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70A Fall Midterm

Terms in this set (59)

Compare how different fields of science create and test hypothesis
Astronomy/Paleontology/Geology: Observational, observe irregularities Medicine/Math/Chem: Experimental science/Propose objective or question, make a prediction, then hypothesize, experiment or observe, hypothesis refuted? Make a new prediction and change the hypothesis, hypothesis reported, finalize results in conclusion and state how the supported conclusion supports the field at large (#2)
Describe the steps of the scientific process
OBJECTIVE (find and detect), HYPOTHESIS (math, model, qualitative description of phenomena known in a scientific field), PREDICTION (based on hypothesis to determine ideal ending to your experiment based on previous study or knowledge), EXPERIMENT/OBSERVATION (until verified or falsified), FALSIFIED HYPOTHESIS? Nearly correct? Patch hypothesis with small test, could reject almost correct hypothesis for something completely new, VERIFIED PREDICTION? Again and again= theory-> again and again and again with time and test? = LAW
Describe the relationship between the terms hypothesis, theory and law in science.
HYPOTHESIS: explain facts and phenomena THEORY (ex: : hypothesis that is supported again and again, LAW= theory that withstands time
What is the nature of 'truth' in science?
Truth is ever changing and subject to alternative hypothesis in/rebuttal in science-> must be generally assessed with critical scrutiny, what is truth today may be subject to a paradigm shift tomorrow
Explain how science is a community and self-corrects.
All progressive science is dependent upon previous research/study related to the field at large, each study builds upon the work of a previous study to contribute to discovery / PEER REVIEW/ REPLICATION TO HOPEFULLY ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULT
What is teleological thinking? What is "Whig History" and how is it teleological? Why is teleological thinking unproductive when studying nature or history?
Teleological thinking- (purpose of natural phenomena or historical event/EXPLAINING PROCESS BY OUTCOME/ASSUMES THAT THERE IS PURPOSE IN NATURE-> defining by result/purpose rather than causation) (ends justify the means) WH=TELEOLOGY APPLIED TO HISTORY (PERCEPTION OF PAST FROM FUTURE): IMPOSING THE PRESENT UPON THE PAST
What did Thomas Kuhn mean by a "paradigm shift"? What, for Kuhn, would qualify as such a shift? How did he think shifts came about? What sort of things might be confused with paradigm shifts, but would not have been so in Kuhn's view?
Kuhn argued that a paradigm shift is not a huge transformation/phenomenon in the wider lay public. It's a shift within a small community of technical experts. For example, the black body problem. It could not be answered by the existing paradigm so the paradigm needed to be changed. Huge transformations such as the Scientific Revolution might be confused with paradigm shifts but Kuhn disagrees because it's not a change within a small group of experts. -> once you see duck you can't unsee rabbit
What and when was the Copernican Revolution? Name three main actors associated with the Copernican Revolution. What was the fundamental paradigm shift at stake in this revolution?
Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus; the copernican Revolution replaced the geocentric model of the solar system with the heliocentric one. WHAT AND WHEN: 1583-> epistemologically proposed the earth revolved around the sun. SUN=CENTER
What is Newton's law of gravitation? What would be the Cartesian objection to it?
Newton's law of gravitation is that the force of attraction between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them; CARTESIAN=CAUSE-TESIAN-> criticized Newton for not having a cause and just making his law descriptive (do not confuse with acausality)
What was the Black Body Problem? What was Planck's treatment of it in 1900? How did the response
of Ehrenfest, Einstein, and Lorentz to Planck's treatment in 1906 embody both a Paradigm Shift and an
episode of Whig History?
The Blackbody Problem consisted of projecting resonators over energy/Planck believed in finite energy cells and Ehrenfest/Einstein/Lorenz conducted a paradigm shift in which quantized energy took precedence over Planck's hypothesis: let's not imagine excitation energy and absorption energy as continuous line-> imagine it as stepwise (quantum line), body absorbs quantums of energy-> photon-> electromagnetic wave=particle with energy according to frequency -> -> Planck's first example of quantization by theoretical paper community-> PLANCK: FINITE CELLS (DISCRETIZED, WASN"T UNTIL EINSTEIN THAT ENERGY WAS PORTRAYED IN QUANTA: DISCRETE MEASUREMENT OF LIGHT BASED ON RADIATION)-> Q: What the heck is the black body problem?: problem of understanding energy distribution across a surface/body that absorbs all wavelengths of light and reflects none What specifically did Planck, Einstein, Ehrenfest, and Lorenz have to say about it? How is it an example of whig history?: destiny as a means of history/ divides into good guys and bad guys -> antagonize Planck

