Scale – dealing with the miniscule to the massive, over milliseconds to millennia – is central to all the sciences. In this free course, Scales in space and time, you’ll go to the absolute limits of what can be measured – all through a study of an oak tree! By studying it you will be introduced to concepts in physics, chemistry, biology and life-sciences, and Earth and environmental sciences. Across these multiple disciplines you will meet time scales that include ages, durations and rates, and size scales including distances in three dimensions, which underpin areas and volumes.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Working with large and small numbers
- 1 Working with large and small numbers
- 1.1 Scientific notation
- 1.2 Units
- Units with prefixes
- Compound units and rates
- 1.3 Precision and magnitude
- Significant figures and decimal places
- Magnitude
- 2 Exploring scales in space and time
- 2 Exploring scales in space and time
- 2.1 The Universe
- 2.2 The Milky Way
- 2.3 The Earth
- 2.4 The British Isles
- 2.5 An oak woodland
- 2.6 An oak tree
- 2.7 An oak leaf
- 2.8 Stomata
- 2.9 Chloroplasts
- 2.10 Glucose
- 2.11 Carbon
- 2.12 Protons and neutrons
- 2.13 Quarks and photons
- 3 Comparing and connecting scales
- 3 Comparing and connecting scales
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
