Chapter one starts out by discussing objects and properties. It states that physical science is concerned with making sense out of the physical environment. The early stages are called, “search for sense”. This typically involve objects in the environment and things that can be seen or touched. This particular start of the chapter also talks about concept and how it is formed at an early age in life.
Concepts can involve physical objects as well as intangibles like time, motion, and relationship between events. All of these things are stored in the brain and are used throughout our life to represent all sorts of concepts. Properties is defined as the assets or attributes that when taken together are unusual to an object. All properties suggests
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Mass uses the standard unit of the kilogram which is defined as the mass of a certain metal cylinder, which is kept by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The standard unit for length is the meter which is defined as the distance that light travels in a vacuum during a certain time period. Time’s standard unit is the second. The second was initially defined as 1/86,400 of a solar day (1/60 X 1/60 X 1/24).
Because of the fact that Earth’s spin was found not to be as constant as thought the old definition of one second had to be revised. This new definition is based on a high precision atomic clock. The metric system uses prefixes that represent large and small amounts by factors of ten. The understandings of the measurements are broken down by data, which is measurement information that is used to describe something. Next is ratios and generalizations.
Ratios are defined as a relationship between two numbers which is obtained when one number is divided by another number. After the data is simplified thru ratios you can then generalize what the information says. The chapter then discusses the density ratio which is the simplified way of comparing the mass of a volume. Finding the ratio of mass to volume is called density. It goes on to discuss symbols and equations. Symbols are used to provide a clue about which quantity they
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The chapter then talks about how to solve problems. This is done using an 8 step process. These are 1.) Read the problem. 2.) Inspect the list if variables and unknown. 3.) Solve for the variable if necessary. 4.) Convert unlike units if necessary. 5.) Substitute the number value and unit for each symbol in the equation. 6.) Do the indicated math operations. 7.) Ask if the number seems reasonable for the question that is being asked. 8.) Draw a box around your answer.
The nest thing that is discussed is the nature of science. Being curious and wanting to know more about your surroundings plays a role in this concept. We also learn about the scientific method which is observe, propose and explanation, use the explanation to predict, test predictions, modify explanation, and return to use the explanation to predict. Explanations and investigations are next. Explanations go by various names which depends on the intended use or stage of