INTRO TO SCIENCE

INTRO TO SCIENCE

Updated 6/21/03
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PEOPLE STUDY SCIENCE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. THEY WANT TO FIND OUT HOW THINGS WORK; TO UNDERSTAND CURRENT EVENTS; TO OBTAIN OR MAINTAIN A JOB (20% OF NEWLY CREATED JOBS ARE SCIENCE RELATED); OR JUST TO SATISFY THEIR OWN CURIOSITY.

SOME OF THE SCIENCE RELATED CURRENT EVENT TOPICS INCLUDE:
a] HEALTH--DISEASE, DIAGNOSTICS, TREATMENTS.
b] EARTH SCIENCE--WEATHER, HURRICANES, TORNADOS, QUAKES, VOLCANOS.
c] ECOLOGY--POLLUTION, FOOD PRODUCTION/POPULATION EXPLOSION.
d] CONSUMER PRODUCTS--AUTOS, ELECTRONICS, APPLIANCES.
e] GOVERNMENT SPENDING--SPACE, ARMS, & HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRAMS.
A SPIN-OFF IS AN INDUSTRY CREATED BY GOVERNMENT RESEARCH PROGRAMS. THESE NEW INDUSTRIES GENERATE TAXES FOR NEW RESEARCH. THERE ARE 30,000 SPIN-OFF INDUSTRIES SPAWNED BY THE INFORMATION GENERATED FROM THE LAST 30 YEARS OF SPACE RESEARCH. MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI), AUTOMATIC PILOTS, COMPUTERS, INSULIN INFUSION PUMPS, & FLAME RESISTANT CLOTHING, WERE ALL CREATED AS A RESULT OF SPACE RESEARCH. THE TAXES FROM THESE INDUSTRIES HAVE PAID FOR THE SPACE PROGRAM.

WHAT SCIENTISTS DO SHOULD NOT BE A MYSTERY. THEY ADVANCE MAN'S KNOWLEDGE BY CREATING AND TESTING MODELS. THEY USE 3 BASIC METHODS ALONG WITH IMAGINATION AND LUCK. BELOW EACH METHOD IS PAIRED WITH A SCIENTIST(S) WHOSE WORK BEST EXEMPLIFIES THAT METHOD.

a] OBSERVATION & REASON WAS USED BY DARWIN (EVOLUTION), ARISTOTLE (MODEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM), LYELL (GEOLOGY), AND OTHERS.
b] EXPERIMENTATION WAS USED BY GALILEO (LAWS OF MOTION)
c] TRIAL & ERROR WAS BEST EXEMPLIFIED BY EDISON WHO TRIED 5000 FILAMENTS BEFORE HE FOUND ONE THAT WOULD NOT BURN OUT.
d] LUCK WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE DISCOVERY OF ELECTROMAGNETISM, PENICILLIN, SACCHARIN, DYNAMITE, QUININE, RADIOACTIVITY, TEFLON, X-RAYS, etc.
e] IMAGINATION IS USED BY ALL.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS OFTEN DESCRIBED IN TEXT BOOKS AS FOLLOWS:
a] PROBLEM; b] HYPOTHESIZE A SOLUTION; c] PREDICT AN OUTCOME;
d] RUN AN EXPERIMENT TO TEST YOUR PREDICTION; AND
e] ANALYZE THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS--THIS USUALLY LEADS BACK TO A NEW HYPOTHESIS AND SOMETIMES EVEN A NEW PROBLEM.

IN REALITY SCIENTISTS OFTEN DON'T WORK IN SUCH A LOCK STEP FASHION.
WHILE THERE IS NO SINGLE "SCIENTIFIC METHOD", THERE ARE COMMON METHODS USED BY ALL SCIENTISTS. THEY USE AN ORGANIZED APPROACH, GOOD RECORD KEEPING, CREATIVITY, TRIAL & ERROR, AND OFTEN WORK IN GROUPS, WHERE PEOPLE COLLABORATE WITH ONE ANOTHER. THE SUCCESS OF SCIENCE HAS MORE TO DUE WITH THE SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE THAN ANY PARTICULAR METHOD. THAT ATTITUDE IS, IF THE DATA CONTRADICTS THE THEORY, THE THEORY MUST CHANGE, NEVER THE DATA. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT MAKES THE WHOLE PROCESS SELF CORRECTING AND THEREFORE, BELIEVABLE.

STUDENTS ARE OFTEN CONFUSED BY SOME OF THE VOCABULARY. TO ELIMINATE THIS CONFUSION HERE IS A SHORT LIST.
      LAW--A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBSERVED FACTS, WITHOUT AN EXPLANATION.
THE CONSERVATION LAWS: MASS, ENERGY, & CHARGE CANNOT BE CREATED NOR DESTROYED.   THIS RELATIONSHIP CAN OFTEN BE EXPRESSED AS AN EQUATION. FOR EXAMPLE: THE VOLUME OF A GAS IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRESSURE:
V = k/P. A LAW CANNOT BE PROVEN TRUE. IF AFTER MANY TESTS IT IS NOT PROVEN FALSE, IT IS ACCEPTED AS TRUE.    OVER

THEORY--A TESTED EXPLANATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS, PREDICTION, & EXPERIMENTAL OUTCOME.
HYPOTHESIS--AN UNTESTED EDUCATED GUESS. FOR A HYPOTHESIS TO BE SCIENTIFIC, IT MUST BE TESTABLE--THERE MUST BE A MEANS OF PROVING IT WRONG. OFTEN YOU HEAR THE PHRASE, "BUT THAT'S ONLY A THEORY"? THEY ARE CONFUSING THEORY [BASED ON FACTS] WITH HYPOTHESIS--A GUESS.

