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WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Section 1: Atoms Atoms are like the Legos of all matter. All matter is built from atoms. Atoms have different types like the Legos have different colors and shapes.

Here are some understatements:

1. Atoms are really small. It is difficult for us to comprehend just how small atoms are, but comparisons are a good way to get close to understanding!

2. There are a lot of atoms. There are 1023 atoms in a thimbleful of water. And because it is difficult for us to understand just how large a number 1023 is, there are less than 1023 drops of water in all the lakes and rivers of the world.

3. Atoms are really old. Every single atom in your body — the calcium in your bones, the carbon in your genes, the iron in your blood — was created in a star billions of years ago. Hydrogen and one or two of the next lightest elements were formed even earlier, shortly after the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago.

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ATOMS, THE PERIODIC TABLE, AND CHEMICAL BONDING

An atom is as much smaller than

you as you are smaller than the

average star!

COURSE NOTES - PART 1

=

We are all made of stars!

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Atoms are formed by three main subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The center of the atom is called the nucleus.

Protons have a positive electric charge, are relatively large subatomic particles (1.673 x 10-24 kg) and are approximately the same size as neutrons and much larger than electrons. They are found in the center of the atom in the nucleus. The number of protons in the atom determines the name of the atom.

For example: 6-proton atom = Carbon atom

7-proton atom = Nitrogen atom 8-proton atom = Oxygen atom

Neutrons have no electric charge, are approximately the same size (1.675 x 10-24 kg) as protons and are much larger than electrons. They are found in the center of the atom in the nucleus. The number of neutrons in the atom determines the isotope of an atom. Isotopes of an element are atoms of the same element (i.e., Carbon, C) with different numbers of neutrons (C11, C12, C13, C14). C12 is the most common with 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Isotopes help determine the age of decaying organic compounds through carbon dating.

Electrons have a negative electric charge. They are the smallest of the three particles (9.109 x 10-31 kg). The number of electrons relative to the number of protons gives the electric charge of the atom. Ions are electrically charged atoms because of extra or missing electrons.

Electrons > Protons - Negative Ion Electrons < Protons - Positive Ion

Electrons = Protons - Neutral Atom

Electrons are found in energy levels (shells) orbiting the nucleus.

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Important Names: Richard

Feynman, Noble Prize winning

physicist

“If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the

next generations of creatures, what statement

would contain the most information? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or

the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all

things are made of atoms— little particles that move

around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when

they are a little distance apart, but repelling each

other upon being squeezed into one another. In that one

sentence…there is an enormous amount of information about the

world.”

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Substances consisting of atoms having the same number of protons are elements.

Substances built with multiple types of atoms are compounds. There are organic compounds (with carbon atoms) like methane and inorganic compounds like salt.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the lightest element and has the smallest atom. It is the most abundant element in the universe. Stars are mainly composed by Hydrogen. It reacts very easily. Most Hydrogen atoms have only a proton and no neutron in the nucleus. Hydrogen isotopes have a single proton and one, two, or three neutrons.

Helium Helium, the first of the noble gases, has never reacted with another substance, and has never been anything but a pure element. It is very abundant in the sun. It is the second most abundant element in the universe.

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Gold Atoms Gold (Element)

Sodium and Chlorine Atoms Salt (Compound)

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Section 2: The Periodic Table The Periodic Table is a chart that organizes the elements by the configuration of electrons in an atom

of that element.

Every position and number on the periodic table tells us something about the properties of that element.

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Elements with a full outer most shell, so they do not react with other elements under normal conditions.

Some of the most energetic and reactive gases that we know about, because they need only one electron to fill their outer most shell. All of the halogens form acids when combined with hydrogen, and they all are toxic.

Elements that only have one electron in their outer most shell and are very reactive. Instead of rusting or corroding, they can spontaneously combust in air or water.

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Section 3: Chemical Bonding

Atoms fill their inner, lower energy levels as full as possible with their own electrons. Then they either share, or steal electrons to secure the right number in the outermost shell. This is called chemical bonding.

Chemical bonds are formed between atoms by transferring or sharing electrons.

Bonds where atoms share electrons are called covalent bonds. Covalent bonds occur between non- metal atoms.

