Introduction to Physics Quiz

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What is the main goal of physics?

To understand how the universe behaves (correct)

To explore the boundaries of other academic disciplines

To study matter and its fundamental constituents

To enable new technologies

Which scientist specializes in the field of physics?

Biologist

Chemist

Physicist (correct)

Astronomer

During which century did the natural sciences emerge as unique research endeavors?

18th century

17th century (correct)

16th century

15th century

Which academic discipline is one of the oldest, perhaps the oldest?

Physics Signup and view all the answers

What do advances in physics often enable?

New technologies Signup and view all the answers

What early civilizations had a predictive knowledge and basic awareness of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars?

Sumerians Signup and view all the answers

From where can the origins of Western astronomy be found, according to Asger Aaboe?

Mesopotamia Signup and view all the answers

During which period did natural philosophy have its origins in Greece?

Archaic period Signup and view all the answers

Who proposed the idea of atomism, which was found to be correct approximately 2000 years after it was proposed?

Leucippus and Democritus Signup and view all the answers

In which century did the Western Roman Empire fall, resulting in a decline in intellectual pursuits in the western part of Europe?

Fifth century Signup and view all the answers

Which physicist developed a theory of relativity that correctly predicted the action of forces on objects with increasing momenta near the speed of light?

Einstein Signup and view all the answers

What did the philosophers in antiquity retain fundamental errors in understanding about force due to?

Inadequate view of the nature of natural motion Signup and view all the answers

What did the development of modern insights into quantum mechanics and technology lead to?

Devising a Standard Model to describe forces between particles smaller than atoms Signup and view all the answers

What was the fundamental error that Galileo Galilei and Sir Isaac Newton corrected about motion and force?

Motion requires a force to maintain it, even at a constant velocity Signup and view all the answers

What did high-energy particle physics observations in the 1970s and 1980s confirm about the weak and electromagnetic forces?

They are expressions of a more fundamental electroweak interaction Signup and view all the answers

What is the SI unit of force?

Newton (N) Signup and view all the answers

Which type of force often produces changes in the rotational speed of an object?

Torque Signup and view all the answers

What type of quantity is force?

Vector Signup and view all the answers

In equilibrium, what do the internal mechanical stresses in an extended body cause?

No acceleration of the body Signup and view all the answers

Which concept makes the everyday notion of pushing or pulling mathematically precise?

Force Signup and view all the answers