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As you study, it will help you to know that the

course deals with only four kinds of important ideas:

concepts, fundamental principles, models, and applica-

tions. Each of these requires different performance on

your part, and therefore a different kind of study.

Concepts are the fundamental ideas and quantities

we use to describe nature when we communicate with

one another. In simplest terms, they are words whose

meaning we need to know and agree upon if we are to

communicate. Some are terms, such as acceleration,

mass, and energy, which are used generally but whichhave a specific scientific meaning. You will need to

understand our intended meaning when we use each

term. Other terms, such as entropy, isomer, and half-

life, will probably be new to you. In either case, your

learning task is the same; you should be able to define

each concept and explain its meaning. You can memo-

rize a definition but, in addition, you should be able to

illustrate its meaning by describing examples of its cor-

rect application. Finally, you should be able to distin-

guish between correct and incorrect definitions and

examples of each concept.

Fundamental Principles are the basic laws and

rules which govern change in the universe. Examplesare Newtons Second Law of Motion, the Law of

Increasing Disorder, and the Universal Law of

Gravitation. Fundamental principles are the most

important ideas in the course and should receive careful

attention. When you have adequately studied a funda-

mental principle, you should be able to do the following:

(1) State the fundamental principle and explain its

meaning. This is a memory task similar to that

associated with your study of concepts.

(2) Describe some experimental evidence for

believing the fundamental principle to be

valid. The first task here is to cite phenomena

or experiments which indicate the validity of

the rule. This is a memory task. In addition,

you should be able to understand and explain

the relationship of the evidence to the rule.

This requires more than memory, and you will

have to struggle and practice a bit before you

acquire the necessary skill. Basically, you are

asked to answer the question, Why do we

believe this particular principle to be valid?

(3) Describe some examples of the operation of

the fundamental principle and show how the

rule predicts the changes which occur. This is

the same as (2) in many ways. However, we

wish to draw attention to the fact that the

changes which occur in the physical world

around us are in harmony with the principles

we will study. You should look for examplesof this harmony as you think about the world in

which you live.

Models represent mental pictures of nature which

have been useful and successful in explaining and/or

predicting the phenomena of nature. Examples we will

study include the Molecular Model of Matter, the

Nebular Model of the Formation Solar System, and the

Theory (Model) of Plate Tectonics. Models are as

important as fundamental principles in our understand-

ing of nature, since we always have some model in

mind whenever we use a principle to explain a particu-

lar event. As you study the models described in thecourse, you should make sure that you can do the fol-

lowing:

(1) Describe and explain the model. This is a

memory task similar to that associated with

your study of concepts.

(2) Relate each model to both simpler and more

complex models. For example, if you were

studying the Wave Model of the Atom, you

would want to describe what atoms are made of

(the simpler units of the model) and you would

describe the more complex structures (mole-

cules and crystals) which are made of atoms. In

each case, you should also be able to describe

how the components are held together.

(3) Describe some experimental evidence for

believing the model to be a valid description of

nature. This involves the mental processes as

described for rules.

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(4) Describe components of the universe which

you encounter in terms of models in varying

degrees of complexity. For example, what is a

particular object made of and how are the com-

ponents held together? What are the compo-

nents made of? What are these made of? You

should be able to continue this process down to

the smallest constituents presently known.

(5) Describe some examples of the operation of

the details of the model and show how the

model is related to changes which occur. This

is much the same process as described under

(3) for rules. For each model you should ask

How does this model help me to understand

some of the things which actually happen in

nature?

Applications are real things that happen. There are

an infinite variety. In fact, many science courses consist

only of descriptions of one application after another.

Although we do not focus on applications in this text,

the understanding of real events in terms of fundamen-

tal principles and models is the most important reason

for studying science.

We will discuss a few applications as we describe

each rule and model. You should begin to see the rela-

tionship between these as we indicated above.

However, we hope that you will begin to develop a

more important skillthat of explaining previously

unencountered applications in terms of appropriate laws

and models. In the one case, the principle and model

are presented and the application is used to illustrate

them. In the more difficult cases, you see only theapplication. Your task is to review all the fundamental

principles and models you know and choose those

which explain the application. This facility is devel-

oped only by practice. It can be done only after the

capabilities described above for CONCEPTS, FUNDA-

MENTAL PRINCIPLES, and MODELS have been

mastered. Nevertheless, the ability to explain events in

terms of fundamental principles is an important intel-

lectual skill which enriches life and which will help you

to be a useful member of society.

Incidentally, there is an even higher level skill

which is at the heart of science but which we will not try

to develop in this course. This is the ability to discoverthe fundamental principles and models which correctly

describe nature. We will be helping you to understand

some important ideas which have come to our attention,

and we will try to show you why we think they are

valid. However, you should know that the process is by

no means complete. There are many gaps in our under-

standing. Scientists of the world continue to dedicate

their lives to the end that all of us might understand

more completely and accurately.

We add the following as a practical suggestion for

study in a formal course in science in which there are

reading assignments, lectures, and examinations.

Science, by its nature, is hierarchical in structure. One

thing builds on top of another. It is fair to say that with

the possible exception of the final chapter, every chap-

ter of this text contains information that is laying the

foundation for something that follows. We study waves

to understand light, light to understand atoms, atoms tounderstand molecules, molecules to understand bulk

matter and life itselfone thing on top of another. If

you neglect the foundation, then whatever you try to

build on top of that shaky foundation will be even more

shaky. Because of this hierarchical structure, once you

neglect a particular layer there is only so far that you

can go beyond your present understanding before the

argument becomes meaningless. You just dont have

the foundation to build further. Hierarchical structure is

not necessarily a characteristic of all courses or even

disciplines at a university, but it is so with science. The

practical advice we offer is: Read through the Study

Guide before reading the chapter. Read the chapter

before coming to class. Clarify questions and miscon-

ceptions before going on. DONT GET BEHIND.