We explain to you what is the relationship of physics with other sciences, what disciplines generates that relationship and the characteristics of each one.
What is the relationship of physics with other sciences?
As with many other Sciences, the physical It encompasses a vast and complex field of study, the boundaries of which are not always perfectly delimited, and this allows it to often be closely linked or linked with other neighboring sciences. In this way, new disciplines and new fields of knowledge are founded, in which the scientific tools of all the disciplines involved are often used.
Of course, these imprecise margins between the sciences are not new, especially when we consider how recent the current division of the sciences is. If we go back in time to earlier times, we will notice that many fields of study are grouped under more generic names such as "natural Science"," Natural philosophy "or, long before, simply,"philosophy”.
Physics (from the Greek phisikós, that is, “linked to the nature”), Despite being one of the oldest scientific disciplines, does not escape this phenomenon.
Today we understand physics as the study of the fundamental laws that govern the universe. To do this, physics itself makes use of the formal language of math and of the methods from thought of the logic, which allow you to express the relationships between forces, the Energy and the matter in universal terms.
But, at the same time, physics provides significant contributions to other areas of knowledge and collaborates in narrow terms with other sciences, giving rise to the disciplines that we know as:
- Physical chemistry. It provides a look at matter and energy at the same time, and is located in the common space between chemistry and physics. In general, it applies physics' own systems models to molecules Y substances which constitute the field of study of chemistry.
- Astrophysics. While the astronomy can be considered a branch of physics, astrophysics is the fruit of the collaboration of both knowledge, insofar as they try to understand the laws that govern the stars, that is, to the universe outside our planet. Astrophysics is an immensely wide field, in which there is room for questions regarding the origin and evolution of the stars, gravitational forces or even the origin of the universe.
- Biophysics. Fruit of the collaboration between physics and biology, this discipline uses the instruments of physics to study the living creatures, and allows the design of mechanisms and instruments to better understand the forces acting inside plants Y animals. Biomechanics, the physics of hearing and molecular motors are examples of the application of this field to the understanding of the functioning of living bodies.
- Geophysics. Understood as the study of planet Earth from the point of view of physics, that is, of the collaboration of the latter with the geology, this discipline is interested in the set of forces and thermodynamic processes that exist and existed on our planet, and that explain the geological phenomena it undergoes.
- Tectonophysics. It is a subdiscipline of geophysics, specialized in the study of the tectonic dynamics of the Earth's subsoil, such as continental formation, topographic features or earthquakes.
At the same time, physics has close links with other fields of knowledge, without necessarily establishing disciplines with proper names, as is the case with:
- Meteorology and climate science. These disciplines study the atmosphere terrestrial using tools and physical knowledge to study the complex processes that generate the climate. Thus, it is possible to understand the atmosphere as a physical system whose behavior can be described and, to a certain extent, predicted.
- Telecommunications. Perhaps this is the field of knowledge whose collaboration with physics is most important today. The possibility of communication remotely, from the days of the telegraph to remote controls, networks Wifi and satellite transmissions are the result of dozens of years of research in the field of physics, in particular, the propagation of electromagnetic waves.
- engineering. The collaboration between physics and the different engineering companies is so intense and extensive that engineering could be understood as a form of physics applied to solving everyday problems. From the design of engines, vehicles and tools, to the use of the electromagnetism and obtaining energy, everything is possible thanks to the knowledge of physics, the understanding of natural forces, and their use).
- Oceanography. This discipline inherits from physics the description of the flow of the great masses of water on the planet, its impact on the atmosphere and on geological dynamics.
- Orthopedics. This branch of medicine is dedicated to solving certain physical difficulties of humans through prosthetic solutions, it owes much to physics, especially to the branches dedicated to the study of sound and light waves. Thanks to this knowledge, the first instruments to improve hearing and vision emerged. Without the knowledge of optics, for example, magnifying glasses would be impossible, as would telescopes Y microscopes, tools that played a key role in the Scientific revolution modern and in the explosion of knowledge of the other natural sciences.