter, energy, radiation, etc. Other Physical Sciences are geology, geography, astronomy,
astrology, oceanology, etc.
➢ Chemistry is the study of every substance, its structure, its composition and changes in which
it takes part.
Biological Sciences: The sciences which deal with the behaviour of living things are called biological
sciences. These sciences include Botany, Zoology, Ornithology, Anthropology, Entomology, Forensic
Science, etc.

4. What is scientific attitude?

Scientific Attitude requires a flexible, open-minded approach, towards solving problems in which
other important points of view are not neglected without any reason.

5. What is scientific theory/method?

It is a setup that helps to explain a natural phenomenon or the behaviour of natural system on the basis
of established laws. The step-by-step approach used by a scientist in studying natural phenomena and
establishing laws which govern these phenomena is called scientific method. Example: A solution is
suggested for a problem, this solution is tried, if it works satisfactorily, it is adopted and otherwise it is
replaced by a better solution to the same problem.

6. What are the two principal thrusts in physics? Explain with example.
Two principal thrusts in physics are unification and reductionism.
Unification: In physics, attempt is made to explain various physical phenomena in terms of just few
concepts and laws. We try to see the physical world as manifestation of some universal laws. For
example, the same (Newton’s) law of gravitation can be used to describe the motion of a body falling
towards the earth, motion of the moon around the earth and motion of planets around the sun.
Attempts are being made to unify fundamental forces of nature in the poersuit of unification.
Reductionism: Another attempt made in physics is to explain a macroscopic system in terms of its
microscopic constituents. This pursuit is called reductionism. For example, thermodynamics was
developed to explain the macroscopic properties such as temperature, internal energy, entropy, etc., of
the bulk systems. Later on, these properties were explained in terms of molecules in kinetic energy
and statistical mechanics.

Different Branches of Physics

Physics is classified into five categories:
➢ Mechanics: It deals with equilibrium or motion of material bodies at low speeds. It is based
on laws of gravitation.
➢ Thermodynamics: It deals with the theory of heat, temperature and behaviour of a system of
large number of particles.
➢ Electromagnetism: It deals with electric and magnetic phenomenon associated with charged
and magnetic bodies.
➢ Relativity: It is the theory of invariance in nature. It deals with motion of the particles having
high speeds, comparable to the speed of light.
➢ Quantum Mechanics: It deals with mechanical behaviour of sub-microscopic particles like,
atoms and nuclei, and their interaction with properties like electrons, photons and other
elementary particles.

Home-Work (from NCERT Book)

1. Write the contribution and discovery of 20 Physicists from different countries of the world
and their major contribution. (Table 1.1)

2. Make a table which links technology and physics. (Table 1.2)

3. Draw Table 1.3