Why is math so important in physics?

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If mathematics is just a useful tool we made up, then how can it describe the world with perfect accuracy? And how come as soon as you remove mathematics and mathematical equations from physics, physicists can no longer objectively explain or predict anything?

In: Physics

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

We didn’t “make up” math, all we did was create systems of how we understand math. Numbers and operations mean things, regardless of what we call them or how we do them. You can add 1+1 to get 2 in base 10 or you can use binary, but the information that operation conveys is the same. It was the same 5 million years ago before humans existed and will be the same 5 million years from now when humans (probably) don’t exist anymore. I mean, the universe has existed for 13.7 billion years. Are you really suggesting that the laws of physics didn’t exist until humans came around to describe them?

Math, and subsequently, physics, also *don’t* describe the universe with perfect accuracy. We know there are pieces of the puzzle missing. We know that, for example while relativity and quantum mechanics are extremely successful, they aren’t complete. When we discover these missing puzzle pieces, we incorporate them into existing theories or make new theories.

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