Fundamentals of Physics

• Physics is a natural science studying matter, its fundamental parts, motion, behavior through space and time, and related entities of energy and force.
• Physics is a fundamental scientific discipline with the main goal of understanding how the universe behaves.

Core Concepts

• Mechanics deals with the study of motion and forces, including kinematics (description of motion) and dynamics (causes of motion).
• Thermodynamics involves the study of heat, work, energy, and the laws governing them.
• Electromagnetism examines the interactions between electric charges and magnetic fields, including electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic waves.
• Optics focuses on the behavior and properties of light, including reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference.
• Quantum Mechanics studies the behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels, introducing concepts like quantization and wave-particle duality.
• Relativity includes Einstein's theories of special and general relativity, which describe the relationship between space, time, gravity, and the universe.

Mechanics

• Kinematics describes motion using displacement, velocity, and acceleration.
• Dynamics relates motion to its causes, using Newton's laws of motion:
  • First Law (Law of Inertia): An object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by a net force.
  • Second Law: Net force on an object equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).
  • Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
• Work is energy transferred by a force causing displacement.
• Energy exists as kinetic energy (motion) and potential energy (stored).
• Conservation of energy states the total energy of an isolated system remains constant.

Thermodynamics

• Temperature measures the average kinetic energy of particles in a system.
• Heat is the transfer of thermal energy between objects/systems due to temperature difference.
• The Laws of Thermodynamics:
  • Zeroth Law: Systems in thermal equilibrium with a third system are in equilibrium with each other.
  • First Law: Change in internal energy equals heat added minus work done (ΔU = Q - W).
  • Second Law: The entropy of an isolated system tends to increase over time.
  • Third Law: The entropy of a system approaches a minimum value as the temperature approaches absolute zero.
• Heat transfer occurs through conduction, convection, and radiation.

Electromagnetism

• Electric charge, a fundamental property of matter, can be positive or negative.
• Electric force is the force between charged objects, described by Coulomb's law.
• Electric field is the force field created by electric charges.
• Electric potential is the potential energy per unit charge in an electric field.
• Electric current is the rate of flow of electric charge.
• Resistance opposes the flow of electric current.
• Magnetism is the force exerted by magnets or electric currents.
• Magnetic fields are the force fields that are created by magnets or electric currents.
• Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force (EMF) in a circuit due to a changing magnetic field.
• Electromagnetic waves are disturbances propagating through space, carrying energy.

Optics

• Reflection is the bouncing of light off a surface.
• Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another.
• Lenses refract light to form images; converging lenses focus, diverging lenses spread light.
• Diffraction is the spreading of waves through an opening or around an obstacle.
• Interference is the superposition of waves, with constructive (amplification) or destructive (cancellation) effects.
• Polarization describes the direction of oscillations in transverse waves.

Quantum Mechanics

• Quantization means energy, momentum, and other physical quantities exist in discrete values.
• Wave-particle duality refers to particles acting as both waves and particles.
• The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that it is impossible to know both position and momentum of a particle with perfect accuracy.
• Quantum entanglement is when particles become correlated, sharing the same fate regardless of distance

Relativity

• Special relativity describes the relationship between space and time for observers in uniform motion.
• The speed of light in a vacuum is constant for all observers.
• Time dilation is the slowing of time for a moving object relative to a stationary observer.
• Length contraction is the shortening of a moving object's length in its direction of motion.
• Mass-energy equivalence describes mass converting into energy (E = mc²).
• General relativity describes gravity as spacetime curvature caused by mass and energy.
• Gravitational time dilation is the slowing of time in stronger gravitational fields.
• Black holes are regions of spacetime with gravity so strong that nothing can escape.

An overview of physics, the natural science that studies matter, motion, energy, and force. Core concepts include mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, optics, quantum mechanics and more.