Physics is an exact, theoretical and experimental science that studies the properties of matter, energy, time and space and the interaction between them. Look for the accuracy and precision in their conclusions and that these can be verifiable through experiments.
It explains natural phenomena through laws, not including those that modify the molecular structure of bodies. It is closely related to mathematics, it relies on it to express the study of reality that occupies you. On the other hand, it includes within
his field of study to chemistry, biology and electronics, in addition to explaining their phenomena.
Physics studies the phenomena of matter basing its theories on classical mechanics from where it studies the laws that govern motion, on classical electrodynamics for the study of electromagnetic charges, on thermodynamics for the study of heat and forms of energy. , in quantum mechanics that study nature at scales small space and in statistics to study frequencies and probabilities of occurrence of physical phenomena.
Branches of classical physics
Physics, for the study of reality, is divided into three large branches that allow you to study natural phenomena from a specific aspect of reality, they are:
- Classical physics
- Modern physics and
- Contemporary physics.
What is considered classical physics?
Classical physics comprises the studies and theories prior to the emergence of quantum mechanics. It is also called Newtonian physics because of rely on Newton's laws relating to movement over objects.
Classical Physics studies phenomena that have a speed smaller than the speed of light and that their spatial scales are less than the size of atoms and molecules.
Classical physics comprises the following disciplines:
Classic mechanics:
Science that studies Newton's laws of motion, referring to the behavior of very small physical bodies at rest and at low speeds in relation to the speed of light.
Both classical mechanics and classical physics in general are based on Newton's laws, particularly on the referring to the movement of bodies in the universe.
Thermodynamics:
It is the science that is responsible for the description of the states of thermodynamic equilibrium at the macroscopic level. Thermodynamics is responsible for studying the interaction between heat and other forms of energy. The variables he uses to describe different situations are temperature, pressure, volume, and number of moles.
Means thermal equilibrium that state in which the temperatures of two bodies are equalized, with different initial temperatures and that once the temperatures are equated, the heat flow is suspended, both bodies reaching the aforementioned thermal equilibrium.
As an example we have the use of the thermometer, an instrument that determines its own temperature. So to know the temperature of another body or substance, both are put in thermal equilibrium. Knowing that in thermal equilibrium both the body and the thermometer are at the same temperature, the temperature indicated by the thermometer will also be the temperature of the body under comparison.
The study of the reaction of systems to changes in their environment is useful in a wide variety of branches of science and engineering ... Here are some of the applications of thermodynamics:
In materials engineering they run heat and energy transfers to raw materials for the manufacture of new materials. As an example we have the high temperature firing process of a piece of ceramic whose final properties will depend precisely on the temperature to which it was subjected.
At an industrial level we have the process of pasteurization and manufacture of cheese and butter through heat transfer. In the steel industry, different types of steel are obtained by fusing various substances in extremely high-temperature furnaces.
Electromagnetism:
Electric and magnetic phenomena are studied and unified in a single theory through electromagnetism. Michael Faraday and James Clerk MaxwelHe were the first exponents of its foundation.
Electromagnetism is based on Maxwell's four vector differential equations, which relate electric and magnetic fields to their respective material sources.
Electromagnetic theory includes electric current, electric polarization, and magnetic polarization. Macroscopic physical phenomena involving electric charges at rest and in motion and the effects of electric and magnetic fields on liquid, solid and gaseous substances are objects of description of electromagnetism.
Examples of the use of electromagnetism are evidenced in the electric motors and generators, which are devices used for the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy or vice versa.
Generator, alternator or dynamo is the name given to the device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Motor is the device that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy.
As an example of electromagnetism we have the compass. The movement of the needles is based on the magnetic principles of the earth's poles and on electrical principles due to the interaction and friction it generates.
The optics:
The generation of electromagnetic radiation, its properties, and its interaction with matter, especially its manipulation and control, is what physical optics is responsible for studying.
Light is the range of electromagnetic wavelengths that the human eye can perceive and it is precisely optics that is responsible for its study. It is oriented to the discovery and application of new phenomena. Based on it, the researchers use and develop light sources across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Optics has had an impact on instrumentation, communications and metrology.
Acoustics:
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with studying the mechanical waves propagated through matter in any of its states (solid, liquid or gas) by means of physical and mathematical models.
Acoustics studies everything concerning the production, transmission, storage, perception or reproduction of sound. Acoustic engineering deals with the technological applications of acoustics.
As examples of acoustic physics we can cite:
1. Electronic devices to make communication more effective.
2. In the field of medicine it has been effective in creating images
of the human body by ultrasound.
3. The microphones
Fluid dynamics:
Fluid mechanics is a sub-branch of continuum mechanics that deals with the study of the movement of fluids (liquids and gases) and the forces that cause them.
In chemical, civil, industrial engineering, aeronautics, meteorology, shipbuilding and oceanography, the intervention of fluid mechanics is of fundamental importance.
Modern physics
This branch, also called quantum physics, began at early twentieth century. With the proposal of the German physicist Max Planck (1858-1947) in which he explained that in a dark body radiation is measured by light. It is based on the quantum theory that emerged in 1900 and the theory of relativity in 1905.
Albert Einstein, in 1905 reinforced quantum theory and in 1920 it was called quantum mechanics as a branch of physics. It deals with phenomena that occur at speeds close to that of light, or whose spatial scales are on the order of atoms and molecules.
Study the characteristics, behavior and particle radiation at the atomic and subatomic level. Quantum mechanics together with the Theory of Relativity make up what we now call modern physics.
Contemporary physics
Its beginning is located at the end of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXst century, that is to say that we are living in the era of contemporary physics. Contemporary physics deals with studying the complexity of nature, of phenomena on a nanoscopic scale, and of processes outside of thermodynamic equilibrium. It is the theory of chaos and turbulence.