PHYS 23300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Operational Definition, Dimensional Analysis
Document Summary
Modeling: identify quantity that we want to model and find a way to assign a measurement, then assign it a symbol. Processing: inherit procedures, new quantities, was of solving equations to help create long chains of arguments and results. Interpreting: once something is solved with math, need to get physical meaning. Evaluating: decided if the result correctly represents the physical system. Math in science makes equations richer (more complicated to interpret). How math in science is different from math in math: math in math tends to be about numbers, math in science is about relations among physical quantities that are transformed into numbers by measurement. Quantities in science tend to have dimensions and units: math in math tends to use a small number of symbols in constrained ways. Math in science tends to use symbols in multiple ways: symbols in science classes often carry meaning that changes the way we interpret the quantity.
