VOCAB: ABOUT SCIENCE NATURE OF
CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS (15) All vocabulary
must be handwritten to receive credit.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
CHEMISTRY
SCIENCE
PHYSICS
DATA
TECHNOLOGY
CONCLUSION
EXPERIMENT
HYPOTHESIS
OBSERVATION
SCIENTIFIC LAW
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
THEORY
VARIABLES
CELSIUS SCALE
VOCAB: ABOUT SCIENCE NATURE OF
CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS (15) All vocabulary
must be handwritten to receive credit.
KILOGRAM
LITER
METER
NEWTON
BALANCE
MENISCUS
METRIC SYSTEM
SPECTROSCOPE
CALORIE
MODEL
CONSTANT
SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
CONTROL
INTRODUCTION TO CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS
SCIENCE - THE METHOD OF OBTAINING
UNDISCOVERED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
NATURE.
THERE ARE MANY BRANCHES OF SCIENCE.
EXAMPLES - LIFE, EARTH AND PHYSICAL.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE IS THE STUDY OF
MATTER AND ENERGY.
TWO MAJOR BRANCHES OF PHYSICAL
SCIENCE ARE PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY.
PHYSICS IS THE STUDY OF THE MANY
FORMS OF ENERGY.
CHEMISTRY IS THE STUDY OF MATTER
AND THE CHANGES IT UNDERGOES.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY HELPS YOU
DECIDE WHAT FERTILIZER YOU SHOULD
APPLY TO YOUR LAWN. IT CAN ALSO BE USED
TO ELIMINATE OR TROUBLE SHOOT
PROBLEMS.
THE STUDY OF PHYSICS EXPLAINS HOW THE
GEARS OF A BICYCLE WORK OR WHY HOT AIR
BALLOONS RISE. CAN YOU BELIEVE THE
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF A SEED HELPED
SCIENTISTS INVENT "VELCRO" COCKLEBUR
OR BEGGARWEED
THE MEANINGS OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY ARE OFTEN CONFUSED.
SCIENCE IS OBTAINING THE KNOWLEDGE.
TECHNOLOGY IS APPLYING SCIENTIFIC
KNOWLEDGE IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE
THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE.
LEARNING TO FLY IS----SCIENCE OR
TECHNOLOGY?
DESIGNING AN AIRPLANE IS ------SCIENCE
OR TECHNOLOGY?
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OR PROBLEM
SOLVING
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS A WAY
SCIENTISTS GATHER INFORMATION AND
TEST IDEAS. A MODEL IS AN IDEA
STRUCTURE OR SYSTEM THAT REPRESENTS
WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO EXPLAIN.
IT IS A LOGICAL PLAN FOR SOLVING
PUZZLES.
PROBLEMS COME IN MANY WAYS. SOME
ARE EASY, SOME ARE REALLY HARD.
USING THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS OR THE
SCIENTIFIC METHOD,THERE ARE 4 KEY
STEPS FOR A SOLUTION.
1) MAKING OBSERVATIONS - THIS IS AN
EXAMINATION OF SOMETHING IN NATURE.
IT REQUIRES ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
SCIENTISTS FIND ALL THE INFORMATION
AVAILABLE ABOUT THE OBSERVATION.
THIS RESEARCH HELPS SCIENTISTS TO
RESTATE THE QUESTION MORE CLEARLY.
2) THE HYPOTHESIS IS A POSSIBLE
ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
FORMING A HYPOTHESIS REQUIRES
CAREFUL THOUGHT AND SKILL. NOW,
IT MUST BE TESTED. THIS IS HOW WE
PREDICT A POSSIBLE ANSWER TO A
PROBLEM.
3) EXPERIMENTATION IS A CONTROLLED
PROCEDURE DESIGNED TO TEST A
HYPOTHESIS. EACH EXPERIMENT HAS 2
PARTS OR GROUPS. ONE GROUP IS CALLED
A CONTROL GROUP OR CONSTANT AND
THE OTHER IS CALLED THE VARIABLE OR
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. WHEN THE
EXPERIMENT IS COMPLETE THE GROUPS
ARE COMPARED TO EACH OTHER.
IN THIS WAY, WE CAN SEE HOW THE
VARIABLE AFFECTS THE EXPERIMENT. THE
INFORMATION OBTAINED
FROM DOING THE EXPERIMENT IS CALLED
THE "DATA". THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
IS ADJUSTED BY THE PERSON DOING THE
EXPERIMENT. THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
IS DETERMINED BY THE INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE.
