We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Physics

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is Interdisciplinary Physics?

By Tara Barnett
Updated: May 21, 2024
Views: 10,318
Share

Interdisciplinary physics is a category of physics that applies the fundamentals of this science to subjects in other disciplines, thereby allowing a new perspective on those problems. This is sometimes referred to as applied physics, because it involves applying physics to other disciplines. As physics is not limited in its applications in principle, this category is most useful as an academic major and designation for degrees. Different schools allow various other majors to be combined with physics in their interdisciplinary physics programs.

The first and most important thing to understand is that interdisciplinary physics is an approach, not a different topic for physics. No subject is naturally more suited to physics than others, but some topics are traditionally covered by other disciplines. As physics studies the makeup of the universe, any subject could be within its purview. Topics like biological physics, for example, are often viewed as a marriage of biology and physics because of the special forces at work in biological contexts.

All hard sciences study the same materials from different perspectives, and many people believe that combining these perspectives can yield more fruitful research. As such, chemical physics and biological physics are both popular degrees. In these cases, research can be informed by both disciplines, yielding potentially valuable solutions to problems. Understanding the physics underlying chemistry, for example, can allow a more nuanced understanding of chemical processes.

In some cases, interdisciplinary physics can also enrich the field of physics by providing a more detailed understanding of its basic principles. Having a deep understanding of mathematics can often suggest interesting research in physics, as these two disciplines are so closely tied together. Likewise, a combination with computer science or engineering can be used to either produce interesting research in physics or create new models for use in physics.

As a degree, interdisciplinary physics is usually offered at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, physics is often so focused that an interdisciplinary program is unfeasible or unnecessary. Even so, there are interdisciplinary programs that combine physics with teaching, which are primarily designed for people involved in physics education at the pre-college level.

Any discipline can be combined with physics to create an interdisciplinary physics program. While it is common to combine other sciences with physics, some schools allow a union with writing, political science, and other traditionally social sciences. In general, the result of these unions must enrich both disciplines in order for a school to consider the program a worthwhile degree.

Share
All The Science is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.allthescience.org/what-is-interdisciplinary-physics.htm
Copy this link
All The Science, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

All The Science, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.