REVIEW SESSION: PARADIGM SHIFT: TREATING LIGHT AS HAVING A PARTICULATE FORM, WHIG: PLANCK=EARLY QUANTIZATION/KUHN=FINITE CELLS, NOTHING IN DIFFERENT WAY-> WHIGS=PLANCK=PARADIGM SHIFT BUT NOT REALLY
When, where, and what was the Scientific Revolution? What were four features of it according to the
historian Steven Shapin?
The Scientific Revolution occurred in 17th century England, France, Germany, Italy (POWERS THAT FOUGHT IN WWII-> this enabled them to advance so rapidly to attain a level of satisfaction that they were capable of waging war; 4 FACTORS WERE: mechanization of nature/knowledge-making + depersonalization of knowledge making/belief in capacity of rational inquiry into nature to improve society / mechanization of nature/organization of knowledge making/depersonalization of knowledge making (KM= SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION) /belief of rational inquiry into nature to improve society-> rationality/process and "one for all" nature of knowledge making, and "step by stepping" nature A BUNCH OF PARADIGM SHIFTS, MOVING AWAY FROM TELEOLOGICAL THINKING
What was Thomas Hobbes's theory of the state? How did he justify the rule of a Monarch, and how did
this rule prevent a State of Nature and enforce the Social Contract? How did Hobbes characterize the
State of Nature? What was Hobbes's critique of Robert Boyle's experimental program?
Thomas Hobbes theory of the state-> we enter government to avoid the true nature of humanity (state of nature)-> "nasty, brutish, and short"

Justified monarch by saying he was the salient point of leadership that would enforce his will thereby bringing justice into society / prevent infringement of one individual upon a group or others

Critique of Robert Boyle: concealed the knowledge-making process (PERSONALIZED IT, WHICH WAS AGAINST THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION); rendered the potential for disagreement harder (more margin for disagreement on science, democracy lol), WANTED BOYLE TO USE MATHEMATICAL REASON BC EVERYONE KNEW WHAT THAT WAS-> providing unanimous decisions about how the world should be
Why is it historically inaccurate to perceive overwhelming European technological, military, and
economic dominance in global affairs before 1800 or so? What happened in the late 18th and early 19th century to transform Europe's relationship with the rest of the world? Why should we be careful about assigning "exceptional" qualities to episodes in European intellectual, political, and economic history before the events of the late 18th and early 19th centuries?
EUROCENTRISM IS BAD BC OTHER COUNTRIES WERE JUST AS ADVANCED: INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION RADICALLY MODERNIZED EUROPE
When we look at the sky by eye, we mostly see stars. Where are these stars located?
Stars are located in the Milky Way Galaxy
Discuss the relative sizes of the Earth, the sun, the Solar System, the Galaxy, the local group, the universe.
Earth: smallest unit, orbits around the sun

Sun: larger than earth; 8 planets in solar system revolve around this

Solar System: consists of sun and 8 planets in state of orbit; home to smaller moons/comets/asteroids

Galaxy: Milky Way Galaxy includes solar system and roughly 100 billion stars

Local group (gravitationally bound): Local group of universe includes the Andromeda galaxy + contains 20 smaller galaxies / 53 million light years away from Virgo cluster (QUESTION: RANK RELATIVE SIZE)