4) FINALLY THE SCIENTIST MUST DRAW
A CONCLUSION FROM THE DATA. THE
CONCLUSION IS A STATEMENT THAT
TELLS IF THE DATA SUPPORTS THE
HYPOTHESIS. IF THE DATA DOES NOT
SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THEN THE
SCIENTIST MAY TRY A NEW VARIABLE
IN THE EXPERIMENT.
SCIENTISTS DO NOT ALWAYS COME UP
WITH THE RIGHT ANSWERS ALL THE
TIME.
BUT LET ME ASK THIS QUESTION: IF A
SCIENTIST FAILS TO SUPPORT THEIR
HYPOTHESIS (or disprove something),
HAS HE OR SHE WASTED THEIR TIME?
Consider how things are stated or
presented to you.
EXAMPLE: WHICH PERSON HAS THE
MOST MONEY?
WHICH PERSON HAS THE LEAST
MONEY?
JOAN-----$ 4.OO
SALLY--- $ 1.OO
BOB-- $ O.OO
SCIENTISTS TEST HYPOTHESIS MANY
TIMES. ONCE A HYPOTHESIS IS TESTED
AND SUPPORTED REPEATEDLY, IT IS CALLED
A THEORY.
FINALLY, SCIENTIFIC LAW IS A GENERAL
STATEMENT THAT DESCRIBES SOME
PATTERN IN NATURE.
THEORIES ARE USED TO SUPPORT THE
BASIS FOR EXPLAINING A LAW.
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENTS
WHY DO WE NEED MEASUREMENTS?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A
UNIFORM STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT?
IN THE LATE 1700'S A GROUP OF
SCIENTISTS IN FRANCE CAME UP WITH A
UNIFORM SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT.
THIS SYSTEM WAS CALLED THE "METRIC
SYSTEM".
LATER THE SYSTEM WAS ADOPTED BY
AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT AND
BECAME KNOWN AS THE
"INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS"
OR SI SYSTEM.
THE MENISCUS IS A CURVED SURFACE
FOUND AT THE TOP WITH LIQUIDS IN A
GRADUATED CYLINDER. YOU READ
THE VOLUME OF A LIQUID BY LOOKING
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MENISCUS.
MASS IS THE AMOUNT OF MATTER IN
AN OBJECT. THE SI UNIT FOR MASS IS
THE KILOGRAM.
THE SI UNIT OF FORCE IS THE
NEWTON. SINCE THE NEWTON IS A
FORCE WE ALSO CAN CONSIDER IT A
WEIGHT.
EXAMPLE 1 kg = 2.2 lbs = 9.8 N
TOOLS OF CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS
ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS ARE
IMPORTANT IN SCIENCE.
MANY TOOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO
AID SCIENTISTS WITH MEASUREMENTS.
EXAMPLES ARE:
- BAROMETER - AIR PRESSURE
- PUMP - VACUUM OR PRESSURE
-OSCILLOSCOPE - DISPLAYS DATA IN A
WAVE PATTERN.
-SPECTROSCOPE - SEPARATES LIGHT
INTO COLORS
-CALORIMETER - FOOD UNIT CALORIES
-Ph METER - ACIDITY OF A SUBSTANCE
-CHROMATOGRAPH - AMINO ACIDS
AND PROTEINS
-COMPUTERS - ANYTHING AND
EVERYTHING
-THERMOMETER- MEASURES
TEMPERATURE
BASE UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
MEASUREMENT
UNIT
SYMBOL
LENGTH
METER
m
VOLUME
LITER
l
MASS
KILOGRAM
kg
FORCE
NEWTON
N
0
TEMPERATURE CELSIUS
C
TIME
SECOND
s
METRIC PREFIXES
PREFIX
SYMBOL
MEGA
M
KILO
K
HECTO
H or ha
DEKA
D or dk
BASE UNIT
---DECI
d
10-1
CENTI
c
10-2
MILLI
m 10-3
MICRO
u 10-6
NANO
n 10-9
MEANING
106 1,000,000
103 1000
102 100
101 10
----1/10
1/100
1/1,000
1/1,000,000
1/1,000,000,000
YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW THESE.
THINK OF IT AS A NUMBER LINE WITH
ZERO IN THE MIDDLE. SEE BELOW
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