Do Americans know what Physics is?

Question

When I tell people I teach Physics in university in the US I hear, "It's good to excersize" because they cannot fathom beyond "Phys-ed". In Europe everyone I have ever said the same to knows it's Physics, the science. It makes a sad comment for Americans.

Answer 1

Physics (Greek: φύσις (phúsis), "nature" and φυσικῆ (phusiké), "knowledge of nature") is the science concerned with the fundamental laws of the universe and their precise formulation in a mathematical framework. Physics deals with the elementary constituents of the universe (such as matter, energy, space, and time) and their interactions, as well as the analysis of systems best understood in terms of these fundamental principles.

Answer 2

Are they letting the mentally deficient use the computers again in the loony bin? Good for them. Glad to see you can learn something.

Yes indeed. We Americans don't know anything about Physics. That's why no American has ever won the Nobel Prize for Physics, ever. That's why the U.S. has never made any advances in the field of Physics, ever.

Perhaps it's you who are the idiot here. Maybe word your question a bit differently. Most Americans may not know much about Physics. But they do know the difference between Physics and Physical Education.

Try again son.

Answer 3

Just because the only people to whom you brag about being a professor are the stereotypical "dumb jocks and cheerleaders" (and no, I'm not saying they are all dumb, sheesh) does not mean all Americans are idiots. Look at modern scientific advances and you will see that even some of the physicists being considered for the Nobel Prize are from, yup, AMERICA.

All you have done is show that in Europe you have intelligent friends, and in America all you do is hang out at bars trying to pick up a one-night stand.

Answer 4

Yes, we know what physics is. Perhaps you are not pronoucing it very well, and they think that you are, in fact, saying "phys-ed"?

As to "sad" - I'd say it's you who fits the qualification, since you seem to be generalizing about Americans. You are here by choice presumably, and you have a job that you (presumably) are paid to do well; perhaps a little more "when in Rome, " and a little less hauteur would be appropriate?

Answer 5

that is not stressful. i think of that is extra undemanding. Metric gadgets could be switched over very fairly (g to kg, and so on). making use of pounds might easily be puzzling, because of the fact a pound is a unit of tension AND of mass, so a one hundred pound weight on earth might easily have a distinctive mass than a one hundred pound weight on the moon. With metric, that is kg and Newtons.

Answer 6

I know what Physics is and I am an American. The study of the laws of the universe and their mathematical form just to sum it up quickly.

Answer 7

I am an American, and I do know what physics is...but whats phys-ed?

Answer 8

Yes. You must teach the very very dumb kids. Typical of a narrow minded elitist, university professor to think that all Americans are dumb.

Answer 9

Poor guys, i wonder how they calculate their weight without a unit derived from some physical quantity

Answer 10

Yep. The decline of the American Empire started with Nixon, accelerated with Regan and entered the death spiral with "dubya".

BTW - I not only know what Physics is but can perform some basic physics calculations and know things like the conservation of momentum.