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Introduction to Nanosensors
Published in Vinod Kumar Khanna, Nanosensors, 2021
What are the different branches of physics? Physics is grouped into traditional fields, such as mechanics, properties of matter, heat, light, sound, electricity, and magnetism, as well as in modern extensions, including atomic and nuclear physics, cryogenics, solid-state physics, particle physics, and plasma physics.
Radioactivity and Matter
Published in Ivan G. Draganić, Zorica D. Draganić, Jean-Pierre Adloff, Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond, 2020
Ivan G. Draganić, Zorica D. Draganić, Jean-Pierre Adloff
“Particle physics” is a branch of nuclear science which deals with the properties of elementary particles. Production of the latter is based on the mass-energy relation E=mc2, whereby energy can be converted into mass. The higher the available energy, the heavier the particles which can be produced.
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Published in Walter Fox Smith, Experimental Physics, 2020
Particle physics is the study of the fundamental interactions that govern the behavior of nature’s most elementary particles. The term “elementary particle” in this context is meant to denote entities without substructure and out of which all other composite systems are made. As a counterexample, even though protons are often referred to as “particles,” they are themselves extremely complicated systems made of elementary particles.
Models in Engineering Design as Decision-Making Aids
Published in Engineering Studies, 2022
Claudia Eckert, Rafaela Hillerbrand
Note that just as many other apparent differences between science and engineering design are ultimately a matter of differences in degree, the same can be said for the roles that models play. While the decision-making aspect seems to be present in most design models, models may serve as decision-making aids in science as well,55 such as when high energy physics models provide information about whether and precisely how the next particle collider is to be built. Moreover, just as engineering models of traffic flows serve as aids in political decision making, scientific models likewise influence political decisions, such as those concerning the spread of a pandemic or on the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.56 Furthermore, though the focus in philosophy of science is mostly on models as epistemic devices, models in the sciences, just as in engineering, also fulfill other functions. The standard model of particle physics provides the current standard explanation and understanding of the most fundamental physical processes at a subatomic scale. It is thus an important epistemic device today, while other models may be used mainly for pedagogical or didactic purposes. Bohr’s model of the atom, which describes the motion of electrons around the nucleus in analogy to the motion of the planets around the sun, is clearly outdated. However, even today Bohr’s model proves useful in teaching science and thus fulfills a pedagogical function. It helps students to understand, for example, how subatomic movement distinguishes itself from classical planetary motion, i.e. that electrons do not move in fixed orbits.