Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
“It is more important to have beauty in the equations of physics than to have them agree with experiments”. The great British physicist P. A. M. Dirac held this view. Criticize this statement. Look out for some equations and results in this book which strike you as beautiful.
Advertisements
Solution 1
An equation which agrees with experiment must also be simple and hence beautiful. We have some simple and beautiful equations in Physics such as
- E = mc2 (Energy of light)
- E = hv (Energy of a photon)
- KE = 1/2mv2(Kinetic energy of a moving particle)
- PE = mgh (Potential energy of a body at rest)
- W = F.d (Work done)
All have the same dimensions. One experiment shows dependency of energy on speed, the other shows dependency on frequency & displacement. That's the beauty of equations in Physics coming from different experiments.
Solution 2
Generally it is considered that physics is a dry subject and its main aim is to give qualitative and quantitative treatment i.e., any derived relation or equation must be verified through experimentation. It is felt that truth of an equation is more important than the simplicity, wonderfulness, symmetry or beauty of the equation. But frankly, if a relation is true to experimentation and simultaneously it is simple, interesting, symmetrical, wonderful or beautiful, it will certainly add to the charm of the relation.
RELATED QUESTIONS
“Politics is the art of the possible”. Similarly, “Science is the art of the soluble”. Explain this beautiful aphorism on the nature and practice of science.
What are the dimensions of volume of a cube of edge a.
What are the dimensions of volume of a sphere of radius a?
Find the dimensions of pressure.
Find the dimensions of
(a) angular speed ω,
(b) angular acceleration α,
(c) torque τ and
(d) moment of interia I.
Some of the equations involving these quantities are \[\omega = \frac{\theta_2 - \theta_1}{t_2 - t_1}, \alpha = \frac{\omega_2 - \omega_1}{t_2 - t_1}, \tau = F . r \text{ and }I = m r^2\].
The symbols have standard meanings.
The height of mercury column in a barometer in a Calcutta laboratory was recorded to be 75 cm. Calculate this pressure in SI and CGS units using the following data : Specific gravity of mercury = \[13 \cdot 6\] , Density of \[\text{ water} = {10}^3 kg/ m^3 , g = 9 \cdot 8 m/ s^2\] at Calcutta. Pressure
= hpg in usual symbols.
Let x and a stand for distance. Is
\[\int\frac{dx}{\sqrt{a^2 - x^2}} = \frac{1}{a} \sin^{- 1} \frac{a}{x}\] dimensionally correct?
Can a vector have zero component along a line and still have nonzero magnitude?
Is the vector sum of the unit vectors \[\vec{i}\] and \[\vec{i}\] a unit vector? If no, can you multiply this sum by a scalar number to get a unit vector?
A vector \[\vec{A}\] points vertically upward and \[\vec{B}\] points towards the north. The vector product \[\vec{A} \times \vec{B}\] is
The component of a vector is
The radius of a circle is stated as 2.12 cm. Its area should be written as
The magnitude of the vector product of two vectors \[\left| \vec{A} \right|\] and \[\left| \vec{B} \right|\] may be
(a) greater than AB
(b) equal to AB
(c) less than AB
(d) equal to zero.
Add vectors \[\vec{A} , \vec{B} \text { and } \vec{C}\] each having magnitude of 100 unit and inclined to the X-axis at angles 45°, 135° and 315° respectively.
A carrom board (4 ft × 4 ft square) has the queen at the centre. The queen, hit by the striker moves to the from edge, rebounds and goes in the hole behind the striking line. Find the magnitude of displacement of the queen (a) from the centre to the front edge, (b) from the front edge to the hole and (c) from the centre to the hole.
A mosquito net over a 7 ft × 4 ft bed is 3 ft high. The net has a hole at one corner of the bed through which a mosquito enters the net. It flies and sits at the diagonally opposite upper corner of the net. (a) Find the magnitude of the displacement of the mosquito. (b) Taking the hole as the origin, the length of the bed as the X-axis, it width as the Y axis, and vertically up as the Z-axis, write the components of the displacement vector.
Let \[\vec{a} = 2 \vec{i} + 3 \vec{j} + 4 \vec{k} \text { and } \vec{b} = 3 \vec{i} + 4 \vec{j} + 5 \vec{k}\] Find the angle between them.
If \[\vec{A} , \vec{B} , \vec{C}\] are mutually perpendicular, show that \[\vec{C} \times \left( \vec{A} \times \vec{B} \right) = 0\] Is the converse true?
A curve is represented by y = sin x. If x is changed from \[\frac{\pi}{3}\text{ to }\frac{\pi}{3} + \frac{\pi}{100}\] , find approximately the change in y.
Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million km from the Earth. Its angular diameter is measured to be 35.72˝. Calculate the diameter of Jupiter.
