Physics Mr.Costa 2015-2016 iMater Academy Chapter 1 What is Physics? (Discuss amongst yourselves) 1 minute Answer: Physics is a science Physics comes from a greek word that literally translates into “Knowledge of Nature”. Wikipedia calls it; A general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves. Your text describes it as a study about the nature of basic things such as motion, forces, energy, matter, heat, sound, light and the composition of atoms. The Scientific Method A process by which science is conducted that allows for the attainment of new knowledge or the correction of old knowledge which may be flawed. Scientific Method Steps: Recognize a problem(Make an observation) Formulate a hypothesis Make a prediction. Perform experiments to test predictions. Analysis of results. Scientific Method(Example) observation that my laptop wasn't receiving an Internet connection. I asked myself a question: Is something wrong with the Internet itself, or was it just my laptop? One way to begin answering this question was to check the connection on the desktop computer. Quickly, I formed a hypothesis: If the Internet isn't working on the desktop either, then the problem is beyond my laptop computer. The experiment I performed was to check the desktop's connection, and my resulting observation was that the Internet didn't work there. So, by analyzing the evidence, I was able to form my first conclusion: Nothing is wrong with my laptop, and something is wrong with the Internet connection. Now, this conclusion answered my first question. But it still didn't get my Internet to work. The Hypothesis What is a Hypothesis? (Disscus amongst Yourselves) 1 minute What is a Hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated guess that is not fully accepted until demonstrated by experimentation. If evidence is found to contradict a hypothesis, the hypothesis must be changed or abandoned. An innate characteristic of hypotheses is that they must be testable. If a test that can negate a hypothesis can not be produced, than the hypothesis is not a scientific one. Hypothesis Finale If a hypothesis is tested many times, and the results remain precise and accurate throughout all tests than a hypothesis may become a law/principle. A law/principle is not the same as a theory. Scientific Discovery The scientific method is not the end all, be all of scientific discovery. Other forms of scientific advance include: Trial and Error, experimentation without guessing, and accidents. There are many ways in which science progresses. Laws vs Theories A law is a hypothesis that has been tested many times and has remained unchanged without being contradicted. A theory on the other hand, encompasses a large amount of information and is ever changing as new information comes to light. Precision vs Accuracy Line of Best Fit Exercise Obtain a piece of Graphing Paper. Create a Graph Label the X-axis Time Label the Y-axis Speed Title the Graph Acceleration. Turn to board for further intstruction. Scientific Fact A fact is a consensus or general agreement between a group of observers based off a shared observation. A scientific fact does not imply certainty, in science there are no absolutes. In this way a fact prescribes an extremely high probability in the behaviour of a phenomena. Science & Technology What distinguishes science from technology? (Discuss among yourselves) 1 minute Science & Tech. Science is the search for wisdom and knowledge. It is a quest which attempts to understand natural phenomena. In technology we use or apply this knowledge gained through scientific research for the betterment of the human species. Rulers, Scales, Stopwatches, Thermometers What do they all have in common? 30 SECONDS! Answer: They are used to measure quantities and collect data! Length/distance Mass Time Temperature 4 Next Time: Class Work: Ch.1 Assess; #s 3-7 Homework: Florida Benchmark Review