The 9 Branches of Classical and Modern Physics

Between the Branches of classical and modern physics We can highlight acoustics, optics or mechanics in the most primitive field, and cosmology, quantum mechanics or relativity in the most recent applications.

Classical physics describes theories developed before 1900, and modern physics events occurred after 1900. Classical physics deals with matter and energy, at a macro-scale, without delving into the more complex studies of quantums, subject Of modern physics.

Different branches of classical and modern physics on a laboratory table

Max Planck , one of the Most important scientists in history , Marked the end of classical physics and the beginning of modern physics with quantum mechanics.

Branches of classical physics

1- Acoustics

He ear Is the biological instrument par excellence for receiving certain wave vibrations and interpreting them as sound.

Acoustics, which deal with the study of sound (mechanical waves in gases, liquids and solids), is related to the production, control, transmission, reception and effects of sound.

Acoustic technology includes music, the study of geological, atmospheric and submarine phenomena.

Psychoacoustics, studies the physical effects of sound in biological systems, present since Pythagoras He heard, for the first time, the sounds of the vibrating strings and hammers struck by the anvils in the sixth century BC. C. But the most impressive development in medicine, is the ultrasound technology.

2- Electricity and Magnetism

Electricity and magnetism come from a single electromagnetic force. Electromagnetism is a branch of physical science that describes the interactions of electricity and magnetism.

The magnetic field is created by a moving electric current and a magnetic field can induce the movement of charges (electric current). The rules of electromagnetism also explain geomagnetic and electromagnetic phenomena, describing how charged particles interact with atoms.

Formerly, electromagnetism was experienced on the basis of the effects of lightning and electromagnetic radiation as a light effect.

Magnetism has been used, for a long time, as a fundamental instrument for navigation guided by the compass.

The phenomenon of electrical charges at rest, was detected by the ancient Romans, who observed the way in which a rubbed comb attracted particles. In the context of positive and negative charges, equal charges repel each other, and different charges attract each other.

You may be interested to know more about this topic by discovering the 8 types of electromagnetic waves and their characteristics .

3- Mechanics

It relates to the behavior of physical bodies, when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of bodies in their environment.

At the dawn of modernism, scientists Jayam , Galileo , Kepler Y Newton , Laid the foundations for what is now known as classical mechanics.

This sub-discipline deals with the movement of forces on objects and particles that are at rest or moving at speeds significantly smaller than that of light. Mechanics describe the nature of bodies.

The term body includes particles, projectiles, starships, parts of machinery, parts of solids, parts of fluids (gases and liquids). Particles are bodies with little internal structure, treated as mathematical points in classical mechanics.

The rigid bodies have size and shape, but they retain a simplicity close to that of the particle and can be semi-rigid (elastic, fluid).

4- Mechanics of fluids

Fluid mechanics describes the flow of liquids and gases. Fluid dynamics is the branch from which sub-disciplines such as aerodynamics (the study of air and other gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of moving liquids) emerge.

Fluid dynamics is widely applied: for the calculation of forces and moments in aircraft, the determination of the mass of the oil fluid through the pipelines, in addition to the prediction of weather patterns, the compression of the nebulae in the Interstellar space and the modeling of the fission of nuclear weapons.

This branch offers a systematic structure that encompasses empirical and semi-empirical laws derived from flow measurement and used to solve practical problems.

The solution to a fluid dynamics problem involves the calculation of fluid properties, such as flow velocity, pressure, density and temperature and functions of space and time.

5- Optics

Optics deals with the properties and phenomena of visible and invisible light and vision. It studies the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter, in addition to building appropriate instruments.

Describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet and infrared light. Since light is an electromagnetic wave, other forms of electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays, microwaves, and radio waves have similar properties.

This branch is relevant to many related disciplines such as astronomy, engineering , Photography and medicine (ophthalmology and optometry). Its practical applications are found in a variety of everyday technologies and objects, including mirrors, lenses, telescopes, microscopes, lasers and fiber optics.

