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Physical science nuclear
Nuclear theory of the atom
Nuclear theory of the atom
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Humans have attempted to understand the world by coming up with theories, examinations, and investigations to pursue knowledge and discover new things, so that they could have a deeper understanding of what was going on around them. People are still searching for new knowledge by experimenting with new theories and going back to revise some of the old ones, in order to reshape, evaluate, and accept the knowledge that they possess. However, some theories are found to be wrong or partially true, and they have been discarded as knowledge. A theory cannot fully be considered wrong, but there is a possibility that another theory arises and explores the topic outside the boundaries set by the scientists. The knowledge issues raised are: is knowledge discarded or is it in some way restructured into new paradigms? Do all areas of knowledge treat knowledge the same way? I will discuss the following knowledge issues in two areas of knowledge: natural science and art.
Some of humans’ knowledge comes from the complex theories established in the field of natural sciences. As scientists, we set the bases for an experiment and we let other people set up theories to explore beyond the known. Then, we look at the theories and we choose the one that best describes the concept and tells us the most facts. When I was taking my first year of IB physics, one of the topics was Atomic and Nuclear physics. The topic was mainly about nuclear structure, radioactive decay, nuclear reactions and so on, but there was something in that topic that drew my attention, the model of the Atom. Ever since the fifth century, the understanding of the atom has evolved. The Greeks invented the idea of the atom, and they believed that it wasn’t physically divisible. Then, ...
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...ich is hard to disprove without contrasting evidence that can prove the math wrong.
In conclusion, knowledge is treated in different ways in each area, and depending on the way in which it’s treated we decide whether it should be discarded or not. Knowledge is discarded when we reach a point that causes it to discard itself, which occurs when theories overlap and one of the results is more structured and therefore exceeds the boundaries we have set up to earn knowledge.
Works Cited
"Everything Science." Everythingscience. Siyavula, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
Lagemaat, Richard Van De. Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.
Pajares, Frank. "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
The Atomic Theory is a theory that explains what matter is made of. The Atomic theory states that matter can’t be divided as it is made up of minute particles called atoms that cannot be separated. The very word atom is derived from the Greek word Atmos which means indivisible.
The amazing transformation the study of physics underwent in the two decades following the turn of the 20th century is a well-known story. Physicists, on the verge of declaring the physical world “understood”, discovered that existing theories failed to describe the behavior of the atom. In a very short time, a more fundamental theory of the ...
Lagemaat, Richard van de. Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
The concept of an “atom” first began in ancient Greece. According to Delgado, early philosophers “suggested that regular solids were fundamental parts of the universe, and Democritus’ teacher, Leucippus, had introduced him to the idea of an atomic system.” However, it wasn’t until the
How we approach the question of knowledge is pivotal. If the definition of knowledge is a necessary truth, then we should aim for a real definition for theoretical and practical knowledge. Methodology examines the purpose for the definition and how we arrived to it. The reader is now aware of the various ways to dissect what knowledge is. This entails the possibility of knowledge being a set of truths; from which it follows that one cannot possibly give a single definition. The definition given must therefore satisfy certain desiderata , while being strong enough to demonstrate clarity without losing the reader. If we base our definition on every counter-example that disproves our original definition then it becomes ad hoc. This is the case for our current defini...
The theory of quantum mechanics has divided the atom into a number of fundamental sub-atomic particles. Although the physicist has shown that the atom is not a solid indivisible object, he has not been able to find a particle which does possess those qualities. Talk of particles, though, is misleading because the word suggests a material object. This is not the intention for the use of the word in quantum physics. Quantum particles are, instead, representations of the actions and reactions of forces at the sub-atomic level. In fact, physicists are less concerned with the search for a material particle underlying all physical objects and more interested in explaining how nature works. Quantum theory is the means that enables the physicist to express those explanations in a scientific way.
