Influence of Physics on Daily Life - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS The word "physics" is derived from "physis" which means natural development. However physics is the science that studies therelation between matter and energy, thereby gives an integrated outlook to physical phenomena. Even as early as 16th century, the concept of physics inspired many great scientists like Galileo, Newton. But it gained an independent identity in 19th century. New discoveries constantly open new outlook for learning about nature. It is a way of looking at nature from the ground up, and has inspired the philosophies of the twentieth century. Today, the scope of physics is expanding through inter-relationship between various concepts like mechanics, heat, sound, light, electricity and magnetism leading to new fields including microbiology, nano- technologies and financial markets With relation to topic of World, physics encompasses essentially all of nature including the laws and properties of matter and the forces acting upon them. Especially the causes, that modify the general properties of bodies, like light, magnetism, electricity, quantum effects, gravity etc. Physics studies every motion, from objects as small as neutrons to as massive as planets. It also studies the forces, and the interactions between bodies. It is the study of the most fundamental interactions between time, space, energy and matter. "We have sought for firm ground and found none. The deeper we penetrate, the more restless becomes the universe, all is rushing about and vibrating in a wild dance."(Max Born) . Influence of Physics on Daily Life: "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."(Albert Einstein) Physics can be felt in all our day to day activities. From simple throwing of a ball, to flying an aeroplane it is all physics. We come across several things that make us wonder how and why 1. Why does a Rainbow Appear 2. How is it day in India, whereas night in America 3. Why is it that we can hear a person from other room, but cannot see him 4. What makes fire hot and ice cold . 5. Why does a moving object stop after sometime . Physics answers these and many such questions. Let us consider our last question, we often wonder why an object in motion stops suddenly, it is due to the Frictional force. There are many things in this world that makes the presence of Friction felt. For example, when we try to push a table across a room, we experience a resisting force which makes our work much more difficult, and this is the frictional force. FRICTION: It is a well known phenomenon in the universe that any body which is in state of motion on any plane, left to itself automatically comes to rest after traveling through some distance, this is due to Friction. It is the resistive force acting between bodies that tends to oppose and damp out motion. Types of friction: 1. Static friction 2. Kinetic/dynamic friction 3. Rolling Friction Static friction: The Static force of friction ( fs ) is the force of friction between two objects when there is no motion. Consider a block' B' which is resting on a horizontal table. Let a small pan be attached the block by means of a horizontal thread passing over a smooth frictionless pulley. When the weight in the pan is less, the block does not move because the pulling force or applied force' p' is balanced by the frictional force' f' which is called static friction.. If the weight in the pan increases further then the block tends to slide over the surface. At this stage the force of friction also reaches a maximum value called limited friction. Thus the maximum or limiting value of force of friction that comes into play when the body just begins to slide over the surface of another body is known as Limiting Friction. Dynamic Friction or Kinetic Friction: The Kinetic force of friction ( fk ) is the force of friction between two objects when there is motion. When the applied force increases just beyond the value of limiting friction, the body is set into motion. But even after the body begins to move over the surface of another body, by overcoming the limiting friction, certain force is required to keep the body in uniform motion. The friction force which comes into play after the motion has started is called the kinetic friction or dynamic friction, which will be numerically equal to the force required to keep the body to slide over another body with uniform motion. Rolling friction: It is another type of dynamic friction. It comes in to play when one body rolls on the surface of another body. When a body like a ball, a drum, a wheel or a cylinder, roll over the surface of anther body it experiences the rolling friction ( fr ). The rolling friction is very much less than the sliding friction. It is inversely proportional to the radius of the rolling body. Its value decreases if area of the contact is small and if the surface is hard. The only friction is due to two reasons. (i) The surface of the rolling body deforms a little bit when the portion of the rolling body is in contact with the surface. (ii) The rolling body deforms the surface on which it is rolling The Coefficient of Friction: It is the quotient obtained by dividing the value of the force necessary to move one body over another at a constant speed by the weight of the body. For example, if a force of 40 newtons is needed to move a body weighing 200 Newton's over another horizontal body at a constant speed, the coefficient of friction between these two materials is 40/200 or 0.2. Thus the coefficient of static friction is greater than the coefficient of kinetic friction. Similarly, sliding friction is greater than rolling Examples of Friction in Our Daily Life: 1. Safe walking on the floor is possible because of the friction between the floor and the feet 2. Nails and screws are driven in the walls or wooden surfaces due to Friction 3. Friction helps the fingers to hold a drinking water tumbler or pen. 4. The mechanical power transmission of belt drive is possible due to friction. The treadmill is one most popular piece of gym and home fitness equipment and is usually in fact you would be hard pressed to top find a gym or fitness centre with out one. The Treadmill comprises of 7main components 1)The Frame : All the components is generally of steel construction . 2)The Running Deck : This is generally a wooden board with 2 rollers mounted at each end. 3.) The running Belt: The belt is generally made of a soft rubber compound or similar synthetic material and loops around the running deck and mounted on steel rollers. 4.) The Motor all treadmills run on a DC electric motor as this is technically easy to control and economical to produce. The motor is connected to the running belt rollers by means of a belt. 5) The Motor controller: This circuit board the converts the AC mains electric supply in to a DC supply for the motor to run on. This is done by means of invertors and other devices, 6) The console: The console generally allows the user to control the speed and other functions of the treadmill. 7) The incline Motor: incline system this allows the user to replicate running up a hill and is achieved by raising or loweringon end of the treadmill The area of treadmill should be relatively dust free, and should never get wet because it tends to increase friction in the motor drive belt system. Running on a perfectly level treadmill is easier then running on the roads since there is no air friction to overcome. A simple compensation for this is to add small inclined to your workouts. A 1 % inclined will work well for an 8:00 pace. The effect of air friction increases as your pace increases, a 1 % inclined if your workout entails 6:00 pace(perhaps some speed work). Conclusion: Physics therefore can be felt in every walk of life, it broadens our imagination and helps us understand life better. As stated by a famous scientist"The most remarkable discovery ever made by scientists was science itself" (Jacob Bronowski). Friction is a useful devil, it is useful in some cases and harmful in other it can be reduced by Polishing, Using Lubricants, Using ball bearing, Streamlining. Thus it is clear that physics inspires our life with new discoveries and inventions. Reference: Dr P.Veeresham (Associate Prof. of Physics Osmania University): PHYSICS-1:2003 Dr R.Victor : APPLIED PHYSICS: 1997 Dr.Tenneti Sudha Devi (HOD of Physics Vani College of Resarch Studies): Study of Friction: 2001 Read More