Virgo cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies- we're not bound to it. We live in a field(field galaxies) that form small groups like our local group. It's separate from us.
List the various motions that the Earth has as it careens through the universe.
MOTIONS OF EARTH: Q: List the various motions of earth as it careens through the solar system. -> constantly spinning-> 1 spin=1 day, revolving around the sun-> 1 revolution= 1 year/solar system moves through Milky Way, we're falling towards Andromeda, OTHERS: expansion of the universe (we are stationary and expanding with it)
What is the age of the Universe?
Age of universe: 14 billion years old, year now closer to approximately 13.8 billion light years->we know this from redshift (if you know distance and rate of expansion, you can rewind time to find time of origin)/ PLUS age of oldest stars
How does a vacuum cleaner suck up dirt?
Vacuum cleaner sucks up dirt by reducing the air pressure in the vacuum chamber so the air pressure from outside the vacuum chamber forces the dust/other particles into the chamber of the vacuum
What falling object did Newton use to verify the inverse square variation with distance of gravity?
Newton used the moon! to verify the inverse square variation with distance of gravity
What's an example of a gravitational "bond".
An example of a gravitational bond is the nature in the earth is tethered to its orbit around the sun/moon is bound to earth/our solar system to milky way/humans to earth (any time w gravity)
What object's orbit didn't quite match Newton's "Law of Gravitation" but was explained by the "Theory
of General Relativity"?
Mercury; it was tethered so much to the sun's gravitational pull that the inverse square law begins to break down (180 years worth of data) (processing from one orbit to next)
What hypotheses did Einstein put forward to apply special relativity findings to gravity (general relativity)?
Einstein's hypothesis: Perhaps gravity isn't a force at all! Established equivalence principle: no such observer can do a local experiment to determine if they are on earth (gravity) or in constant acceleration NEWTON: GRAVITY AS FORCE EINSTEIN: MASS THAT DISTORTS SPACE-TIME Q: Is the equivalence principle to only difference between Einstein's theory of relativity and Newton's law of gravity? YES!!!!
How would Einstein describe an orbit?
Einstein would describe an orbit as following a straight line in curved space-time, the earth is "falling" around the sun (INERTIAL OBJECT THAT DOESN'T KNOW IT'S FALLING)-> Explain Newton vs Einstein
Why did the distortion of a constellation by the sun during a total eclipse make Einstein famous?
Proved Einstein's theory that gravity is the force that distorts space-time and showed according effects (light bends even though it is massless) /newton says it's only between massive objects-> EINSTEIN'S HORSESHOE; also showed that gravity can bend light as well
Give an example of a truly inertial observer.. hint: you sitting in the chair are not one.
A truly inertial observer is someone in free fall or with no forces acting upon them, ex: astronaut far away from the gravity forces of the earth (but in orbit) (do a test with no force upon you)-> force creates acceleration that you can turn on and off
-An orbiting object is inertial
EINSTEIN: distortion is always present regardless of mass/ Newton: NEEDS MASS
At an atomic level (Bohr model), how is an emission line spectrum produced?
Electrons stay in discrete energy states and only emit/absorb photons when they change between one allowed state and another-> consistent with observations -> EX: electrons emit light spectra when they jump from one electron level to another -> only occurs when electrons jump down from a higher level to a lower level-> elements (electron jumping) have light emission signatures-> which create fingerprint in the emission line spectra (light passes through gases, if the atoms can absorb wavelength-> cause electrons to jump up higher level)
How is the energy of a photon related to its wavelength?
Energy-> wavelength: higher energy=higher frequencies=blue 450-490 nm (/ lower energy=lower frequencies=red nm 700-635 nm. (LONGER WAVELENGTH= LOWER ENERGY)
Inversely proportional to wavelength & directly proportional to frequency)
How is a continuous spectrum created?
Continuum spectra: "CONDUCTION ELECTRONS" (free in a metal-> can give up lots of energy or not) in compounds of various elements yield wider range of emissions, thereby showing continuum spectra, shell structure of Bohr model is interrupted-> wavelengths of transition in shifts-> wider range -> HAVE TO BE FREE FROM LITTLE TO A LOT
How does the light from an object allow us to determine what it's made of
Light from object determine what it's made of? -> Each element has an emission line spectra which displays which elements the object is made of thereby indicating the identity of the element/object that emits the light. By identifying which lines are produced by a sample, we can determine what elements are inside. All atoms emit-> different objects have different spectra
When and What was World War I? What were three key technologies that shaped the trajectory of the war? How did these technologies shape the trajectory of the war?