Bonds where the electrons move freely around the atoms are called metallic bonds. Metallic bonds are formed between metal atoms.

Bonds where atoms transfer electrons from one atom to another are called ionic bonds.

Molecules are individual groupings of atoms. The phase of a substance is defined by the relationship between molecules.

Gases have widely spaced molecules that move relative to each other.

Liquids have closely packed molecules that move relative to each other.

Solids have closely packed molecules that mostly stay in position.

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WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

When heat energy is added to a substance, that substance’s temperature rises or that substance changes its phase. Phase changes occur at specific temperatures, and during a phase change, the temperature stays constant, as indicated in the graph (right).

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Nuclear Fission Nuclear fission is defined as the process where a heavy nucleus (like Uranium-235) splits into two medium-sized nuclei and any other remnants with the simultaneous release of large amounts of energy.

A typical example of induced fission is given by the absorption of thermal neutrons by Uranium-235.

The sum of the masses of the resulting nuclei is less than the mass of the original nucleus (about 0.1% less). The difference in mass is transformed into energy according to Einstein:

E = △mc2

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Section 4: Temperature and Heat The temperature of a substance is a measure of the average translational kinetic energy of the molecular motion in that substance.

Heat is the molecular energy of motion transferred from hotter objects to cooler objects. The temperature of an object in contact with a hotter object rises because heat flows from higher to lower temperatures.

The specific heat is a material property that links the concepts of temperature and heat. The specific heat of a substance is defined as the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a unit mass of that substance by one degree.

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TEMPERATURE, HEAT, AND CONSERVATION

LAWS

COURSE NOTES - PART 2

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Materials with higher specific heat require more heat energy to increase their temperature. The following table shows the specific heats of some common substances in Joules/(kg·K).

Note the relatively high specific heat value of water. This means that it takes a lot of heat energy in order to increase the temperature of water. This is why your pool will stay cool in the summertime, but the pavement around it will heat up to unbearable temperatures!

Section 5: Conservation of Mass and Energy The law of conservation of mass states that in an ordinary chemical reaction, mass is neither created nor destroyed.

For example, when burning logs in a fireplace, the mass of the wood plus the mass of burnt oxygen is equal to the mass of the ashes plus the mass of the gases released.

The law of conservation of energy (as discussed in Week 1) states that the energy of an isolated system is constant. Thus, like mass, energy is neither created nor destroyed but changes form. For

example, you pay the electric company for electric potential energy. The various devices in your home can then convert this potential energy into various forms of heat, light, and kinetic energies.

Einstein unified these two conservation laws by showing the equivalence of mass and energy with his famous equation:

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E = mc2

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Heat engines are systems which convert heat energy into mechanical energy in order to do work. Conservation of energy must be obeyed and so heat energy added must equal to work done by the engine plus heat energy wasted. The efficiency of an engine is the fraction of energy that is used to do work out of the initial heat energy added:

This fraction can never be equal to one (100% efficient). Furthermore, it is not possible to build engines with efficiency larger than what is known as their Carnot efficiency. Automobile engines have efficiencies of roughly 20% or less and a Carnot efficiency of about 37%. An automobile operating near the Carnot efficiency would get maximum possible gas mileage, but would have a maximum speed less than your walking speed.

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η = W Qh

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Section 6: Density and Pressure The density of a substance is the average amount of matter in a fixed volume.

Mathematically, density is the mass of an object divided by the three-dimensional volume of that object. Volume can be solid having length, width, and height, or liquid capacity such as liters, ounces, or gallons. The equation for density is the mass of an object divided by its volume. Since mass is usually given in kilograms and volume in cubic meters, the typical units of mass density is kilograms per cubic meter.

Units of a calculation are words given as abbreviations that pair with the number we calculate. Since mass and volume are written as fraction, their units bust be also. The units of density below are read, “kilograms per cubic meter”. When a unit has a 3 as an exponent, it is preceded by “cubic”.

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DENSITY, PRESSURE, AND BUOYANCY

COURSE NOTES - PART 3

ρ = m V

⍴ = density (kg/m3) m = mass (kg) V = volume (m3)

Why does Diet Pepsi float?

