Q.Give two examples of how physics has directly enabled major technological developments that changed society (e.g. electricity generation, communication).

[!TLDR] Physics discoveries repeatedly become the technologies that reshape society. [!ANSWER] Electromagnetic induction enabled electricity generation and the modern power grid; semiconductor physics enabled the transistor and, through it, computers and smartphones.

Example 1 — electricity generation. Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, the physics fact that a changing magnetic field drives a current in a nearby conductor, is the operating principle behind every electrical generator and transformer. This single physics result underlies the entire modern electricity grid, and with it, home lighting, refrigeration, hospital equipment, and industrial machinery.

Example 2 — computing and communication. Understanding the behaviour of electrons in doped semiconductor crystals (solid-state physics) led to the invention of the transistor, which replaced the bulky vacuum tube. The endless miniaturisation of the transistor is the physical basis of every modern computer chip, smartphone, and embedded electronic device — technologies that have transformed communication, commerce and daily life within a single generation of the underlying physics discovery.

[!ANSWER] Electromagnetic induction → generators/transformers → the electricity grid; and semiconductor physics → the transistor → computers and smartphones, are two clear physics-to-society technology chains.

Pick one physics discovery from classical electromagnetism and one from solid-state/quantum physics, and trace each through to the specific technology and societal effect it enabled.

• Naming only the technology (e.g. 'the internet') without identifying the underlying physics that made it possible
• Confusing an engineering innovation with a genuine physics discovery