Abellanosa, Venesse Aulga L.

March 09, 2021

Science 10-Physics

ACTIVITY 1.2

A. Reading assignments and questions. Read the articles listed below and answer the study questions
indicated for each reading.

Chapter 1 - The Cosmic Calendar in Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan

1. What is a cosmic calendar?

A cosmic calendar is basically a scale wherein the lifetime of the universe is laid out onto one
single year. By the use of the cosmic calendar, astrophysicists were able to deduce the universe’s
age to be around 13.8 billion from when the Big Bang has happened and that the average 70-80
hours of human life corresponds to around 0.16 cosmic seconds.

2. How were they able to date important cosmic events?

They were able to date important cosmic events by compressing each vital event of the entire
history into one year using the cosmic calendar. The cosmic chronology were presented in three
different forms: (1) a list that represents some of the dates during pre-December, (2) a calendar
solely intended for the month of December, and (3) a detailed impression during the late evening of
New Year’s Eve. The Big Bang corresponds to New Year’s Day’s first second while the last second of
the last day of the year corresponds to the present time.

Chapter 1.3 - The Structures of the World in Basic Physics edited by Kenneth W. Ford

1. What are the parts of the physical world as explained in this reading?

As explained in this reading, the physical world consists of objects from the subatomic
elementary particles up to the group of galastic clusters which constitutes the hierarchy of objects
that join together in order to form the structure of the world. Specifically, these objects that are
considered to be parts of the physical world are the elementary particle, atomic nucleus, atom,
molecule, giant molecule, solids, liquids, gases, plants and animals, the planet Earth, stars, galaxy,
galastic cluster, and the known parts of the universe.
 2. Which parts of the physical world are studied by physics? By chemistry? By geology?

The parts of the physical world that are studied by physics, chemistry, and geology are indicated
in the table below:

Physics Chemistry Geology

Elementary Particle Molecule Plant, animals

Atomic Nucleus Giant Molecule The planet Earth

Atom

Solids

Liquids

Gases

Star

Galaxy

Galastic Cluster

The known part of the Universe

Chapter 1.5 - Theory and Experiment in Science in Basic Physics edited by Kenneth W. Ford

1. How does experiment complement theory?

Experiment plays a lot of important different roles when it comes to science. One of the
most important roles of experiments is to test different theories and to also make available the
foundation for scientific knowledge. By the help of experiments, we will be able to identify if a
theory must be accepted or rejected. Moreover, an experiment can also necessitate a new theory
once an already accepted one is proven to be incorrect or when a novel phenomenon needs some
elucidation. Experiments provide clues in terms of the mathematical form or structure of a theory
and it can also present evidences on why entities exist and are involved in a particular theory.

2. How does scientific knowledge develop?

Scientific knowledge has an idealized version and by starting off with experimental facts and
then looking for laws that would tie all the facts together. A hypothesis would then be made and the
testing of the hypothesis would then be done against past facts. After which, they would then try to
foretell new facts and do some further testing until they could finally formulate a theory. Once a
 theory is formulated, this would then be elaborated and applied to the live environment to check
and monitor if everything is consistent and to do interventions. However, this idealized version has
never been actually realized and this only means that the pattern for scientific progress is nonlinear.

B. In 500 – 1000 words, make a short Essay entitled “You and the Physical World”.

“You and the Physical World”

The physical world has been in existence ever since you were born and what makes it hard
to actually define it is because we have not witnessed how it came about. With all the past and
present breakthroughs that the brilliant minds of different people have uncovered, there really is
still no accurate and definite description available of what the universe actually is because it is for
certain that a few years from now, new things will be discovered and it would only further our
present knowledge and understanding of the world and everything in it. With the advent of science
and technology, there is no doubt that these two could highly help in changing our world and in
pushing potential further progress. Although the physical world is very perplexing, we all still get
really astonished with the new discoveries and even with the existing ones that we now have. It is
just super astounding that we live in a place like this which has much to offer yet we are still very
oblivious of some things about it.

Up until now, I still ask the question on whether the universe is just a fragment of a bigger
system. Furthermore, when asked on what is my stand on how the physical world was actually
created, I really do not know what to answer. But I do believe that these two could possibly meet
somewhere in between and we just still have not figured that out. Who knows, in the future we may
be able to finally explain how the physical world has come about without any doubts at all by the
help of theories that we are still bound to find out. We may still not have all the answers of the
questions that we have now or even to the questions that we may have in the future but I know that
we will soon gradually have them as time passes. There is still so much more to discover in this
physical world and instead of drowning myself with all the doubts and confusions, I would just
choose to appreciate the present knowledge that we have about it and at the same time embrace all
the future information that we may have. The physical world is full of unending questions and this
means there will always be theories that have to proven, experiments needed to be done, models
that have to be made, facts that should be gathered and even all the failures and doubts along with
all these. But as human beings and as part of this physical world, we never stop learning and we
never stop to little by little answer these questions.
 Personally, I would love to have all the answers immediately but that is just impossible. I
know it takes time to prove anything so as to not waste mine, I would rather spend it enjoying every
second that I have in this physical world because I am pretty much satisfied with what we know right
now but that does not mean that we should stop gaining more knowledge. It is always better if we
know every single thing about the physical world because it is where we live in and we are part of it
and so that we can finally crush out all our questions in mind. What we know and what we do not
now could affect all of us and everything in this world, either positively or negatively. It is important
that we continue to stay curious on things related to this physical world because it is through this
that we are able to form questions and bit by bit develop scientific knowledge that would then
answer all our uncertainties and confusions.