-
Earth's Magnetic Field Discovered
William Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth I, published De Magnete, a paper that describes the earth itself as a <i>giant magnet</i>. This was based on the Chinese idea that compasses' "north" changes direction slightly over time. This is caused by the shift in the magnetic field. De Magnete -
Inertia by Galileo Galilei
Inertia, later picked up by Newton and made his first law, is the tendency for an object to resist a change in its direction of motion. For example, a car hitting a wall will not change its direction of motion drastically, while a ball hitting a wall will. Inertia and Mass -
Snell's Law
Snell's Law is the law that describes the way a ray of light will behave after changing medium. nsinθ = msinφ where n and m are refrative indices and φ and θ are the angles at which they hit/refract through the medium. Snell's Law -
Hooke's Law
Hooke's Law is the law that describes how a spring will react when a mass is applied to it. Springs have an "elastic limit", which after being stretched past, the spring will become permanently deformed. Hooke's Law -
Newton's Laws Of Motion
Newton's Laws of Motion are three simple laws that describe how objects would act in an ideal universe with no external forces, such as friction and and resistance. F = ma is a famous equation, which states that the force applied is proportional to the acceleration of a body. Newton's Laws of MotionNewton's Laws of Motion -
Conservation Of Matter
The conservation of matter states that in any reaction, the quantity of matter and energy before the reaction must be the same as after the reaction. For example, burning a piece of wood will produce smoke particles as matter cannot be destroyed. Dark matter is theorised as matter that we cannot detect, but is there. This would explain "disappearing matter". Conservation of Matter -
Wave Theory Of Light
In 1801 Thomas Young proposed that light acted as waves, similar to water. This built on Robert Hooke's idea that colours are just wave pulses spread out over the spectrum, like water waves. Light as Waves -
Atomic Theory of Matter
The atomic theory is the theory that all matter is made of small atoms, with different combinations of atoms making different elements of matter. Atomic Theory -
Kinetic Energy
Thomas Young proposed that objects in motion possess energy proportional to the square of the velocity. KE = 1/2mv² Kinetic Energy -
Electromagnetic Interactions
Electromagnetic interactions, theorised by Savart, Biot and Ampère, are interactions that explain the way electrically charged particles interact with each other. For example, when electrically charged protons and electrons from solar wind interact with the magnetosphere of the earth, producing light shows in the sky known as auroras. Electromagnetism -
Electrical Resistance
Georg Ohm theorised that electrical components and circuits have a value of resistance that connects the potential differene to the current (V=IR). This electrical resistance unit was named the 'Ohm' after him. Resistance -
Second Law Of Thermodynamics
Clausius and Kelvin proposed the second law of thermodynamics which states that an isolated body's entropy will never decrease, and that bodies will naturally move towards thermodynamic equilibrium - a state of maximum entropy. Second Law Of Thermodynamics -
X-Rays
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-Rays in 1895, originally called Röntgen rays, that earned him a Nobel Prize. These X-Rays where used to 'see inside' a person as bone reflected the X-Rays. This allowed for images to be made of peoples' skeletons, meaning that people for the first time could see exactly how the skeleton supported and broke in a living being, meaning medical advances in the field of surgery. X-Rays -
Bohr's Atom
Bohr's model of the atom theorised that atoms had a definite nucleus filled with the neutrons and protons, while the electrons orbited the nucleus in respective energy levels, or 'electron shells'. This, however, put the rest of the atom as 'empty space', which some people refuted as that would imply 99% of matter is empty space. Bohr's Atom -
General Relativity
Albert Einstein theorised general relativity in 1916, whereby space and time are described as a single 'fabric' called spacetime. This also related gravitational pull to the mass of an object, meaning that if an object became massive enough, a black hole would be formed. General Relativity also meant that time travel could be theorised, with people like Stephen Hawking still using General Relativity in their findings today. <a href='http://www.space.com/17661-theory-general-relativity.html' >Ge -
Quarks Predicted
Quarks are the subatomic particles that make up the subatomic particles; the "building blocks" of protons and neutrons. Up, down, top, bottom, strange and charm, each quark has a purpose, Protons are made up two up quarks and a down quark, for example. Quarks -
Higgs Boson Discovered
The Higgs boson was discovered, theorised by Peter Higgs and others. The theory of the Higgs boson states that something has to have given mass to the matter in the universe for it to slow down. The boson 'emitted' a field which reacted with some particles, slowing them and giving them mass. There are now at least five theorised Higgs particles to cater for the theory of a supersymmetrical universe. What Is The Higgs Boson? -
Neutrinos "Change Flavour" At Night
It has been found after 18 years of examining data that neutrinos generated in the Sun that are detected on the dark side of the earth 'flip' flavours. About half of the electron neutrinos with energies of less than 2MeV change flavour before reaching Earth, with neutrinos with greater energies changing (oscillating between) flavours more commonly. Do Neutrinos Change Flavor at Night? -
Gravitational Waves from Big Bang
Gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity in 1916, were detected in CMBR - radiation leftover from the Big Bang. Big Bang - Gravitational Waves
