Concept Definition and 1000 Threads

Concepts are defined as abstract ideas or general notions that occur in the mind, in speech, or in thought. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by several disciplines, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together to form thoughts and sentences. The study of concepts has served as an important flagship of an emerging interdisciplinary approach called cognitive science.In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:
Concepts as mental representations, where concepts are entities that exist in the mind (mental objects)
Concepts as abilities, where concepts are abilities peculiar to cognitive agents (mental states)
Concepts as Fregean senses (see sense and reference), where concepts are abstract objects, as opposed to mental objects and mental statesConcepts can be organized into a hierarchy, higher levels of which are termed "superordinate" and lower levels termed "subordinate". Additionally, there is the "basic" or "middle" level at which people will most readily categorize a concept. For example, a basic-level concept would be "chair", with its superordinate, "furniture", and its subordinate, "easy chair".

Concepts may be exact, or inexact.
When the mind makes a generalization such as the concept of tree, it extracts similarities from numerous examples; the simplification enables higher-level thinking.
A concept is instantiated (reified) by all of its actual or potential instances, whether these are things in the real world or other ideas.
Concepts are studied as components of human cognition in the cognitive science disciplines of linguistics, psychology and, philosophy, where an ongoing debate asks whether all cognition must occur through concepts. Concepts are used as formal tools or models in mathematics, computer science, databases and artificial intelligence where they are sometimes called classes, schema or categories. In informal use the word concept often just means any idea.

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  1. E

    What is the meaning of voltage and how is it related to energy and current?

    My first post here is going to be a question. Hopefully you guys can help clear this up. I simply have been unable to grasp the concept of voltage. I know how to calculate it and all but I can't grasp it. :bugeye: I know that: Couloumbs : the actual amount of energy Amps : speed...
  2. U

    Gravity & Mass in Einstein's Gravity Model

    in einstein's famous gravity model - gravity is caused by a disruption of some fabric by an object with mass (i.e. the ball on the fabric causes the fabric to "expand" creating an inward force toward the ball for other objects). i was thinking about this and wondering the following: 1) if...
  3. Cyrus

    What is the concept of differential in mathematics?

    Hey Mathwonk, just a quickie. When I think of a differential, it is written as y=y(t), and dy= dy/dt * dt. When I see this, I think of it as we want to deal with only the variable y. But y(t) is a function of t. So we set y=y(t), so that y is a variable by itself. As a consequence, we usually...
  4. Pengwuino

    Is time a thing or human concept?

    So what do you people think? What are the arguments for each?
  5. zoobyshoe

    The Most Important Scientific Concept To Understand

    A pole of scientists gives a surprising variety of opinions: Address:http://www.spiked-online.com/sections/science/sciencesurveyA-B/default.htm The one that stood out to me, in the context of PF, was: "Science is disputative." Alot of people echoed Feynman's answer to this question...
  6. D

    Why do the standard emf and calculated emf values differ in electrochemistry?

    If E(cell) = E(cathode)-E(anode) and E(cell) = (RT/nF)ln K Then shouldn't E(cathode)-E(anode)=(RT/nF)ln k ? I have a question asking to find the voltage of the cell and I am given a equilibrium constant... which means i should use the second equation with "k" in it, and i get the...
  7. S

    Understanding the concept of laplace transformations

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  8. T

    Concept of recrystallization in metals

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  9. M

    Help needed badly in understanding the concept of atomic masses

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  10. A

    What is main concept of implimentation of equations.?

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  11. T

    The concept of Rotation in 3-d in QM

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  12. W

    Understanding the Relationship Between Speed and Current: Expert Explanation

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  13. K

    Trouble with the concept of dimensions and time

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  14. R

    An extension of the concept of a tensor field

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  15. P

    Few sentences related to a work concept.

    How much energy is given out by one man? If he applied a F on a object, friction is f, distance is s. What's the energy given out by him?
  16. J

    What do you think of this concept?

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  17. S

    Introduced to the concept of entropy in school

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  18. S

    Exploring 4-Dimensional Fields: A Mind-Bending Concept

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  19. Clausius2

    Is This New Piston Head Concept Effective?

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  20. P

    How do waves form and dissipate in water?

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  21. C

    What Happens to the Charge on a Grounded Sphere Near a Charged Rod?

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  22. S

    Exploring the Conductor Concept for Electric Field Generation

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  23. F

    Understanding the Concept of a Gyroscope: How Rotation Defies Gravity

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  24. P

    Exploring the Concept of Sin: Questions and Stories

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  25. Y

    Complexity Concept in Statistical Mech.

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  26. N

    Coulomb's Law: Equality of Charges in Different Size Balls

    Ok, Suppose I have two balls that come into contact to make their charges say q1=q2. Would the charges be equal if the balls were of different size? I'd say yes, because mass is not relevant in Coulomb's law.
  27. P

    Exploring the Concept of Sin: Questions to Stimulate Answers

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  28. Bailey

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  29. T

    Another view of the concept of time.

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  30. C

    Why does an object have kinetic energy even when it's not moving?

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  31. Z

    Rotational Inertia concept help

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  32. C

    Exploring the Basics of Probability: Can We Mathematically Prove Its Concepts?

