The 10 branches of Physics and their fields of knowledge

Einstein, Planck, the Curie marriage, Bohr, Tesla, Faraday, Hertz, Newton, Hawking, Galileo Galilei ...

All of them are great scientists highly recognized by the majority of society, regardless of whether or not the type of studies they conducted exactly are known. In addition to recognition, they all also have another common characteristic: they were all physical that introduced or popularized new theories or concepts in order to explain various phenomena of the reality.

However, not all of them specialized in the same fields. And there are many branches of physics, in charge of investigating different aspects of reality. In this article we intend to make a brief mention of some of the main branches of this discipline, in order to observe the large number of elements that it explores.

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Physics as a pure science

Physics is one of the pure sciences or natural sciences, which claim to offer an explanation as to why the world works the way it does. Specifically physics

studies the properties of energy, matter, space and time and how these and other forces interact and are affected.

The history of physics is long and convulsive, being in fact one of the first sciences to emerge. A large number of periods can be distinguished, highlighting three large conglomerates; classical physics (in charge of studying the behavior and properties of visible matter at speeds lower than two light emails), modern physics (which appears with Planck and the beginning of quantum physics and that explores the behavior of particles at speeds equal to or greater than those of light or the relationships between forces such as gravity or electromagnetism) and contemporary physics (specialized in non-linear phenomena, space-time distortions caused by celestial bodies and subparticles and their behaviour).

But as we have said before and as you can guess from the division into stages this discipline not only works on a specific aspect of reality, but can be applied to various areas. And we can talk about different branches of physics, some of which we are going to present in this article.

The various branches of Physics

Here we briefly introduce some of the main branches of physics.

1. Mechanics

This branch of physics studies the movement of objects in space or the effect of different forces about them. It is probably one of the branches of physics that are most often identified as such.

2. Thermodynamics

Branch of physics focused on the study of all those phenomena related to temperature, its variations, the generation and transmission of heat energy and the effects that these changes generate on the bodies.

3. Optics

Optics can be understood as the physical study of phenomena related to light energy. The behavior and properties of light are studied (for example diffraction, polarization or dispersion), their interaction and effects on bodies or even their perception by the being human. Also, observe light as a particle and as a wave at the same time.

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4. Acoustics

Part of physics in charge of the study of sound, its measurement, its properties and effects on bodies. Also their perception and behavior in different media.

5. Electromagnetism

Part of physics that studies electromagnetic phenomena. It includes the combined study of electricity and magnetism, since both concepts have been shown to be related. Nevertheless one of these phenomena can also be studied separately.

6. Fluid mechanics

Although we have already mentioned mechanics as a branch of physics previously, several types of mechanics with differential characteristics can be found. In the case of fluid mechanics, the object of study is the properties and behavior of fluids, both liquids and gases.

7. Quantum mechanics

One of the most recent branches of physics and one of the most interesting today, quantum mechanics is based on the study of behavior, properties and interactions of atoms and subatomic particles.

8. Nuclear physics

To a great extent linked to the previous one, nuclear physics studies the energy and the effects of the union or division of atoms.

9. Astrophysics

Physics is also involved in the search for an explanation regarding the phenomena that occur beyond our planet. Specifically, astrophysics is a branch of physics that is responsible for the study of celestial bodies from the analysis of their properties and behavior.

10. Biophysics

Physics has also been used in the study of living beings and their properties, always its objective to explain the physical functioning of organisms and their use of energy.