The Atomic Theory began in roughly 400BC with Democritus in Ancient Greece and is universally believed to be correct today. Democritus who was born in 460 BC and died 370 BC and is known as the father of modern science. Democritus proclaimed that everything is made up of atoms. He continued his theory to say that atoms will always be in motion, between atoms there is empty space, atoms are unbreakable, there are an infinite number of atoms all different sizes and shapes. He also said that iron atoms are solid and strong and have hooks to lock them together, water atoms are smooth and slippery, salt atoms have sharp jagged edges because of its taste and air atoms are light and spiralling.
Lagemaat, Richard Van De. Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma. UK: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.
Albert Einstein said, “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” This new manner of thinking should be based on pre-existing knowledge. This pre-existing knowledge is necessary because it is the catalyst that pushes the human race forward, making us want to discover more. Trying to discover completely new knowledge would not yield the same results. Basing your research off what you already know allows you to compare the new data that you collected to the old data that is already present. If you discover something new you will have nothing to compare it with. This does not allow you the luxury of seeing if what you discovered was an improvement. This essay will examine how important it is to discover new ways of thinking about prior knowledge than it is to discover new facts. I believe that using prior knowledge to push discovery is much more important than trying to discovers new data or facts.
van de Lagemaat, R. (2011) Theory of knowledge for the IB diploma, Cambridge University Press.
Knowledge is but understanding. How we indulge and interpret an issue is knowledge. In the pursuit of knowledge, we, as materialistic learners and knowers, repeatedly ignore crucial procedures, pro...
...rly refutes the tradition definition of knowledge. As earlier stated, many attempts have been made to repair or replace the definition of knowledge; hence the theories such as, the Casual Theory, to use as a solution to an ambiguous problem. However, there is still no positive and certain solution to the Gettier problem as effective as his challenge may be in order to define knowledge.
Things are very different from each other, and can be broken down into small groups inside itself, which was then noticed early by people, and Greek thinkers, about 400BC. Which just happened to use words like "element', and `atom' to describe the many different parts and even the smallest parts of matter. These ideas were around for over 2000 years while ideas such as `Elements' of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water to explain `world stuff' came and went. Much later, Boyle, an experimenter like Galileo and Bacon, was influenced much by Democritus, Gassendi, and Descartes, which lent much important weight to the atomic theory of matter in the 1600s. Although it was Lavoisier who had divided the very few elements known in the 1700's into four different classes, and then John Dalton made atoms even more believable, telling everyone that the mass of an atom was it's most important property. Then in the early 1800's Dobereiner noted that the similar elements often had relative atomic masses, and DeChancourtois made a cylindrical table of elements to display the periodic reoccurrence of properties. Cannizaro then determined atomic weights for the 60 or so elements known in the 1860s, and then a table was arranged by Newlands, with the many elements given a serial number in order of their atomic weights, of course beginning with Hydrogen. That made it clear that "the eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of a repeat of the first", which Newlands called the Law of Octaves.
Scientists from earlier times helped influence the discoveries that lead to the development of atomic energy. In the late 1800’s, Dalton created the Atomic Theory which explains atoms, elements and compounds (Henderson 1). This was important to the study of and understanding of atoms to future scientists. The Atomic Theory was a list of scientific laws regarding atoms and their potential abilities. Roentagen, used Dalton’s findings and discovered x-rays which could pass through solid objects (Henderson 1). Although he did not discover radiation from the x-rays, he did help lay the foundations for electromagnetic waves. Shortly after Roentagen’s findings, J.J. Thompson discovered the electron which was responsible for defining the atom’s characteristics (Henderson 2). The electron helped scientists uncover why an atom responds to reactions the way it does and how it received its “personality”. Dalton’s, Roentagen’s and Thompson’s findings helped guide other scientists to discovering the uses of atomic energy and reactions. Such applications were discovered in the early 1900’s by using Einstein’s equation, which stated that if a chain reaction occurred, cheap, reliable energy could b...
Lagemaat, Richard Van De. Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.