The Regular Pepsi’s weight must be greater than the

buoyant force in order for it to sink.

In other words, the density of Regular Pepsi must be

greater than that of water.

The density of Diet Pepsi must be less than that of

water.

The density of water is 1000 kg/m3.

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

The pressure exerted on an object is equal to the amount of force equally distributed upon each square unit of surface area.

Surface area is a sheet of fabric that comprises the outer or inner skin of an object (metal, cloth, plastic, etc.) that is measured in squared units. A squared unit is a virtual square that has a base equal to its height. When the length of the base is multiplied by the height, the result will always be one squared unit. To compute surface area, we estimate how many individual 1-meter squares it would take to completely cover an object. When a 2 is placed on the unit as an exponent, it is preceded by “square”. Note the alternate forms of “one square meter”.

Now that we understand what surface area is in words, let’s explore the meaning in pictures. The tabletop below has a surface area of 12 square meters.

If we calculate the surface are of just the top of this table, we will get (2 meters x 6 meters) = 12 square meters.

To calculate pressure (in Pascals, or N/m2), we divide the force (in Newtons) by the surface area over which that force is applied. When we calculate pressure, it is assumed that the force is equally distributed where the objects come into solid contact.

Example:

A small block sits atop the large block and has a contact area of 0.5 square meters and a weight of 2 Newtons. How much pressure is the smaller block exerting on the surface of the larger block?

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P = F A

P = Pressure (Pa) F = Force (N) A = Area (m2)

P = F A

P = 2 N

0.5 m 2

P = 4 N m 2

or 4 Pa

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

This is the basic idea behind hydraulic systems, like the brakes in your car or hydraulic lifts. When there is an increase in pressure at any point in a confined, incompressible fluid, there is an equal increase at every other point in the container. We can express this mathematically:

Example:

You have a closed hydraulic system. If the force on the right is 200 N and the area on the right is 5 m2, and the area on the left is 20 m2, what is the force on the left?

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P1 = P2 F1 A1 = F2 A2

P = Pressure (Pa) F = Force (N) A = Area (m2)

P1 = P2 F1 A1 = F2 A2

200 N 5 m 2

= F2

20 m 2

(200 N)(20 m 2 ) = (5 m 2 )(F2 ) 4000 N ⋅ m 2 = (5 m 2 )(F2 )

F2 = 800 N

Cross-multiply.

This means that applying a force of 200 N over the piston with an area of 5 square

meters will result in a force of 800 N over the 20 square meter piston. Though the pressure

is the same throughout the system, it is exerted over a much larger area, giving a multiplication of force on the second side.

Pascal’s Principle states that a change in pressure at any point in an enclosed fluid at rest is transmitted undiminished to all points in the fluid.

WEEK 2 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Buoyancy or buoyant force is the force pushing on a submerged object from greater pressure to lower pressure. It is an upward force

exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an immersed object. Pressure will increase with depth as a result of the weight of the fluid above the object.

When a rigid object is submerged in a fluid (fully or partially), an upward force is exerted on the object that is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. If the weight of the water displaced is less than the weight of the object, the object will sink. Otherwise, the object will float, with the weight of the water displaced equal to or greater than the weight of the object.

The amount of fluid entering one end of a pipe must also exit the opposite end of that pipe even if the cross-sectional area is different on each end. As the area decreases, the amount of fluid must still be allowed to exit the smaller end as entered the larger end. In order to accommodate this, the adverse pressure opposing the fluid at the narrow end must decrease to allow the fluid exiting that end to

speed up so as to accommodate the fluid entering the larger end.

Because the volume of water flowing through a pipe of different cross-sectional areas (A) remains constant, speed of flow (v) is high where the area is small and low where the area is large. This is stated in the equation of continuity:

Since A1 is larger than A2, in order for the products to equal, v2 must always be larger than v1, this ensures the amount of fluid entering the larger end of the pipe also exits the smaller end. This condition is known as continuity.

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Archimedes’ Principle

Buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced and independent of the shape of the object.

Bernoulli’s Principle

An increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure.

A1v1 = A2v2