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Nuclear Physics -
branch of science
traditionally defined as the
study of MATTER,
ENERGY, and the relation
between them. Physics
today may be loosely
divided into classical
physics and modern
physics. Classical physics
includes the traditional
branches that were
recognized and fairly well
developed before the
beginning of the 20th
cent.:MECHANICS (the
study of MOTION and the
FORCES that cause it),
ACOUSTICS (the study of
SOUND), OPTICS (the
study of LIGHT),
THERMODYNAMICS (the
study of the relationships
between HEAT and other
forms of energy), and
ELECTRICITY and
MAGNETISM.
Most of
classical physics is
concerned with matter and
energy on the normal scale
of observation. By contrast,
much of modern physics is
concerned with the behavior
of matter and energy under
extreme conditions or on
the very small scale. On the
very small scale, and for
rapidly moving objects,
ordinary, commonsense
notions of space, time,
matter, and energy are no
longer valid, and two chief
theories of modern physics
present a different picture of
these concepts from that
presented by classical
physics. Quantum
mechanics is concerned
with the discrete, rather
than the continuous, nature
of many phenomena at the
atomic and subatomic level,
and with the complementary
aspects of particles and
waves in the description of
such phenomena.
The
theory of RELATIVITY is
concerned with the
description of phenomena
that take place in a frame of
reference that is in motion
with respect to an observer.
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