We explain what physics is and the four basic domains into which it is divided. Also, your interests and different branches of study.
What is physics?
Physics, from Greek physis (“nature”), is the natural science that studies, through fundamental laws, energy, matter, time and space, that is, the universe itself.
physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines whose roots go back to the beginnings of civilization, when man began to try to understand the forces that governed the world around him.
It is a discipline that is both theoretical (describes the laws of the universe) and experimental (puts hypotheses regarding these laws into practice), and adheres to the verification and legitimation model promoted by the scientific method. It is one of the fundamental or central sciences that exist, and within its field of study chemistry, biology and electronics, among others, often converge.
Initially, physics was part, like so many other sciences, of philosophy or natural philosophy of antiquity, but after the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century it emerged as an independent field, interested in the fundamental laws of reality and using the language formal mathematics to express them. Nowadays, however, physics is one of the disciplines that most contributes to the change of the scientific, industrial and technological paradigm .
Physics as we know it today is described by four theoretical frameworks that depend on the size of the matter under study and the speed of its movement. These are:
- Classic mechanics It deals with perceptible movements in macroscopic bodies, the speeds of which are very small compared to the speed of light.
- Relativistic mechanics Based on the theoretical developments of Albert Einstein during the 20th century, it resembles the classic one in its deterministic nature. However, relativistic mechanics describes phenomena that are within the framework of the theory of special relativity, which describes the behavior of bodies moving at speeds close to that of light; and the General Theory of Relativity, which is a theoretical formulation for the gravitational field (gravity).
- Quantum mechanics It studies very small-scale systems, such as atoms and elementary particles. It describes their interactions through the three forces that prevail at these scales: the strong, weak and electromagnetic force.
- Quantum field theory It is a mathematical formalism to describe quantum mechanics by treating particles as fields. It is very useful, for example, when studying the electromagnetic field. In quantum mechanics, the electromagnetic field is described as a set of elementary particles called photons. Quantum field theory, on the other hand, treats it as a system of continuous fields.
What does physics study?
Physics deals with the fundamental laws of the universe, that is, understanding and describing the mechanics with which the universe operates. These laws are described by four fundamental interactions:
- Gravity The force of attraction between two or more massive bodies (that have mass). The more massive the bodies are, the more intense the force is and the more far-reaching its effect is.
- Electromagnetism The force of attraction or repulsion that manifests between electrically charged particles.
- Weak nuclear forces Also called a weak interaction, it is a force that exists between fundamental particles, it is very short-range and is responsible for atomic decay and radioactivity.
- Strong nuclear forces It is an attractive force that keeps neutrons and protons together in the nucleus of the atom, overcoming the electromagnetic repulsion between the latter (positively charged).
Branches of physics
- Acoustics Study the nature of sound: its propagation, its origin, its height.
- Astrophysics Study the stars (their properties, origin, evolution) through the laws of physics.
- Biophysics Study the physical laws that govern biological phenomena and the physical states of all living beings.
- Electromagnetism It studies the electrical and magnetic phenomena of matter and the magnetic energy fields that exist in space.
- Nuclear physics Study the behavior and properties of the nuclei of atoms.
- Solid mechanics It mainly studies the movement of solid bodies.
- Fluid mechanics Study the dynamics of fluids: liquids and gases.
- Optics It studies light and the phenomena associated with it: its nature, its propagation, its properties, etc.
- Thermodynamics Study heat and the work it produces.
- Cosmology Study the origin of the universe and the laws that govern it.
- Quantum mechanics It studies the fundamental particles of matter, that is, atoms and subatomic particles.
What is chemistry?
Chemistry is a discipline that presents points of contact with physics particularly in his interest in the subject. This discipline studies the composition and structure of matter, and the reactions that occur between different substances or in the presence of heat or other forms of energy.