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  33. S

    Impact Force Comparison: Car vs. Wall Collision

    Consider two situations: 1) You are driving 50 mph and crash head on into an identical car also going 50 mph. 2) You are driving 50 mph and crash head on into a stationary brick wall. In neither case does your car bounce off the thing it hits, and the collision time is the same in...
  34. H

    Find Angle of Departure for Ball Pushed Off Semi-Dome

    A ball of mass m is being pushed off the top of a frionctless semi dome by a small negligible force. Find the angle where the ball left the surface. I know how to solve this problem, but I don't understand the concept behind it. Why does the normal force have to equal the centripeal force...
  35. A

    Exploring the Concept of Conservation in Elastic and Inelastic Collisions

    I had a conceptual question. Say I have a ball and I throw it against the wall and it bounces back. I have initial values for its velocity but not for the final velocity using the \vec{P}=m\vec{v} I noticed that momentum is not conserved. Well if momentum is not conserved then that means it is...
  36. C

    Why is My Concept Wrong for A Uniform Solid Disk Rotating?

    I have a question which puzzles me since the day my tutor pointed out to me. A uniform solid disk is set into rotation with an angular speed wi about an axis through its center. While still rotating at this speed, the disk is placed into contact with a horizontal surface and released as...
  37. F

    Explain to me the concept of space time?

    would someone explain to me the concept of space time? i know what it is but am having problems understanding it
  38. S

    What Is the Turning Point Concept in Physics?

    We did a lab to illustrate this concept in class. The problem is I have no idea what this concept is trying to show. Basically the length of a string was altered from 30 cm to 80 cm. Then, at a 90 degree angle from the vertical of the pole housing the meter stick and the attached string, it was...
  39. Q

    Help with fundamental concept of calculus; limits.

    I'm a high school student and am a junior right now. I like physics, and quantum theory, perhaps because it will be our future. Therefore, in order to understand it, I need to know calculus. Since I don't have homework, I don't work out the problems. I try to understand the critical...
  40. Cyrus

    Understanding Voltage: Explaining Potential & Potential Energy in Circuits

    Im having trouble grapshing this concept. Can anyone please explain what voltage across two points means. Does it mean that one point is at a higher potential energy than the other point? Does it mean that the charges present are closer to the point a, and thus produce a stronger net force when...
  41. A

    What is the difference between parentheses and brackets in coordinate points?

    I have one (hopefully) quick question for anyone out there willing to help. What's the difference between putting a pair of coordinate points, for example (3,4) in parentheses () and putting the between a bracket and a parenthesis like [3,4). Please respond soon because I need to know for...
  42. N

    I have trouble understanding the concept of resonance

    lets say a structure has 3 resonance structures, i konw that the atoms don't move, but i read somewhere that the electrons do...hmmm and that the resonance hybrid is most stable ofthe resonance forms?? I am confused, what exactly is resonance? in actuallity, isn't there no resonance , just...
  43. pelastration

    Can Hydroelectric Plants be Improved with Alternative Energy Concepts?

    Which uses classic generators with a lot of friction. Also friction is the result of gravitation. An electronic engineer told me a classic generator uses about 30 to 35% of it's power to create the rotation against the electro-magnetic field. He told me that he never saw something similar to my...
  44. N

    Volume expansion problem, is my concept wrong?

    here is the question: The density of gasoline is 730 kg/m^3 at 0 degree celsius. Its average coefficient of volume expansion is 9.6e-4. If 1.00 gallon of gasoline occupies .00380 m^3, how many extra kilograms of gasoline would you get if you bought 15.0 gal of gasoline at 0 degrees celsuis...
  45. K

    Understanding AVG Speed and AVG Velocity: Solving Skateboarder Problem

    ok i got back my test today and its some basic stuff, but i don't get the difference between AVG speed and AVG velocity. One of my problems was 'The length of the barrel of a blowgun is 1.2 meters. Upon leaving the barrel, a dart has a speed of 14 m/s. Assmuing that the dart was uniformly...
  46. A

    Exploring the Concept of a Higgs Field with Brian Greene

    hi, i'm reading brian greene's "the fabric of the cosmos" and in it he explains what a higgs field is. he says the potential energy of the field is shaped like a bowl with a raised peak at the center of the bowl. further he says the vertical height above the bottom of the bowl represents...
  47. N

    The concept of 'intelligence' within the biological sciences.

    Recently, the Biology section of PF got a new thread, Cranial Size and Intelligence. One exchange in that thread concerned the 'intelligence' of species other than Homo sap. Clearly, not wearing a biologist's hat, each of us may be able to give a description of what we think the intelligence of...
  48. G

    What is the concept of Gauss' physical law?

    Can someone put into plain english the following points: 1. What is the concept of Gauss' physical law. 2. Why is the rotation of an electric field zero. Cheers
  49. R

    Understanding Quasi-Particles: Visualizing a Difficult Concept

    What is "quasi particles"? Any ways to visualize this concept? I have so many troubles with this . Need your help, guys. :blush:
  50. K

    Can Gravity Be Explained by a 4th Dimensional Hypersphere Attraction?

    I think mass is attracted to the center of a 4th dimensional hypersphere (time neglected). Where there is a 4th spatial dimension. If by some craziness there was both an attraction betweent objects and the center of this 4D sphere, and objects to other objects(in the 4D) then you in theory could...
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