Conceptual Physics PHY 103 Professor Schab

Lecture1: About Science

What is Science?
Science is a logical and rigorous method used to investigate the world around us.

Science has specific rules that guide this investigation.

Science gives specific meanings to some common words: theory, force, speed, etc.

Scientific Measurements
Measurements
relate to how much you know about something. of pinhole images of the Sun nicely lead to a calculation of the Suns diameter.

Measurements
Measurements can be defined in many ways. In the US, we use the English (Imperial) System: units such as miles, pounds, gallons, etc.

In the rest of the world, the metric system is used.

When doing science, everyone has to agree on a system.

Scientific Notation
In science, we use numbers that are very small and very large. Writing out numbers such as 67400000000000000 or .000000000034 is cumbersome and hard to read. So scientists use Scientific Notation.

67400000000000000 6.74x10 .000000000034 3.4x10

-11

16

Common Metric Prefixes

milli 1 0.001 103 1000
3

centi

1 0.01 102 100

kilo 1000 10

mega 1000000 10 6 giga 1000000000 10 9

And the not so common...

yotta 1000000000 0000000000 00000 10 24

Multiple (10100)100 (1010)100

Prefix anton -

Symbol A -

Common Name antonplex googolplex

10100
1024 1021

yotta zetta

Y Z

googol
heptillion hexillion

1018
1015

exa
peta tera giga mega kilo hecto deca deci centi milli micro nano pico femto atto zepto yocto

E
P T G M k h da d c m (Greek mu) n p f a z y

quintillion
quadrillion trillion billion million thousand hundred ten tenth hundreth thousandth millionth billionth trillionth quadrillionth quintillionth hexillionth heptillionth

Decimal Prefixes and Multiples, Powers of Ten

1012 109 106 103 102 101 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12 10-15 10-18 10-21 10-24

Units
Units are every bit as important as the numbers.

The basic units chosen must be easy to duplicate anywhere in the world.

Science uses the International System of Units: SI. This system defines certain basic properties that every other measurement depends upon. It is basically the metric system.

Consistency
It is VERY important to keep units consistent. If you mix up systems, for example, using miles with kilograms, you will get wrong answers! When doing calculations, the units are every bit as important as the numbers.

Ask NASA! They lost a 250 million dollar Mars spacecraft because of mixed up units!

Time
Time is a fundamental property of the universe. Time is subjective for humans. Science requires a common, unchanging value.

The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom.

Length
Length in the MKS system is defined as the meter.

The meter is the length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.

Mass
Mass measures the amount of matter an object contains. It is NOT the same thing as weight!

Mass is measured in kilograms. The kilogram is defined by the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram stored in Paris.

The Scientific Attitude

The scientific attitude is one of
inquiry. experimentation. willingness to admit error.

The Scientific Attitude

Scientists
are experts at changing their minds. must accept experimental findings test for erroneous beliefs understand objections and positions of antagonists.

Hypothesis
Hypothesis: An educated guess; a reasonable explanation of an observation or experimental result that is not fully accepted as factual until tested over and over again by experiments. A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work: "If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."

Fact
Fact: a statement about the world that competent observers who have made a series of observations agree on. A fact is not immutable and absolute, but is generally a close agreement by competent observers of a series of observations of the same phenomena. The observations must be testable. Since the activity of science is the determination of the most probable, there are no absolutes. Facts that were held to be absolute in the past are seen altogether differently in the light of present-day knowledge.

Scientific Law
Law (principle: a general hypothesis or statement about the relationship of natural quantities that has been tested over and over again and has not been contradicted. A scientific law can often be reduced to a mathematical statement, such as F=ma; it's a specific statement based on empirical data, and its truth is generally confined to a certain set of conditions.

Scientific Theory
Scientific theory is a synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well-tested and verified hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world. It's generally -- though by no means always -- a grander, testable statement about how nature operates. You can't necessarily reduce a scientific theory to a pithy statement or equation, but it does represent something fundamental about how nature works.

