PHYSICAL WORLD

Chapter-1, PHYSICAL WORLD

Science: Science is an organised, systematic and formulated knowledge obtained through

observations, experiments and verifications.

Note: The word Science originates from the Latin verb “SCIENTIA”, which means “to know”.

Scientific method: Procedure followed in acquiring knowledge in science is called scientific

method.
It involves the major steps, which are,
(i) Systematic observation.
(ii) Logical reasoning.
(iii) Model making.
(iv) Theoretical prediction.
(v) Verification OR Rejection of theory.

Law: Law is a statement given based on the observation, experimentation and analysis.
Ex: Newton’s laws of motion.

Theory: The behaviour of the physical system is explained in terms of a set of minimum number of
laws is called Theory.
Ex: Ptolemy’s geocentric theory.

Branches of Science: There are two main branches in science, 1) Physical science
2) Biological science
The main branches of Physical science are, 1) Physics
2) Chemistry

Physics: The term Physics is derived from Greek word called “FUSIS”, which means “Nature”.
Physics is a branch of science which deals with the study of Nature and Natural phenomenon.
Two principal thrusts is physics are (i) Unification and (ii) Reduction

Unification: It is an effort to see a physical world as manifestation of some universal law in

different domains and conditions.
Ex: (a) Isaac Newton unified celestial and terrestrial mechanics and showed that same laws of
motion and law of gravitation apply to both the domains.
(b) Hans Christian Oersted and Michel Faraday showed that electric and magnetic phenomena are
inseparable aspects of a unified domain.
(c) James Clerk Maxwell unified electricity, magnetism and optics, showed that light is an
electromagnetic wave.

Reductionism: Explaining the properties of complex system using the properties and interactions
of its constituent simpler parts is called reductionism.
Ex: Initially thermodynamics was dealing with bulk system in terms of temperature, internal
energy etc. Now the kinetic theory and statistical mechanics interpreted these quantities in terms
of properties of molecular constituents of the bulk system.

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Scope of physics: The scope of physics is very broad and covers a wide range of many branches. It
is studied under the following headings.
(i) Classical mechanics: The branch concerned with the motion of objects moving at speeds very
small compared to the speed of light.
(ii) Thermodynamics: The branch dealing with heat, temperature and work.
(iii) Electrodynamics: It deals with the electricity, magnetism and electromagnetic fields.
(iv) Quantum mechanics: The study of motion in micro world of atoms is known as quantum
mechanics.
(v) Optics: It is the branch of physics which deals with the nature of light and different properties
and phenomena exhibited by light.
(vi) Relativity: It describes the motion of the objects moving at any speed, even at speeds
approaching the speed of light in vacuum.
Totally physics deals with the macroscopic world like galaxies and universe as well as
microscopic world like nucleus of an atom and fundamental particles like electrons, protons,
neutrons etc.

Excitement of physics: The study of physics is quite interesting and exciting. In physics, we come
across wide range of mass, length and time. But in spite of these wide ranges of the order of these
physical quantities, it is possible to understand them quite easily. This is the reason for the
excitement in physics.

Physics, technology and society

Technology: Application of scientific knowledge for practical purpose is called Technology.
Technologists use the information or knowledge of physics for designing the various applications
and other instruments which help to make our material way of life comfortable.

Following are a few advancements in technology based on physics.

Technology Scientific principle(s)
Steam engine Laws of thermodynamics
Nuclear reactor Controlled nuclear fission
Radio and Television Generation, propagation and detection of
electromagnetic waves
Lasers Light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation
Production of ultra- high magnetic Superconductivity
fields
Rocket propulsion Newton’s laws of motion
Electric generator Faraday’s laws of electromagnetic induction
Hydroelectric power Conversion of gravitational potential energy into
electrical energy
Aeroplane Bernoulli’s principle in fluid dynamics
Particle accelerators Motion of charged particles in electromagnetic fields
Sonar Reflection of ultrasonic waves
Optical fibres Total internal reflection of light
Non-reflecting coatings Thin film optical interference
Electron microscope Wave nature of electron

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Technology Scientific principle(s)
Photocell Photoelectric effect
Fusion test reactor (Tokamak) Magnetic confinement of plasma
Giant Metre wave Radio Telescope Detection of cosmic radio waves
(GMRT)
Trapping and cooling of atoms by laser beams and
Bose-Einstein condensate
magnetic fields.

Physics has a great impact on the society. In fact discoveries and developments in physics
have changed the face of society. Our life has become more comfortable and luxuries than that of
our ancestors.

Some physicists from different countries of the world and their contributions.

