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Expert: Daniel Mazur - 9/23/2007


Question
I enjoy studying physics. I was wondering if its possible to specialize in mechanical physics,and if so what type of careers are available? Is a scientist one of them or has everything about forces, velocity,...etc. that needs to be known been discovered?

Answer
Hello,
mechanics itself seems to be quite complete nowadays. It is taught in the first semester (relativistic and quantum mechanics somewhat latter) and then resides in the foundations of the cutting-edge science. I mean, particle physics for example traces subatomic particles and using their energy the nature's laws are uncovered. The concept of force is essential in many experimental techniques - the most blatant being the Atomic Force Microscopy. Only *because* the mechanical concepts are so well known and verified, we can so widely utilize them.
It is always tricky to say that in any part of science "everything has already been discovered". However, mechanics is pretty well working, any discoveries may come only in very special cases - such as the expansion of Universe - and the nature of these special cases is such that they no longer "belong" to mechanics, but rather to astrophysics...
Now, don't loose heart. If you get to a physics degree, you will find many very interesting subjects along the way, to which one can devote lifetime.
Cheers!
Daniel

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Questions anyone (teenager, undergrad, graduate, professional) may ask on physics, mathematics or inorganic chemistry. Questions may concern subjects themselves or a possible future career in them, if you need advice on a school or hobby project, or you just came across a question that is beyond your current curriculum. I answer bare textbook problems sometimes, but I reserve the the right to redirect you to Physics-Physics section. The kind of questions I like to answer: I just started having science classes at school and they seem difficult, but I enjoy them. Where do I find more information on this, which is not in textbooks but still comprehensible to me? Just leaving high school, and I feel science is really the thing for me. Can you recommend a school and an undergrad program suitable to my inclinations? I am in my second undergraduate year in Physics. We learned the basics of universe expanding this year, the Hubble constant and all that, but invited speakers that gave talks on astrophysics in our department seemed not to agree with this model at all. Is it of any use at all? I am building a [materials research] experimental device for my masters/doctorate thesis and I have the following problem:... I have tried ..., but it still doesn't work. Where might the problem be?

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