How can we learn about Science in our daily lives?

Often, our daily lives are so spurious and hectic that we often do not bother to find out how things work, no matter how simple. The discipline of Sciences helps us study how things interact in our daily life, and there are many scientific concepts visible in life which we often take for granted. This article aims to shed light on some of the ways we forget that our daily lives are immersed in science.

a. Temperature

Put simply, thermodynamics is the study of the relationship between heat, work, temperature, and energy. When we make a hot drink, or touch a hot kettle, we can observe (sometimes painfully) thermodynamics at work. The first law of thermodynamics states that in a natural thermodynamic process, the sum of the entropies of the interacting thermodynamic systems never decreases. Put simply, heat does not pass from a colder body into a warmer body. This is why if we put our cold hands on a hot mug, we feel warm as the heat transfers from the mug to our hands and warms us.

b. Sounds

When we are woken up by our phone alarm ringing, signalling that it is time for school in the morning, our ears are accosted by sound waves. Sound travels in mechanical waves, which are disturbances which move energy from one place to another through a medium, typically air. The disturbance caused by a vibrating object, such as our mobile phone speaker in the morning wakes us up. The medium can be any series of interconnected and interactive particles, such as air or water, or even solids.

c. Friction

When we walk on a rainy day and slip from water on the ground, we realise (when we painfully slip and fall) the work of friction forces. Friction is a force between two surfaces which prevents the surfaces from sliding across each other. When we run, our foot grips the ground and pushes backwards, giving us an equal and opposite force, propelling us forward. If there is no friction between our feet and the ground, we would not be able to run, walk or even stand!

d. Gravity

Gravity affects our daily lives in obvious ways, even though we may not realise it. Gravity is the reason why we can walk on the ground and why all our household objects do not float about aimlessly in the air. When we throw a ball in the air, it falls down due to gravity. This is because gravity is the force by which planet Earth draws objects toward its centre. Without gravity, everything would float off into space, and humankind would likely cease to exist!

e. Electricity

The invention of electricity allows humans to create light, so we can perform activities even when they cannot see well at night. The definition of electricity is the movement of electric charges from a region of high potential to a region of lower potential. If there is an electric charge, the electric charge can be positive or negative, and it will produce an electric field. The movement of electric charges is an electric current and it produces a magnetic field.

More recently, a prominent issue we are facing is climate change. There is a high demand for fossil fuels to generate electricity or to run our vehicles. And in our technologically-advanced homes and it is impossible for most of us to function without electricity. There are environmental concerns regarding the burning of oil and coal to generate electricity, and now the focus is placed on alternative sources of energy which are renewable, such as wind and solar.

To conclude, there are many examples of science concepts in our daily lives. If we could all slow down and evaluate the different parts of our lives to see what we can learn about science, the world would be a very interesting place indeed. A good practice for science students is to see how they can explain daily phenomena which are observable to us in in everyday life, using the simple concepts they have learned from school.

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