CHAPTER

#1

The
SCOPE OF
PHYSICS
Prepared by
Ms.Sumaira Ghafoor

CHAPTER #1
Prepared by Ms.Sumaira Ghafoor

Chapter#1

THE SCOPE OF PHYSICS

Branches of science:
The science can be divided in to two branches namely
1. Biological sciences
2. Physical sciences

Biological sciences:
The branch of science that deals with the study of living things is called
biological science.

Physical science:
The branch of science which deals with the study of properties and behavior
of non-living matter is called physical science.

Physics:
The branch of physical science which deals with the interaction of matter and
energy is known as physical science.

Branches of physics:
There are following two main branches of physics
1. Classical physics
2. Quantum physics
Other branches of physics are
1. Particle physics
2. Nuclear physics
3. Plasma physics
4. Molecular and atomic physics
5. Astrophysics
6. Medical physics
7. Solid state physics

Contribution of Muslim Scientists:

Many contribution are made by Muslim scientist to science some of them are as
follow
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Al-Khwarizmi:

Al-Khwarizmi was the founder of analytical algebra his famous book

Hisaul-jaber-wal-muqabla was the firs work on this subject. He is the
inventor of term Logarithm.

Omer Khayyam:
Omer Khayyam was one of the prominent mathematicians of Islamic
world.
Bertrand Russell Remarked him in the following Words
Omer Khayyam is the only man known to me who was a poet and
mathematician

Ibn-Al-Haitham:

Ibn-Al-Haitham was a great physicist of Islamic world. He wrote the

famous book Kitabul-Manazir the most wonderful chapter of the book
is on Human Eye. He also discovers the laws of Reflection and Invented
the Pin Hole Camera.

Al-Razi:
Al-Razi was the most prominent and greatest physician. He wrote about
200 original monographs half of which are pertained to medicine.

Abu-Rehan Al-Beruni:

Al-Beruni was an Astronomer, Physician and Mathematician. His Famous

book KItab-ul-Qanoo-ul-Masoodi is considered as encyclopedia of
Astronomy.

Yakoob bin Ishaq Al-Kindi:

He wrote many books on mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other
subjects.

Ibn-e-Sina:

Ibn-e-sina was one of the famous physicians of all time. He discovers

the use of catheters and gives the intravenous injection with the help of
silver syringe. He is famous because of his medical text book named AlQanoon-fil-Tib and Al-shifa the encyclopedia of philosophy which
comprises on logic, physics, and mathematics and Meta physics.

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Measurements and the system of units:

As the study of physics depends upon the measurement of physical quantities
many system of units are developed to express the physical quantities some of
them are as follows.

C.G.S System:
In this system centimeter, gram and seconds are used as the unit of length,
mass and time.

M.K.S System:
In this system meter, kilogram and seconds are used as the unit of length,
mass and time.

F.P.S System:
In this system force is used as fundamental quantity and foot, pound and
seconds are used as the unit of length, force and time.

S.I System:

S.I (system international) unit is the system of unit which acts as the standard
for units to be used in international trade and measurement.
Some important S.I units are as follow:

Time Seconds (s):

It is defined as the 9192631770 periods of radiation corresponding to
the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground sate of
cesium -133 atom.

Electrical current-Ampere (A):

It is define as the current maintained between the two conductors of
infinite length and negligible cross section and placed one meter apart
in vacuum would produce a force of 2 x 10-7 N/m on each other.

Thermodynamic Temperature- Kelvin (K):

It is defined as the 1/273.16 of thermodynamic temperature of triple
point of water.

Luminous intensity- Candela ():

It is defined as the luminous intensity in the perpendicular direction of
surface 1/600000 square meter of a black body at temperature freezing
platinum under a pressure of 101325 Pa.

Amount of Substance- Mole (mol):

It is defined as the amount of substance which contains as many
elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram carbon (C-12).

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Dimensions:
The nature of a physical quantity is called its dimension.
The method of finding the dimension of a physical quantity is as follows
By the unit of physical quantity

Write down the S.I unit of physical quantity.

Change the derived units by their fundamental units.
Replace Kilogram, meter and seconds by the M, L and T respectively.
If there is any multiplication do it by rules of simple algebra.

By the mathematical formula of physical quantity

Choose one side of the mathematical formula (it is better to choose the side
with more terms in some cases)
Remove all the constant numbers.
Write down all the physical quantities in terms of fundamental quantities.
Remove all the quantity except mass, length and time.
Replace mass, length and time by M, L and T.
If there is any multiplication do it by rules of simple algebra.
If there are same terms to be added write them once only.

Significant figure:
A significant figure is a reliably known digit of the magnitude of physical quantity.

Rules for Determining Significant Figures:

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All nonzero digits are significant figure. I-e 5694 contains four significant
figures.
Zeros between nonzero digits are significant figure. I-e 9000056
contains seven figures.
Before none zero digit all zeros are not significant. I-e 0.0078 has two
significant figures.
Zeros at the right of the decimals are significant figure. I-e 89.000
contains five significant figures.
In numbers without decimals, final zeros are not significant e-g 780
contains two significant figures.
10x In an exponential notation is not significant.

SINDH TEXT BOOK BOARD-PHYSICS-XI

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Prepared by Ms.Sumaira Ghafoor

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