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Overview
We don’t need a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to know that everyone is governed by the laws of physics, but what are they? How do they affect us? Why do they matter? What did Newton mean when he said, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?" What is gravity? What is Bernoulli’s Principle? Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? How do space, time, matter, and energy all interact? How do scientific laws, theories, and hypotheses differ? Physics can often seem difficult or complex, but it's actually beautiful and fun—and it doesn't need to be hard to understand.
Revised for the first time in a decade, the completely updated third edition of The Handy Physics Answer Book makes physics and its impact on us, the world, and the universe entertaining and easy to grasp. It disposes with the dense jargon and overly-complicated explanations often associated with physics, and instead it takes an accessible, conceptual approach—never dumbing down the amazing science, yet all written in everyday English.
The Handy Physics Answer Book tackles big issues and concepts, like motion, magnetism, sound, and light, and lots of smaller topics too—like, why don’t birds or squirrels on power lines get electrocuted?—and makes them enlightening and enjoyable for anyone who picks up this informative book. For everyone who has ever wondered about the sources of energy production in the United States, or how different kinds of light bulbs shine, or why wearing dark-colored clothes is warmer than light-colored ones, or even what happens when you fall into a black hole, The Handy Physics Answer Book examines more than 1,000 of the most frequently asked, most interesting, and most unusual questions about physics, including ...
Useful and informative, The Handy Physics Answer Book also includes a glossary of commonly used terms to cut through the jargon, a helpful bibliography, and an extensive index. Ideal for students, curious readers of all ages, and anyone reckoning with the essential questions about the universe. This handy resource is an informative primer for applications in everyday life as well as the most significant scientific theories and discoveries of our time. And, we promise, no whiteboard needed.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781578596959 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Visible Ink Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2020 |
| Series: | The Handy Answer Book Series |
| Edition description: | 3rd ed. |
| Pages: | 416 |
| Sales rank: | 1,128,925 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
What are different states of matter?
Matter can be in different states, or phases, depending on the temperature, pressure, and entropy of the matter at the time. The three standard states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. When gas is electrically charged, that is sometimes considered to be a fourth state of matter known as plasma.
What is the difference between solid, liquid, gas, and plasma?In the solid phase a materials atoms or molecules are held in rigid positions by the chemical bonds between them. They can vibrate, but not change positions. In the liquid phase molecules, or small groups of molecules can move easily past one another. In the gas phase the atoms and molecules have almost no forces between them, so they are free to move independently and can be much less dense than solids or liquids. To become plasma, one or more electrons must be removed from the atoms or molecules in a gas.
Where can we find plasma in everyday life?Plasmas can be found in fluorescent lights, some television displays, and so-called neon signs. Lightning is a channel of plasma that briefly runs through the atmosphere. At very high altitudes, Earth's atmosphere is plasma. Out in the universe beyond Earth, the Sun and the stars are mostly plasma; and much of the vacuum of outer space is actually very, very sparse plasma.
What is unusual about the phases of water?The chemical formula for the water molecule is H2O. Solid H2O is simply called ice, liquid H2O is simply called water, and gaseous H2O is simply called vapor or steam. In most liquids the spacing between the molecules is slightly larger than in solids, giving them a lower density than their solid versions. The spaces are actually larger in ice than in water, however, meaning that ice has a lower density than water. This unusual property of H2O means that ice floats in water—a very important phenomenon that helps make life on Earth possible.
What makes matter change from one state to another?Although the space between molecules typically increases between the solid, liquid, and gas phases, the space between molecules does not actually determine the state of matter of a substance. Rather, it is the amount of thermal energy in a substance. When that amount changes, the matter can change from one state to another if a phase boundary is crossed. The phase boundaries are determined by the temperature, pressure, and entropy of the matter. For example, the phase boundary between water and ice at the atmospheric pressure at sea level on Earth occurs at a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F). Water at that temperature, however, has more entropy than ice at that same temperature; so to melt ice into water, extra energy must be added even though the temperature stays the same.
How much energy is needed to change ice to water to steam?The amount of energy needed to change phase is called latent heat. The latent heat involved in the transition from solid to liquid is called the latent heat of fusion while the energy involved in the transition from liquid to gas is called the latent heat of vaporization. For water the latent heat of fusion is 334 kJ/kg. The latent heat of vaporization is much higher: 2,265 kJ/kg.