THERE IS EVEN CONFUSION OVER THE WORD FACT! SOME FACTS, e.g., DREAMS, VALUES, HOPES, WANTS ARE IMPORTANT BUT NOT "SCIENTIFIC". THAT IS, NOT AMENABLE TO VERIFICATION. A SCIENTIFIC FACT IS A FACT THAT CAN BE OBSERVED BY ANYONE. SOMETIMES, SCIENTIFIC FACTS CHANGE AS NEW INSTRUMENTS ARE DEVELOPED AND MORE ACCURATE OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE MICROSCOPE LEAD TO THE DISCOVERY OF GERMS/BACTERIA.

ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I OFTEN GET IS WHY SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON MATH? MATH MAKES THE HYPOTHESES & PREDICTIONS UNAMBIGUOUS OR MORE PRECISE.
EX: AS PRESSURE ON A GAS INCREASES THE VOLUME DECREASES.
VERSUS THE MORE PRECISE VOL = 62.4/PRESSURE

SINCE SCIENTISTS ADVANCE MAN'S KNOWLEDGE BY CREATING AND TESTING MODELS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT A MODEL IS. A MODEL IS A REPRESENTATION OF SOME OR ALL THE PROPERTIES OF A DEVICE, SYSTEM, OR OBJECT. NOTE, THE DEFINITION SAYS SOME OR ALL THE PROPERTIES. PLASTIC AIRPLANE MODELS OFTEN REPRESENT THE PLANE'S GEOMETRY BUT FAIL TO REPRESENT THE POWER OF THE ENGINE. THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF MODELS:
      1      PHYSICAL--DAMS, SHIPS, PLANES, & BUILDINGS
      2      MATHEMATICAL--PROCEDURES (TAXES), EQUATIONS
      3      LOGICAL--CAUSE & EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS--THE SUN RISES & SETS
            BECAUSE THE EARTH ROTATES ON ITS AXIS;
      4      SIMULATORS--ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS, & FLUID OR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS--
            PLANETARIUMS, FLIGHT SIMULATORS, VIRTUAL REALITY.
[DEMO]. ISAAC NEWTON'S LAW OF RATIO'S IS IMPORTANT. IT STATES: "A MODEL WILL PREDICT THE BEHAVIOR OF AN OBJECT WITH ALL THE SAME RELEVANT RATIOS." THAT IS A PLASTIC AIRPLANE MODEL WILL PREDICT THE BEHAVIOR OF A SIMILAR OBJECT (NO ENGINE). IT IS LACKING THE POWER/WEIGHT AND WEIGHT/WING AREA RATIOS (AT LEAST).

BECAUSE MATHEMATICAL MODELS ALLOW PRECISE PREDICTION OF OUTCOMES THEY ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT. WE WILL FOCUS ON FIVE TYPES OF VARIATION:
DIRECT: IF X DOUBLES THEN Y DOUBLES: Y = mX + b
PRESSURE INCREASES [DECREASES] AS TEMP INCREASES [DECREASES]: P = kT
INVERSE: IF X DOUBLES THEN Y DIVIDES BY 2: Y = a/X
GAS VOL DECREASES AS PRESSURE INCREASES: V = k/P
SQUARE: IF X DOUBLES (2x) THEN Y QUADRUPLES (4x): Y = aX2
IF SPEED DOUBLES (2x) THEN KINETIC ENERGY QUADRUPLES (4x)
SQUARE ROOT: IF X QUADRUPLES THEN Y DOUBLES: Y = A\/X
EXPONENTIAL: AS X INCREASES BY 1, Y DOUBLES; Y = 2X
THE WORLDS POPULATION DOUBLES EVERY 50 YEARS. BACTERIA IN A SPONGE DOUBLE EVERY 20 MIN, CHINA'S DEMAND FOR OIL DOUBLES EVERY 10 YEARS.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE IS THE STUDY OF CHEMISTRY & PHYSICS. IN BRIEF, CHEMISTRY IS THE STUDY OF MATTER; WHILE PHYSICS IS THE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATTER & ENERGY. THE DISTINCTION WILL BECOME CLEAR AS WE PROGRESS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE YEAR.

1] What is a law?
A cause and effect relationship, without an explanation.

2] What is an hypothesis?
An educated guess about a cause and effect relationship.

3] How does an hypothesis become a law?
If, after many tests, no one can demonstrate the hypothesis incorrect it is accepted as a law.

4] State and example of a law and how it was proven incorrect.
#1--The law of gravity once was: "Whatever goes up must come down."
Newton developed a theory that predicted the measured orbits of the planets which are up and don't come down. His law is: Fg = GM1M2/d²

#2: The Law of Conservation of Mass & Energy once was: "Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed." They investigated nuclear reactions and found the E = mc² , or The energy created in a nuclear reaction = the mass destroyed x speed of light squared.

5] Define and give an example of a theory.
A theory is an explanation for a cause and effect relationship.
Ex #1: Kinetic Theory of Gases: pressure is caused by perfectly elastic collisions of gas molecules with the container walls.
Ex #2: Theory of Evolution: complex organisms develop from simpler ones.
Ex #3: Spontaneous Generation: flies emerge spontaneously (without outside aid) from rotting meat.