Country
Name Major contributions/Discoveries
of origin
Principle of buoyancy
Archimedes Greece
Principle of lever
Galileo Galilei Law of inertia Italy
Christiaan Huygens Wave theory of light Holland
Universal law of Gravitation
Isaac Newton Laws of motion UK
Reflecting Telescope
Michel Faraday Laws of Electromagnetic induction UK
Electromagnetic theory
James Clerk Maxwell UK
Light – an electromagnetic wave
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Generation of electromagnetic waves Germany
J C Bose Ultra short radio waves India
W K Roentgen X-Rays Germany
J J Thomson Electron UK
Discovery of radium and polonium; Studies on
Marie Sklodowska Curie Poland
natural radioactivity
Explanation of photoelectric effect;
Albert Einstein Germany
Theory of relativity
Victor Francis Hess Cosmic radiation Austria
R.A. Millikan Measurement of electronic charge USA
Ernest Rutherford Nuclear model of atom New Zealand
Niels Bohr Quantum model of hydrogen atom Denmark
C.V. Raman Inelastic scattering of hydrogen atom India
Louis Victor de Borglie Wave nature of matter France
M.N. Saha Thermal Ionisation India
S.N. Bose Quantum statistics India
Wolfgang Pauli Exclusion principle Austria
Enrico Fermi Controlled nuclear fission Italy
Werner Heisenberg Quantum Mechanics, Uncertainty principle Germany
Relativistic theory of electron
Paul Dirac UK
Quantum statistics
Edwin Hubble Expanding Universe USA
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Cyclotron USA
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Country
Name Major contributions/Discoveries
of origin
James Chadwick Neutron UK
Hideki Yukawa Theory of nuclear forces Japan
Homi Jehangir Bhabha Cascade process of cosmic radiation India
Theory of condensed matter
Lev Davidovich Landau Russia
Liquid helium
Chandrasekhar limit
S. Chandrasekhar India
Structure and evolution of stars
Transistors
John Bardeen USA
Theory of superconductivity
C.H. Townes Maser, Laser USA
Unification of weak and electromagnetic
Abdus Salam Pakistan
interactions

Fundamental forces in nature: There are four basic forces in nature. These are
(i) Gravitational force
(ii) Electromagnetic force
(iii) Strong nuclear force
(iv) Weak nuclear force

(i) Gravitational force

* It is the force of attraction between the two bodies due to their masses.
* It is always attractive.
* It weakest force in nature.
* It is a long range force
* This force is governed by Newton’s law of gravitation.”
* It is also known as “action-at-a-distance” force.

(ii) Electromagnetic force

* It is the force of attraction or repulsion between two electric charges.
* It is both attractive as well as repulsive.
* It is charge dependent.
* It is long range force.
* It is 1037 times stronger than the Gravitational force.
* When the charges are at rest the force between them is called electrostatic force.

(iii) Strong nuclear force

* Forces operating inside the nuclei are called strong nuclear force.
* It is short range force (range is ~ 10-15m)
* It is charge independent.
* It is an attractive force.
* It is the strongest force in nature. It is 100 times stronger than electromagnetic force and 1039
times stronger than gravitational force.
* It does not obey inverse square law.

(iv) Weak nuclear force

* It is the force existing between the elementary particles emitted during radio-active decay.
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* It appears only in certain nuclear processes such as beta decay.
* It is not as weak as gravitational force but much weaker than strong nuclear and
Electromagnetic force.
* It’s range is 10-16m.

Relative
Name Range Operates among
strength
Gravitational force 1 Infinite All objects in the universe
Very short Some elementary particles.
Weak nuclear force 10 26 sub-nuclear size, Particularly electron and
10−16 𝑚 neutrino
Electromagnetic
1037 Infinite Charged particles
force
Short Nucleons, heavier
Strong nuclear force 1039
Nuclear size, 10−15 𝑚 elementary particles

Nature of physical law: The various phenomena occurring in nature are explained on the basis of
certain laws. These laws are expressed in terms of some physical quantities. Several physical
quantities may change with time but some physical quantities remain constant in time. The
quantities like charge, mass, energy, liner momentum angular momentum etc. of a system are
conserved, if no external force acts on the system.

Conserved quantities: The physical quantities remain constant during a process are called
conserved quantities.

Conservation Laws: A law which states the constancy of physical quantity over time within an
isolated system is called a conservation law.

Ex: Law of conservation of mass.

Law of conservation of energy.
Law of conservation of charge.
Law of conservation of momentum.

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Suggested Questions.
One mark.
1) What is physics?
2) Name the weakest fundamental force in nature.
3) Who introduced the nuclear model of an atom?
4) Who discovered neutron?
5) Who own the Nobel Prize in the field of scattering of light by molecules?
6) Who discovered the law of Inertia?
7) Who proposed the electromagnetic wave theory?
8) What is the nature of physical laws?
9) Name the scientist who gave the heliocentric theory?
10) Name the scientist who gave the laws of electromagnetic induction?
11) Who discovered radioactivity?

Two marks.
1) Mention the steps involved in scientific method.
2) What is reductionism? Give an example.
3) What is unification? Give one example.
4) Mention two physicists who achieved the unification of electricity and magnetism.
5) Name the scientist who achieved the unification of electromagnetism and optics.
6) Mention any two fundamental forces in nature.
7) Name the strongest and weakest fundamental forces in nature.
8) Name the two physicists who discovered an electron and electromagnetic wave.
9) Name two Indian scientists who have been awarded Nobel Prize.

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