Classical physics Definition and 223 Threads

For some time I've been wondering how to eloquently distinguish classical and quantum physics. What I mean by eloquent is both simple and short. By simple I mean understandable to any college freshman, and with that caveat, as short as possible. Something like: "quantum has inherent randomness...

I've added 'in classical physics' in the thread title because all the differences between them that I found on the internet involved relativistic physics. It was something like both momentum and kinetic energy being components of a four-momentum or something like that. But I cannot understand...

So I just got beat up by this question on my midterm. I'm not sure if these problems are always called definition of success but that is how my professor refers to them as. The question: (paraphrased) When you walk into your dorm room you like to throw your keys onto the center of your desk...

this is a small part of a problem on tidal forces and I wasn't sure what the question asks as it seems to me that more information is needed. Am I right or is there something I am missing? the question goes as: "A spacecraft approaches a neutron star of radius 10 km and mass 1.5 times mass...

Hi everyone, first post here. Today i crushed into a question. I was going to write it down here, then i crushed into another one. Lets say we want to know the potential energy of a body relative to a center of gravity. I will refer to gravitys acceleration as "g" and to mass as "m". "k" will...

I am not sure if this is the right place to ask it, but this is a question that I thought today, and it gave me some curiosity to understand. Imagine that a car will curve, we can say the turn is a bit tight , what are the factors that can help it to flip? I was wondering about some aspects...

APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS 2012-2013 Version of Textbook by Roger D. Blandford and Kip S. Thorne http://www.pmaweb.caltech.edu/Courses/ph136/yr2012/ I believe this is a precursor to the following textbook (yet to be released) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691159025/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Hey guys, i just came across this on my classical physics course. So, I'm given that: E(z, t) = {E_{0}}sin(wt)sin(kz)\widehat{x}, and I'm supposed to find an expression for the associated magnetic field B. Usually, i just find the propagation direction, and do it's cross product with the...

Hello everyone. A Philosophy of Science friend showed a site where you can upload your paper and then you will be fairly quickly reviewed by your peers and this will be published alongside your paper. It seems to me this is a very good way to proceed; you may get assessment from the very top...

We know that unsolved problems still exist in classical physics and scientists still make reasearches , can the scientists solve those problems without using other physics branches like quantum mechanics .. ? Can they solve these problems only with a full understanding of classical mechanics ?

Hi There. I want to ask a question, here it is :- How to find the path of a particle if initial velocity(vector) is given and constant force(vector) acts on the particle. Like :- 1) How can we determine the path will be PARABOLIC 2) How can we determine the path will be CIRCULAR. 3) How can we...

How to decide whether a particular topic is studied in classical physics or modern physics?

I believe this question will be a no-brainer for many members. I want to conceptually grasp how do atoms (and molecules) behave using QM in contrast to the classical physics model. Now there's uncertainty principle and atoms don't have a fixed position and momentum, and that's fine, I know it's...

I want to drop a rocket-shaped object from a near-space balloon, with the aim of maintaining a downward acceleration that leaves it's contents in microgravity. I think that this means: The (unpowered) rocket needs to maintain as close to 9.8m/s2 acceleration in order to balance out the...

Many of you might have seen veritasium's video on the "Anti-gravity wheel". Through one of the comments, I was introduced to the idea that the reason the apparatus is so easy to lift is because the energy to do so comes from the spin of the wheel, i.e. its rotation slows down as it is lifted and...

Why can't we have an Electromagnetic wave in which the Electric Field and Magentic Field aren't in phase?

Homework Statement We are trying to find out whether we can hit a weight ##m=3## kg up to a given ##h=15.24## meters with a hammer with a head of ##m=6## kg swung at ##v=10## m/s. Homework Equations KE=0.5mv^2 PE=mgh p=mv The Attempt at a Solution One solution is to even see if the energy...

Homework Statement The statement of the question is:A chain of uniform linear mass density ##\rho##, length ##b## and mass ##M## hands as shown in the figure below. At time t=0, the ends A and B are adjacent, but end B is released. Find the tension in the chain at point A after end B has...

What is enthalpy of a system based on macroscopic POV of thermodynamics and not chemistry? And how do we use it to calculate the total heat transfer in isentropic processes?

In general, one thinks of complex numbers as being absolutely required in Quantum Physics but as being optional in Classical Physics. But what about modern classical electromagnetic field theory (gauge theory) in which the electromagnetic field is coupled to the field of charged particles by...

I was reading the book "Emperor's New Mind" by Roger Penrose which deals with understanding the nature of mind in the sense that it is algorithmic or not. In one of the chapters he explains that the deterministic world of the Newtonian Theory can still be non-computable. He explains this as...

So, I was watching PBS's Nazi Mega Weapons, and they were discussing the V-1 terror drone when they said something that made me scratch my head. They said that the Nazis initially had problems with the compass that facilitated navigation because of magnetic interference from the metal in the V-1...

I read in the Britannica Encyclopedia yesterday that Rene Descartes rejected the idea that a water pump works because nature abhors a vacuum, and instead said that it works "by the weight of the water which counterbalances that of the air". I have an idea of the two contrary concepts opposed...

Homework Statement A ball bearing rests on a ramp fixed to the top of a car which is accelerating horizontally. The position of the ball bearing relative to the ramp is used as a measure of the acceleration of the car. Show that if the acceleration is to be proportional to the horizontal...

