what is "GENERAL" physics

[sancho2007]

what is the meaning of general physics. Physics is physics. there is no general. if you observe the nature what you obtain is only the average not the general. so why do you call this as general. i am totaly confused.
for example solid state physics means physics of solid state. what is then physics of general. is it a joke or what.
i really do not understand this. please explain me what is "general" physics.
it should be immeadetly replaced by "average" physics. which is more meaningful than general.
yours sincerely..

[Hootenanny]

The general physics forum is for items that do not fit into one isolated area of physics. And I disagree that "average" physics is more meaningful, I would go as far as to suggest that "average" physics is meaningless.

Either way, this is a science forum and lets not get into the semantics of forum titles.

[jtbell]

As a forum title on PF, "General Physics" means "physics that doesn't fit into one of the other specialized forums here." A better name would be "miscellaneous physics" or "leftover physics," and I think it would be better to have this forum at the end of the "Physics" section rather than at the beginning!

[cepheid]

I've noticed that the General Physics forum seems to be a great place for:

1. Laypeople asking questions about physics, who can't really be expected to know precisely what realm of physics their topic falls into.

2. (Related to 1) Everyday real-world applications of physics. These usually fall into the category of classical physics by their very nature and there is some overlap.

3. (Ok this is a stretch, I can't produce an example of such a thread off the top of my head). Again, real-world or applied physics motivated questions that deal with the workings of a complex system that may require a broad-based knowledge of physics (i.e. it may cross-over into several sub-fields).

In other words, it's a subforum for more "general" topics =p

[cepheid]

Oh, and I forgot #4

A place for posters who are too lazy to think about which category they should put their question into. =D

[Mk]

I've noticed that the General Physics forum seems to be a great place for:

1. Laypeople asking questions about physics, who can't really be expected to know precisely what realm of physics their topic falls into.
Oh, and I forgot #4

A place for posters who are too lazy to think about which category they should put their question into. =D
I think it's mostly these :biggrin:

[Crosson]

I think, as a forum title, it refers to talking about physics, rather then talking physics (especially true in General Math). This is not exactly true, but these topics concern or apply to the whole of people who are involved with physics.

[arunma]

If you think about it, the division of physics into various fields is quite artificial. After all, nature can't tell the difference between electrodynamics and statistical mechanics. But it's certainly a good thing that we have these divisions, because it greatly aids both teaching and research from a logistical standpoint. For that reason, I think that our definition of "general" physics is fine the way it is.

[Chi Meson]

I think you will find answers to all your posts, Sancho2007, if you look up the word "sophomoric."

[dontdisturbmycircles]

I think you will find answers to all your posts, Sancho2007, if you look up the word "sophomoric."

Agreed.... but as a freshman, should I be agreeing with this? :rolleyes: :smile:

I think we use the term "General Physics" to provoke complainers into starting threads requesting that we not use the term "General Physics" so we can identify them. Then we slowly torture them.

[Moonbear]

Look up the word "general." It's exactly that. Thread locked.