When/what WWI? 3 key techs shaped trajectory of war? 1914-1918: railways (timetables required 6 months or more to change-> when you commit to mobilization, you can't stop war), machine guns and trenches (allowed for the rapid attrition of people in trenches, imprisoned them in a cave constructed by their own inability to create peace), chemical warfare (once again imprisoned people and was a means to an ultimate end for anyone in the trenches)-> all contributed to the attrition of humanity during WWI-> Second Industrial Revolution
Give three examples of political transformation and collapse coming out of World War I. What was the psychological effect of these transformations and the War itself on the generation of Europeans who experienced it?
3 examples of political transformation/how this affected subsequent generations: RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: eliminate free market as means of modernization, TECHNOCRACY, authoritarian states, communist party, WWI yielded instability and loathing of gov't that cause Russian Revolution (thought technology would help but just crumbled) COLLAPSE OF KAISER IN GERMANY-> WEIMAR REPUBLIC: social democratic govt, Freikorps (nationalist soldiers) murdered opposing parties, HUGE WAR DEBT, emerged THE BELIEF IN ACAUSALITY: "just because something happens on a macro level doesn't mean it can happen on a micro level"-> extreme nihilism yields belief that there is no cause for what occurs in physics (Exner: chaos) AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE COLLAPSES: only rump Austria left behind / AMERICAN HEGEMONY: becomes center of global finance (roaring 20's)-> OVERALL IN EUROPE: tons of nationalism
How did the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics present a philosophical challenge to classical physics? Under the Copenhagen Interpretation, what was a "wave function" and what did it mean for a wave function to "collapse"?
Copenhagen Interpretation (1925-1927)-> challenge classical physics?: Quantum mechanics CANNOT provide lawlike rules for the behavior of a system, CANNOT explain causality but just measure elements of the system (position of particle, momentum of particle)-> certainty comes only after measurement is complete-> FUNDAMENTAL SYSTEM IS INDETERMINATE, can define traits, not entire system/CAN'T KNOW UNTIL PHYSICALLY MEASURED/ even once you have all info about subatomic system-> can't predict certainty of where that particle will be
What is a wave function? How does it collapse?: quantum state that satisfies traits of wave-> collapses/resolves of certainty only AFTER MEASUREMENT/goes straight after it's been measured
What did Erwin Schrodinger mean to show by his famous example of the simultaneously alive and dead cat? How has this classic "thought experiment" often been misrepresented?
What did Schrodinger intend to show w his cat? How has this thought experiment been misrepresented?: shows irrationality of applying Copenhagen interpretation to macroscopic phenomena (shows that the assumption that you can't determine the lawlike nature of a system overall but can measure elements of system) BY SHOWING THAT IF YOU PLACE A CAT IN A BOX WITH A RADIOACTIVE ATOM THAT COULD KILL THE CAT YOU DO NOT KNOW IF THE CAT IS ALIVE/DEAD UNTIL YOU OPEN THE BOX-> Cat is alive/dead until you check->acausality? MAKES MOCKERY OF LOGIC OF COPENHAGEN (WE OBVIOUSLY KNOW CAT IS DEAD) Review: trying to apply quantum mechanics to macro level is impractical-> just bc causality at macro level doesn't guarantee microlevel
ACAUSAL: RADIOACTIVE DECAY
CAUSAL:
Explain what it means to say an event is "random" or "acausal" from the standpoint of 1920s European physics. How does radioactive decay embody a random process?
Random/acausal: a process governed by chaos rather than systematic step by step processes (i.e. cause and effect-> Exner): Radioactive decay is acausal because it displays how unstable elements lose protons, neutrons, and electrons -> STOCHASTIC (random, but can analyze) (Q: Doesn't this follow the Copenhagen Interpretation?), 50% probability assigned to decay-> After x time has elapsed, half of given atom type decay/ Review: Acausal means it's unpredictable
WhatisthedifferencebetweenWernerHeisenberg'suncertaintyprincipleandtheobserver effect?What is the difference between a fundamentally indeterminate view of nature and the practical application of statistical probabilities to natural phenomena? What was Einstein's critique of the Copenhagen interpretation?
Uncertainty principle (QUANTUM PHYSICS: more precisely one value of system is known (position of particle), less precisely other values can be known vs. observer effect (current tech: any measurement of a system alters that system) (quantum and particles vs system and tech) Q: What is an example?: ? Fundamentally indeterminate view of nature vs. practical application of stat probabilities to natural phenomena (ACAUSALITY VS. ANALYZING PHENOMENA THAT APPEAR ACAUSAL? Einstein's critique of Copenhagen interpretation? If we treat all atoms of a decaying isotope as distinct quantum systems with distinct trajectories over time, the time it takes for any one atom to decay is knowable -> averaging into simple wave function-> probabilistic half-life emerges: If we know the habits of all decaying isotopes, we can determine the average of all of these habits in a simple wave function -> probabilistic half life (Q: Explain this in layman's terms!)
UNCERTAINTY IN PROCESS IS ELEMENT OF IGNORANCE,
NOT OF NATURE-