Homework Statement Rods of copper, brass and steel are welded together to form a Y-shaped figure. The cross-sectional area of each rod is 2.0 cm2 . The free end of the copper rod is maintained at 100◦C, and the free ends of the brass and steel rods at 0 ◦C. Assume there is no heat loss from the...

Homework Statement A stopping potential of 0.50 V is required when a phototube is illuminated with monochromatic light of wavelength 600 nm. Monochromatic light of a different wavelength is now shone on the tube, and the stopping potential is measured to be 1.1V. What is the wavelength of this...

Hi there, I am confusing on the statement that we have classical physics when Planck constant approaching zero. I search the similar topic in Physics Forums and I saw that most of the answers refer to the size effect. It argues that when we measure something in the scale of meter comparing to...

Dear fellows, I wonder about what is the difference between general physics (i.e. Halliday and the like) and the classical mechanics/electromagnetic theory/etc sequence (i.e. Fowles, Purcell, etc). Someone told me that it is only about the mathematics required, but in that case, is general...

So I know that weight correlates with friction, as in more weight of an object means that it will experience more friction. However, what is not clear to me is why this occurs on a molecular level. Thanks for the help

[Mentor's note -- this post does not use the homework template because it was moved here from a non-homework forum.] ---------------------------------------------- Not sure how the extra velocity quantity appears after deriving both side of the velocity function to get acceleration. Please help.

Is quantum physics closer to the truth than classical physics, or is it just a different way of looking at the same problem? For example, the rules of baseball explain the behavior of baseball players better than the rules of football, and vice versa. The rules of these two sports are not...

If a neodymium magnet sticks over a steel plate and you want to separate them, it is advised to apply force such that the magnet slips over steel plate. So I was just wondering what would be the quantified decrement of this force as compared to the case when force is applied axially to separate...

Would it be possible to have a generalised equation for magnetic force of interaction between magnet-magnet and magnet-ferromagnetic materials maybe iron.

What type of gas would change the colour of an electron beam as the speed of the electrons increases?

Homework Statement To prove that system will travel freely upto 180 degree m2 is counterweight and m1 is mass of pan (=3kg) i have attched the fbd or another link http://www.imagebam.com/image/54bb5a394377595 Homework Equations m1(h + a sin θ) g x = m2 y h g m2 = 9.13 kg The Attempt at a...

I found a set of question from Harvard here; https://www.physics.harvard.edu/academics/undergrad/problems [URL repaired by a mentor] I solved the Week 1 problem like this; The basketball would fall to the floor, because the collision is elastic the velocity will change from -v to v (where v is...

MIT: Thermodynamics (2008) This is part 1 of 36 in the video series. Click the youtube link to find the playlist to select another video in the series.

I'm looking for history books on the beginnings of physics (mechanics, electromagnetism, etc) focused on explaining the evolution of the various fields that we have nowadays in physics more than trying to introduce them. For example, I'm looking for books that talk about how Newton discovered...

Let's say one has a passion for classical physics - he/she wants to learn all there is to learn about classical physics. Given that she/he has the intelligence and work ethic, does a passion for classical physics an indication enough that she/he should pursue engineering? Or could one love...

At most schools, physics majors are only required to take two semesters of classical physics (correct me if i am wrong), with the third semester of the same series being an introduction to modern physics. I understand that most physics majors are more interested in modern physics, but classical...

Basically the title. Take relativity it has the Lorenz factor 1/sqrt(1-(v/c^2)) and if v is not zero it's something that isn't accounted for in classical mechanics. Does that make classical mechanics wrong?

1. A sealed container of volume 0.1m^3 holds 3.0x10^24 atoms of helium gas at equilibrium. Distribution of speed of the helium atom shows a peak at 1100ms^-1. i) calculate temperature and pressure of the helium gas. ii) what is the average kinetic energy of the helium atoms? iii) what is the...

Can anyone introduce me some physics that contains difficult classical physics problems?

Good morning! I want to show you a few exercises given to me by my Physics teacher as an additional task. I'm aware that for some of you they may seem trivial, but I found it hard to face them because of them being full theoretical, with no actual data given. Mind that I'm only 15 :(. I'd love...

Hello, i am not an expert in physics (i am a computer scientist) but i have a lot of interest in physics, still there are some questions that i can't seem to answer given my limited amount of knowledge in physics (i had only 1 classical mechanics subject in university, although i try to learn a...

Homework Statement If A is a time dependent vector, calculate [itex] \int_{t1}^{t2} dtA(t) \times \frac{d^2A}{dt^2} [\itex] Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I think we should somehow relate it with something's derivative. \int_{t1}^{t2}A(t)\frac{d^2A(t)}{dt^2}dt=...

In wikipedia it says that "Coulomb's law of electric forces was initially also formulated as instantaneous action at a distance, but was later superseded by Maxwell's Equations of electromagnetism which obey locality." I don't really understand in which sense Maxwell's equations solve the...

Hello friends, Why does classical physics not follow a probabilistic nature? And why is conventional predicting absent at microscopic levels? I have searched a little including sites like physics.exchange but only see responses that are "classical physics fails to predict this" or "it cannot...

Hello, There has been lot many articles, write up(s) pointing out the difference between classical and quantum physics. Well, I know that there has been thousand and one articles written on the topic, but my point is to find out the basic fundamental difference. One point is quiet evident...

I am starting University in September, 2014. I have some knowledge already on classical mechanics as I took optional Applied Math courses (called Mechanics 1 and Mechanics 2) in my mathematics A-Level. I am also self-studying the book Classical Mechanics by Goldstein, Poole and Safko to gain a...