Scientific Theory
The theory can be refined, or with new information it can take on a new direction. It is important to acknowledge the common misunderstanding of what a scientific theory is, as revealed by those who say, But it is not a fact; it is only a theory. Many people have the mistaken notion that a theory is tentative or speculative, while a fact is absolute.

What is the Scientific Method?

The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the world around them. The Scientific Method helps to organize thoughts and procedures so that scientists can be confident in the answers they find. Scientists use observations, hypotheses, and deductions to make these conclusions.

What is the Scientific Method?

The steps of the Scientific Method are: Observation/Research Hypothesis Prediction Experimentation Conclusion

What is the Scientific Method?

1. The observation is done first so that you know how you want to go about your research. 2. The hypothesis is the answer you think you'll find. 3. The prediction is your specific belief about the scientific idea: If my hypothesis is true, then I predict we will discover..... 4. The experiment is the tool that you invent to answer the question. 5. The conclusion is the answer that the experiment gives.

Science, Art, and Religion

Comparison of science, art, and religion by
domain: Science is of the natural order and involves the discovery and recording of natural phenomena. Art is the interpretation and expression of human experience. Religion involves faith and worship of a supreme being.

Science and Technology

Science is concerned with gathering and organizing knowledge. Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes and to provide tools for further exploration.

Errors in Experiments
Error in experiments have several sources. First, there is error intrinsic to instruments of measurement. Second, there is non-random or systematic error, due to factors which bias the result in one direction. No measurement, and therefore no experiment, can be perfectly precise.

Random Error
There is error intrinsic to instruments of measurement. Because this type of error has equal probability of producing a measurement higher or lower numerically than the "true" value, it is called random error. Random errors can be reduced by averaging a large number of measurements.

Systematic Error
There is non-random or systematic error, due to factors which bias the result in one direction. A reproducible discrepancy between the result and "true" value that is consistently in the same direction Systematic error is sometimes called "bias" and can be reduced by applying a "correction" or "correction factor" to compensate for an effect recognized when calibrating against a standard. Unlike random errors, systematic errors cannot be reduced by increasing the number of observations.

Accuracy versus Precision

Accuracy is how close a measured value is to the actual (true) value. Precision is how close the measured values are to each other.

Review Questions

Science is an organized body of knowledge about nature and also a

a. b. c. d. guide to improving human behavior. recipe for avoiding conflicts. process for finding connections in nature. handbook for establishing truth.

The size of the Moons shadow on Earth is

a. b. c. d. smaller than the size of the Moon. about the same size as the Moon. larger than the size of the Moon. incapable of being observed.

The sizes of both the Moon and the Sun are the same in the sky, which indicates that
a. both have the same diameters. b. both are at about the same distance from Earth. c. the smaller Moon is closer to Earth than the Sun. d. both the Moon and the Sun circle Earth.

The size of the images of the Sun on a sidewalk beneath a sunlit tree depends on
a. the size of the openings between leaves above. b. whether or not the openings between leaves are circular. c. the distance between the sidewalk and the openings between leaves above. d. how close the location is to the equator.

A person who says, thats only a theory likely doesnt know that a scientific theory is a
a. guess that involves many facts. b. hypothesis of sorts. c. vast synthesis of well-tested hypotheses and facts. d. guess that may or may not be factual.

More important than a test for proving a hypothesis right is a test for
a. knowing full well that it is right. b. proving more than one way that it is right. c. proving it wrong. d. elevating it to a scientific theory.

Which of these is a scientific hypothesis (that could be proved wrong)?

a. Atoms in proper proportions make us feel good. b. Atoms are in all the stars in the universe. c. An atom is the smallest bit of matter in a material. d. Distant galaxies have atoms not found on Earth.

A strength of science is that scientific theories

a. are fixed. b. can change with new data. c. are the hypotheses of brilliant people. d. are verifiable.

A fact in science is something that

a. b. c. d.

is forever true. may change over time. cannot be denied. agrees with ancient records.

Science is concerned mainly with the

a. b. c. d. natural world. spiritual world. difference between right and wrong. search for eternal truths.