Review: Observer effect: through tech measurement / knowing how system looks without interaction with it is impossible

Doesn't have finalized form until you measure it

Einstein didn't like acausality at micro level-> just because of ignorance

Einstein: hidden variables-> aspect of nature we weren't able to measure just fundamentally
Why is a uniform distribution of matter a reasonable model for the Universe on large scales? How large of a piece of the universe do you need to basically have a good "average" piece?
Universe consists of evenly spaced out objects in a large space-> homogenous in all spaces Q: HOW LARGE SHOULD SPACE BE? 100 MILLION LIGHT YEARS (homogenous), BUT STILL ASK LARKIN
Who was LeMaitre?
LeMaitre used Einstein's/Friedmann's equations to predict that the universe should be expanding (linear relationship between distance and motion away from us as an expansion of space)-> no proof in physical science
How did Hubble measure the distance to nearby galaxies?
Hubble measured distance to nearby galaxies with cepheid stars & cosmological redshift with distant galaxies-> 100inch telescope at Mt. Wilson-> individual stars in galaxy (cepheid)-> standard candles (candle that is a fixed brightness (if one is fainter then they're further away) / distance can basically be calculated from its apparent brightness-> amount of pulsating = time
What relationship between observable quantities demonstrates that the universe is undergoing uniform expansion?
Hubble found Hubble's constant, which states that there is a constant rate of expansion with regard to the distance between galaxies and their redshift (redshift vs. distance)
What is meant by cosmological redshift? How is it different from Doppler shift?
REDSHIFT: DUE to exp of universe while photons have been on way to us, light from distant galaxies measures stretching of universe (ex: universe expands, light expands), can also do gravitational redshift) -> DOPPLER: toward or away see waves more or less frequently than how I emitted them contingent upon motion through space, while redshift is a depiction of space If Hubble's constant was 140 km/s per Mpc the universe would be ½ of what we measured (double the rate=half the speed-> time=distance/rate (age of universe=1/hubble's constant)
If we had found the Hubble constant was 140km/s/Mpc instead of the actual value of 70km/s/Mpc, then
about how old would the Universe be?
Tired light predicts that photons maintain the same speed as they travel throughout the universe; this is false because it is proven that as protons travel throughout the universe, their wavelengths elongate thereby indicating that if the wavelength elongates, the time elongates as well (disproving the constant speed of the lazy light theory) SUPERNOVAE EXPLOSION refutes the hypothesis of lazy light-> not only do photons get redder such that they
Why was the tired light hypothesis rejected? What observation can't it explain?
Tired light predicts that photons maintain the same speed as they travel throughout the universe; this is false because it is proven that as protons travel throughout the universe, their wavelengths elongate thereby indicating that if the wavelength elongates, the time elongates as well (disproving the constant speed of the lazy light theory) SUPERNOVAE EXPLOSION refutes the hypothesis of lazy light-> not only do photons get redder such that they
Where did the big bang occur?
No center-> creation of time and space -> beginning of uniform spread through universe from very beginning, objects condense at original locations while universe expands
Do you expand with the expansion of the Universe?
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In a distant galaxy a star exploded a long time ago and the explosion remained bright for 1 month. If we
detect the light today with a cosmological redshift of 0.5, how long does the explosion appear to last from our point of view?
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If protogalaxies haven't existed for many billions of years, how can we study them?
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When and how were the cosmic background photons emitted?
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Why do we still see the CMB today?
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When was the dark age of the Universe?
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What is some of the evidence for the Big Bang?
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What did scattering experiments in Rutherford's lab show about the distribution of position charge in the
atom?
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What is an isotope? How do isotopes of the same element vary?
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InGalison'snarrative,howdidEinstein'sworkintheBernPatentOfficeinformhisclassic 1905paper on Special Relativity, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies"? How did the specificity of his local experience there relate to much larger technological, economic, and political projects in Europe and its global imperial system?
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When, where, and what was the Second Industrial Revolution? Name three technologies that were improved and expanded in their implementation during this period.
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Give two political examples and two technological examples of unification, acceleration, and networking in Europe, North America, and Japan in the period 1871-1914.
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What was the key practical impediment to clock synchronization in Europe in the fin de siecle (turn of the nineteenth century in to the twentieth)How was this practical problem mirrored in the fundamental question that Einstein asked at the start of his 1905 Special Relativity paper?
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How did Einstein's system of clock coordination differ from practical systems proposed by engineers, businessmen, and military leaders, as well as from theoretical systems proposed by other physicists, in late nineteenth-century Europe?
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How did the short-term political victory of the National Socialist German Worker's Party interact with the long-term development and flourishing of a vibrant Central European, German-speaking sphere of physicists and mathematician?
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What is the difference between a theoretical physicist and an experimental one? What was the role of the theoretical physicist in early twentieth-century European physics?How does Peter Galison want to complicate the traditional historical view of Einstein as a disembodied "purely theoretical"brain?
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