6- Thermodynamics

Physics branch that studies the effects of work, heat and energy of a system. It was born in the 19th century with the appearance of the steam engine. It deals only with the observation and large-scale response of an observable and measurable system.

Small-scale gas interactions are described by the kinetic theory of gases. The methods complement each other and are explained in terms of thermodynamics or kinetic theory.

The laws of thermodynamics are:

  • Enthalpy law : Relates the various forms of kinetic energy and potential, in a system, with the work that the system can perform, plus heat transfer.
  • This leads to the second law, and to the definition of another state variable called Law of entropy .
  • The Law zeroth Defines large-scale thermodynamic equilibrium of temperature as opposed to the small-scale definition related to the kinetic energy of the molecules.

Branches of Modern Physics

7- Cosmology

It is the study of the structures and dynamics of the Universe on a larger scale. Investigate its origin, structure, evolution and final destination.

Cosmology, as a science, originated with the principle of Copernicus -the celestial bodies obey physical laws identical to those of the Earth- and Newtonian mechanics, which allowed to understand these physical laws.

Physical cosmology began in 1915 with the development of General theory of relativity from Einstein , Followed by large observational discoveries in the 1920s.

Dramatic advances in observational cosmology since the 1990s, including the cosmic microwave background, distant supernovae, and redshift uprisings in the galaxy, led to the development of a standard model of cosmology.

This model adheres to the content of large quantities of dark matter and dark energies contained in the universe, whose nature is not yet well defined.

8- Quantum mechanics

A branch of physics that studies the behavior of matter and light, on the atomic and subatomic scale. Its purpose is to describe and explain the properties of molecules and atoms and their components: electrons, protons, neutrons and other more esoteric particles like quarks and gluons.

These properties include the interactions of the particles with each other and with electromagnetic radiation (light, x-rays and gamma rays).

Multiple scientists contributed to the establishment of three revolutionary principles that gradually gained acceptance and experimental verification between 1900 and 1930.

  • Quantized Properties . Position, speed, and color can sometimes only occur in specific amounts (such as clicking number to number). This contrasts with the concept of classical mechanics, which says that such properties must exist in a continuous and continuous spectrum. To describe the idea that some properties click, the scientists coined the verb to quantify.
  • Light particles . Scientists rebutted 200 years of experiments by postulating that light can behave like a particle and not always"like waves / waves in a lake."
  • Waves of matter . Matter can also behave like a wave. This is demonstrated by 30 years of experiments that claim that matter (like electrons) can exist as particles.

9- Relativity

This theory embraces two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity, which applies to elementary particles and their interactions - describing all physical phenomena except gravity - and general relativity that explains the law of gravitation and its relation to other forces nature.

It applies to the cosmological realm, astrophysics and astronomy. Relativity transformed the postulates of physics and astronomy in the twentieth century, banishing 200 years of Newtonian theory.

He introduced concepts such as space-time as a unified entity, relativity of simultaneity, kinematic and gravitational dilation of time, and contraction of length.

In the field of physics, the science of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, along with the inauguration of the nuclear age, improved.

Cosmology and astrophysics predicted extraordinary astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars, black holes and gravitational waves.

References

  1. How is different physics different from modern physics? Recovered in Reference.com.
  2. Electricity and magnetism. World of Earth Science. Copyright 2003, The Gale Group, Inc. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com.
  3. Mechanics. Recovered at wikipedia.org.
  4. Fluid Dynamics. Recovered at wikipedia.org.
  5. Optics. . Retrieved from dictionary.com.
  6. Optics. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (5th Ed.). McGraw-Hill. 1993.
  7. Optics. Recovered at wikipedia.org.
  8. What is thermodynamics? Recovered at grc.nasa.gov.
  9. Einstein A. (1916). Relativity: The Special and General Theory. Recovered at wikipedia.org.
  10. Will, Clifford M (2010). "Relativity". Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Recovered at wikipedia.org.
  11. What is the evidence for the Big Bang? Retrieved from astro.ucla.edu.
  12. Planck reveals and almost perfect universe. Retrieved from that.int.

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