Basic physics concepts every student needs to master

Physics is a branch of natural science that aims to describe how things function around us, from the movement of the small building blocks of things to the movement of people, spaceships and cars. Everything around us operates under the laws of physics. Physics uses the tested and confirmed scientific methods to uncover the principles that govern energy and matter. This branch of natural science assumes that there certain laws that govern the functioning of the universe, and these laws are partially understood by man. It is also commonly believed that these laws can effectively be used to predict the future of the universe if the right and complete information about the current state of matter and energy was available.

The matter is considered as anything that possesses mass and volume. Many basic concepts involve the study of classical physics which involves the laws and theories that reliably explains matter and its motion. For example, the law of mass conservation states that mass cannot be created or destroyed. Further calculations and experiments in physics take account of this law when formulating a hypothesis which tries to explain certain natural phenomena. The laws of nature help us describe how the universe around us works. They are human rules that underlie the rules followed by natural processes. Although the laws of nature are not explanations, they are intrinsic. No human created them, and no human can either change them. As a human, our only power is that we can only discover and try to understand them. The only cornerstone of discovering these laws is by observation. One rule remains, Science must only describe them as they are but not the way we imagine them to be.

There is no absolute certainty in law since it is impossible to perform these experiments in all scenarios without exception. Due to this reason, all physicists operate under the condition that all these laws are varied till a counterexample is observed. In case a good and verifiable experiment is conducted and contradicts the prior-established law, then the well-established law will either be modified or overthrown completely.

Definition of key terms: Model, Theory and Law

In colloquial usage, the terms theory, model and law are usually used interchangeably, or they have a different meaning unlike how they are used in science. About their usage in Physics, these terms have their meaning.