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Which four major fields are included in physical science?
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principles of physical science
Figure 1: Data in the table of the Galileo experiment. The tangent to the curve is drawn at t = 0.6.
Physical science is the systematic study of the inorganic world, distinct from the study of the organic world. It is generally categorized into four major fields:1
- Astronomy: The study of the universe beyond Earth, including celestial bodies and the physical properties of the cosmos.1
- Physics: The science concerned with the fundamental laws of nature, focusing on matter, motion, energy, and the structure of the observable universe.21
- Chemistry: The study of the properties, composition, and reactions of molecules and substances.1
- Earth sciences: The fields concerned with the solid Earth, its waters, and the atmosphere that envelops it.3