Intro to Physics

Mrs. Coyle

Physics is the study of the physical world

including motion, energy, light, electricity,
magnetism, sound etc.
 Golden Gate Bridge

Physics
 Mechanics
 Kinematics (motion)
 Statics, Dynamics (forces)
 Electricity
 Magnetism
 Waves
 Optics (geometric optics)
 Nuclear Physics (Modern Physics)
 Physics
 The most basic
science.
 The foundation of
other sciences

 What?
 Why?
 How?
 When?
 Aristotle (Greek 4th Century BC)

 Logic
 Studied motion
 Natural and violent motion
 4 elements:
earth, water, air, fire
 Geocentric view
 Aristarchos(310-230 BC),
disagreed and believed in
heliocentric view.
 Democritus

 Greek who devised the

first atomic theory.
 Galileo Galilei (1564 AD)

 Father of the scientific

method (along with the
Englishman Francis
Bacon 1500’s).
 Studied motion.
 Agreed with the Greek
Aristarchos and Polish
Copernicus (1473-1543)
on heliocentric view
point. This lead to his
house arrest.
Isaac Newton
 English (1642-1727) related force and
motion and studied light.
 A Glance at Some Scientists who
Studied Electricity and Magnetism

 American Benjamin Franklin (1706-

1790), experimented with electricity.
 Michael Faraday (1791-1867), English
with a grammar school education,
found that a moving magnet induces
electric current to flow.
 The BIG Guy

 Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

 Relativity: there is no absolute
frame of reference that is at
rest.
 Photoelectric effect (Light is
quantized) (Nobel Prize)
 Related mass and energy
E=mc2
The Scientific Method

 Steps followed during scientific

investigations.
Scientific Method
 Recognize a problem
 Hypothesis- educated guess, testable
 When tested and confirmed becomes a law
 Observation -measurement, data
collection (experiment)
 Theory – information including tested
hypothesis
 Conclusion
Law or Principle

 A hypothesis that has been repeatedly

tested and not contradicted.

 Laws change or are abandoned when

contradicted.
Scientific Fact
 Observation
 May change
Science and Technology

 Science  Pure
 Technology  Applied
Math and Units
 Math- the language of Physics
 Units SI – International System
 Basic Units MKS
 Meter m
 Mass kg
 Time s
 National Bureau of Standards
 Prefixes