B The Purposes of Physics: Understanding the Fundamentals of Nature

[trees and plants]

Hello. The questions are very basic: What are the purposes of physics? Why physics works are made? Are they to describe mathematically what can be observed in nature or should they be more abstract and describe properties derived or connected to other works in physics? Excuse me, i am a little confused about this thing in physics. For example in general relativity and quantum field theory, i read and try to memorise them but i do not know what the things i read express in nature. Thank you.

 

[Delta2]

I think the research of physics is driven mainly because of the applications that physics may find in technology and engineering. For example without classical EM that give us the basics of electric circuits and without Quantum physics that explain very well the internal workings of transistors, modern computers and smartphones wouldn't be possible. And we all understand how important are computers for human life. I know humanity existed for a few thousand years without computers, but nowdays it is almost impossible to imagine our life without computers and smartphones.
So one purpose of physics is so we can get our hands on better technologies

One other purpose of physics is the race of the human mind to understand the world around it. Universe exists and it isn't completely random it seems to have some order and some laws. Physics is all about finding these laws and explaining everything that is happening out there , based in a set of a "few" laws.

 

[trees and plants]

Thank you Delta2. Anyone else who wants to answer my questions? They are very basic but i do not know the answers to them.

 

[Delta2]

For example in general relativity and quantum field theory, i read and try to memorise them but i do not know what the things i read express in nature

Do you mean here that the theories appear to you too much abstract and mathematical, with no interconnection to the physical reality? Well I think you are reading too advanced texts, try reading some more understandable.

 

[phyzguy]

To me the whole point of physics is to express the laws of nature as mathematical relationships. Galileo said, "The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics". At least this is the way I have seen it paraphrased. A more accurate quote (of course translated from the Italian) is:
“Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes -- I mean the universe -- but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single word of it; without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth.”

 

[Dale]

What are the purposes of physics?

To build theories that accurately predict the outcome of experiments.

i read and try to memorise them but i do not know what the things i read express in nature

It sounds like you may be focusing exclusively on the theories and not learning about the experiments. The experiments are the “in nature” part of physics.

 

[ChrisVer]

Hello. The questions are very basic: What are the purposes of physics? Why physics works are made? Are they to describe mathematically what can be observed in nature or should they be more abstract and describe properties derived or connected to other works in physics? Excuse me, i am a little confused about this thing in physics. For example in general relativity and quantum field theory, i read and try to memorise them but i do not know what the things i read express in nature. Thank you.

The purpose of physics is for us to understand better the world we live in. It so has happened that we can represent this knowledge through mathematical and logical relations in an elegant way. That's why maths are used in physical theories.
Of course, I wouldn't just say that physics models are all about fitting what we see. A theory that would just describe perfectly everything we see is very trivial to implement (just give it enough degrees of freedom), but it is overall useless. On top of explaining our observations, it should also make testable predictions that would, eventually, lead and add up to our knowledge. An example is that General Relativity did not only manage to explain the perihelion shifts of planets like Mercury, but it also predicted objects like Black Holes, gravitational waves and so on (which made it a strong theory) and were later on verified in experiment,

If you are a physicist, I would advise against memorizing. Instead you should be trying to understand the mathematical equations as to manage and get an intuition of what is considered counter-intuitive. There is intuition that comes from your everyday experience (like the 3D world), but there is also a type of intuition that you build from putting your mind to burn over some (otherwise useless) mathematical expressions.

 

[Dale]

A theory that would just describe perfectly everything we see is very trivial to implement (just give it enough degrees of freedom), but it is overall useless.

Hence the use of the word “predict” instead of the word “describe”.

 

[lomidrevo]

What are the purposes of physics?

In my opinion, the purpose of physics is "self-explanatory". I mean, if one understand what is a physical law, then its purpose is pretty obvious. A little hint by one of the most respected physicists of all times:


It boils down to ability to predict evolution of natural phenomena.

 

[bland]

What are the purposes of physics?

To make correct predictions.

 

[gleem]

Physics or science in general studies how nature behaves.