Energy must be added to go from ice to water and water to steam, but if steam condenses to water it releases 2,265 kJ for each kilogram of steam condensed. That's the reason that steam burns are so dangerous. Almost all of that energy is transferred to your skin. If water freezes it releases 334 kJ for each kilogram of water frozen. In a freezer that amount of energy must be removed by the freezing mechanism.
Why do water droplets sometimes accumulate on the outside of glasses and soda cans?The water does not seep through the container, but instead comes from the air surrounding it. Water vapor is the gaseous form of water that is in air below the boiling point of water. As discussed above, it takes a larger amount of energy to vaporize water, so the molecules of water in the air have more thermal energy than do the molecules in the colder glass. So, when the water molecules strike the glass, they transfer much of their thermal energy to the glass. The colder water molecules join together to form water droplets on the glass. The process is called condensation. Condensation also occurs on windowpanes when the outside is cold, and the interior air is warm and humid.
How do clouds form?As warm air rises into the atmosphere through convection currents, the air expands as it experiences less atmospheric pressure. During the expansion, the warm water vapor quickly cools and condenses, forming water droplets in the air. When the droplets begin to accumulate, they attach themselves to particles in the air (like dust or smoke) and form clouds.
What is heat?Heat is the energy transfer from warmer objects to cooler objects. Thermal energy can be transferred in three general ways: conduction, convection, and radiation.
How efficient are vehicles and electric generators today?In the United States, about 75% of energy used for transportation is wasted as heat and exhaust. Electrical generators are somewhat better, but still only 31% efficient—they waste about 69% of the energy. Engineers are working on both improving efficiency and in making use of the rejected energy. For example, the warm water that carries away the waste heat in an electrical generating plant could be used to heat homes close to the plant.
How do refrigerators and air conditioners work? When a liquid evaporates into a gas, it is cooled. Heat flows into the system. The opposite process, the condensation of a gas into a liquid results in an increase in thermal energy and an output of heat. A refrigerator circulates a refrigerant, a liquid that evaporates at a low temperature, through tubes. The gas is then compressed by an electrically driven compressor. The pressure and temperature of the gas increases. Coils of the tubing outside the refrigerator cool the liquid and heat the air around them. As it cools the refrigerant condenses back to a liquid that goes through a tiny hole, called the expansion valve. The pressure drops, evaporating the liquid, making the gas cold. The tubing containing the cold gas is in the inside of the refrigerator, making it cold, and cooling the food.An air conditioner works in a similar way. The evaporator is in the unit inside the house and the compressor is outside. Because of the work put into the compressor heat is removed from the air inside the house and transferred to the outside air. The diagram below shows work and heat flows in a refrigerator or air conditioner.
What are the environmental impacts of refrigerants?The first home refrigerators used ammonia as a refrigerant, but ammonia is toxic. In the 1930s a chemical called Freon™ was first developed by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Freon™ is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). If Freon™ escapes, it carries chlorine atoms to the upper atmosphere. There, ultraviolet radiation from the sun separates one of the chlorine atoms from the CFC. That atom converts ozone back to oxygen, contributing to the destruction of the ozone layer, an essential barrier against harmful ultraviolet sunlight.
Freon’s™ destructive nature has been known since the 1970s, but it was not until the early 1990s that legislation was implemented banning the use of Freon™ in new air conditioners and refrigerators. It has been estimated that in 2002 there was six million tons of Freon in existing products. Unfortunately, when the chlorine destroys an ozone molecule, the chlorine is not destroyed, but instead continues to live for a while destroying more ozone. In fact, more Freon™ is still headed toward the upper limits of the atmosphere, for it can take several years for Freon to reach such elevations.
After laws were passed banning Freon™, DuPont and other corporations have since developed replacements for Freon™ that replace the chlorine atoms with hydrogen atoms. These substances do not harm the ozone layer and are used today in refrigerators, air conditioners, and aerosol cans.
What was the social importance of using less harmful refrigerants?Freon™ and other chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) posed a global environmental health threat in the late 20th century that was caused by humans. When governments worldwide worked together to require the use of new, less harmful refrigerants, the threat was greatly reduced. Today, the loss of stratospheric ozone has been brought under control. The successful restoration of the ozone layer serves as an important example of how all of the world's nations can come together to solve large, global environmental issues.
Table of Contents
About the AuthorAcknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Physics Fundamentals
2. Motion and Force
3. Momentum and Energy
4. Fluids
5. Thermodynamics
6. Waves
7. Light and Optics
8. Electricity and Magnetism
9. Atomic and Quantum Physics
10. Physics Frontiers
Bibliography
Glossary Index