What does physics study?
In schools, colleges, universities, teachers often ask us a question about what physics is studying. This is what we will talk about in our article.
First of all, it should be noted that physics isan exact science, an area of natural science. The name of this science came from the word "physis", which means "nature." Physics studies the world in which we live, all the phenomena and processes taking place in it, reveals the laws to which these processes obey, and determines the interconnection of everything that is happening in the world around us. The laws of physics are the basis for all natural science.
Physics as a science has a very complex structure, it is customary to divide it into:
- Macroscopic physics, which deals with the study of large physical bodies and phenomena at the macro level (galaxies, planets).
- Microscopic physics, which deals with the study of natural phenomena at the micro level (molecules, atoms, electrons, photons).
- Sections located at the intersection of sciences (physical chemistry, astrophysics, biophysics, cosmology and others).
In turn, each section is divided into more narrowly specialized sections. What are the individual branches of physics studying?
Macroscopic physics includes the following directions:
- Mechanics studies the motion of bodies and the interaction between them and has subsections: classical mechanics, mechanics of continuous media and relativistic mechanics.
- Optics studies all phenomena associated with light, and various radiation. Has the following subsections: physical and molecular optics, crystal optics and nonlinear optics.
- Thermodynamics studies heat and all phenomena associated with it (heat generation, heat absorption).
- Electrodynamics studies electromagnetic fields, charged bodies and particles, and their interaction. It is also subdivided into: magnetohydrodynamics, electrohydrodynamics, electrodynamics of continuous media.
Microscopic physics includes the following directions:
- Static physics deals with the study of various systems, the behavior of bodies (from particles to macrobodies) in these systems and the influence of this behavior on the system as a whole.
- Condensed matter physics studies systems,which can not be divided into subsystems because of strong ties. This area includes the physics of solids, nanostructures, liquids, molecules and atoms.
- Quantum physics studies quantum systems.
- Nuclear physics studies atomic reactions and the properties of atoms.
- High-energy physics studies the behavior of elementary particles, the collision of which emits energy many times greater than the mass of these particles.
- The physics of elementary particles studies elementary particles, their properties and structure, and also their interaction.
In addition, there is still such a thing asapplied Physics. This is a set of the above-listed areas of physics, whose goal is to solve physical problems for specific practical applications in various areas of human activity. It is customer-oriented.
You have learned that studying physics in general, and that you are studying certain areas of physics, but it is worth remembering that many sections of science are interrelated.
