Encyclopedia of Earth: Physics & Chemistry

Physics is the the study of matter and its spatial motion; while it embraces the levels of nucleii, elementary particles and atoms, its domain relative to molecules and their interactions is more properly termed chemistry. The motion of particles is governed by the basic laws of physics including Newtonian mechanics (for large objects); electromagnetism; thermodynamics and quantum mechanics (in the case of molecular and smaller entities). The earliest forms of physics addressed are motions of celestial objects, and presently this field can be viewed as astrophysics. Physics also embraces the notions of the Theory of Relativity, so that the duality of space and time is addressed. Chemistry has taken on added importance in the last half century as the bridge between fundamental laws of nature and the understanding of cellular processes and replication of DNA, the basic molecule of organism genetic coding. 

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