ABOUT PHYSICS 3

domestic products and for medical

care. Telephone exchanges now have
electronic switching controlled by
computers. They are linked to
exchanges in other countries via large
dish aerials at earth stations, Fig. 4,
which send signals to earth-orbiting
communication satellites for amplifi
cation and onward transmission, or
via underwater optical fibres which
transmit the electrical signals as pulses
of laser light.

Fig. 3

Laptop computer

The laser, predicted from theoretical

considerations, became a reality in
1960. At first it was regarded as a
scientific curio, a light source which
was a solution looking for a problem.
Today it has widespread applications
which include, as well as optical fibre
communication systems, surveying

and range-finding, delicate medical

operations, compact disc (CD) play
ers, scanners at library and shop
check-outs, printing and holography.
(b) Technology the foe

If not used wisely, technology can

create social and environment prob
lems such as unemployment, pollution
of many types and noise problems, not
to mention the ultimate folly of
nuclear war.
Some scientists believe that the
greenhouse effect, in which an
increase of carbon dioxide in the
lower levels of the atmosphere mainly
from the burning of fossil fuels (e.g.
coal, oil), could lead to the average
temperature of the earth rising by a
few C in a few hundred years. This
would cause dramatic adverse climatic
and geographical changes. It is
claimed that during the twentieth
century the rise was 0.5 C. As well as
the desirability of reducing carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gas
emissions, there is also an urgent need
to harness alternative, non-polluting,
renewable sources of energy such as
wind power, since fossil fuel resources
are limited.
Damage to the ozone layer in the
atmosphere, particularly above the
Antarctic, by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in aerosols, refrigera
tors and air-conditioning units has
also been a recent matter of concern.

3
k

Fig. 4

Earth station aerial for telecommunication via satellite

Greater penetration of the earths

atmosphere by ultraviolet radiation
(owing to its reduced ozone content)
is believed to lead to a rise in cases of
skin cancer.
It is for the human race to use
technology responsibly and ensure its
products are user- and environmentfriendly.
(c) Interplay between physics and
technology

This is a two-way process. Not only

does technology depend on physics,
but advances in technology are often
in turn used to further the work of
physicists by providing them with new
techniques and instruments, e.g. the
scanning tunnelling microscope (see
p. 14) and the Hubble space telescope
(see p. 501).

PRACTICAL WORK IN THE

STUDY OF PHYSICS
(a) Types of practical work

Practical work is an essential part of

any physics course and takes the
following forms.
(i) Measurement of a physical
quantity such as the acceleration of
free fall (g), the end result being a
numerical value and an estimate of the
possible error in it.
(it) Verification of a well known
law or principle such as Ohms law or
the principle of conservation of
momentum, which involves keeping
some quantities constant while the
relation between others is studied.
(iii) Open-ended investigation in
which you do not know what the
outcome will be and have to design
the experiment yourself and choose
the equipment required.
(iv) Designing and constructing a
system to do a particular job. This is a
popular activity in physics courses
containing a section on electronics.
Experiments in categories ( i ) and
(ii) are standard, bread-and-butter
types to which most time is devoted;
you will find that many are outlined at
appropriate points in the text. A list of
suggestions for the more real-life
types (iii) and ( iv ) is given at the end
of the book (p. 541); tackling two or
three of these may help you to do
physics better.