1. Physics Reflection
Before taking a class in physics, I thought of physics as a sophisticated form of science.
I really didn’t know anything about the nature of physics. It wasn’t until I actually began
taking the class that I realized I was right; physics is a sophisticated science and my
knowledge in this field wasn’t so great.
I know what physics is now. Physics is more than we can imagine. The subject literally
surpasses our deepest thoughts, but not in false pretence. Physics governs everything
that has happened, is happening, and will happen in the future. It’s a form of science
that studies matter and the motion matter has through space time.
Physics explains how things work and the reason "why" things operate the way they do.
Taking this physics class helped me learn about mechanics such as:
Forces (friction, gravity, air resistance)
Torque
Simple machines (levers, pulleys, inertia)
Rotation
Pendulums
Collisions
Energy (kinetic, potential, thermal, chemical, electrical, electrochemical,
sound, and nuclear)
Conservation of energy
And projectile motion
Without physics, our technology wouldn’t be what it is today and we wouldn’t have the
intelligence to space travel. We wouldn’t have any knowledge about sound and light
waves. Phones, automobiles, and televisions wouldn’t exist without physics. Physics
contributed to the invention of electricity. It explains magnetism and the force on
charged particles. Everything around us is made up of tiny particles, called electrons
that are only visible with the use of a powerful microscope. Electrons have an electrical
charge and when electricity moves, a magnetic field is created. In addition to this,
physics provides us with the mathematical laws and formulas that describe the relations
of and between physical objects. We use the formulas to calculate acceleration, current,
energy, force, momentum, power, speed, temperature, time, velocity, volume, and work.
Physics is the most basic and fundamental science. It is the key to understanding our
life and what lies beyond our world. It is the foundation to many discoveries, and holds
the direction of our future technology.