What is the difference between reality and physics?

Question

what exactly are they and what makes each different?

Answer 1

Physics describes reality.

Reality is what we see, here and feel or at least it is to us and no one has proved other wise.  The way we describe, calculate, predict and try to control reality is through physics.

That is why the physical sciences are so important and every science except for sociology, history and the like is a physical science.  That includes all engineering, medicine and many other fields.

Issac Newton invented the science of physics and to describe what happened he had to invent a new kind of math; calculus.

The basic formula is F=ma and ALL other formulas used in science are variations off of that formula.  For example to predict the weather you need to know the volume of air, the temperature of the air and the variations.  You create a computer simulation with formulas from physics to count, manipulate and evaluate all those numbers.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics

"Physics is the science of matter and its motion, as well as space and time. It uses concepts such as energy, force, mass, and charge. Physics is an experimental science, creating theories that are tested against observations. Broadly, it is the general scientific analysis of nature, with a goal of understanding how the universe behaves.

Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, and through its modern subfield of astronomy, it may be the oldest of all. Experimental physics began in the Middle Ages and eventually emerged as a modern science during the early modern period. Those who work professionally in the field are known as physicists.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality

"Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist".  The term reality, in its widest sense, includes everything that is, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible."

So physics tries to describe the state of things as they actually exist, and are used to predict what will happen (like tomorrows weather or if the space shuttle will fly).

Our reality is contained by all of space, we experience it through time and everything in it is either matter or energy (matter in another form as per E=mc^2).  And since all of it is on a moving Earth rotating a sun, rotating a galaxy, moving through space all of it is moving in some way.  Even if it seems stopped or at rest, the things around it are moving and we use physics to describe, test, theorize, and understand all of that.

The problem is when you get to the world of Quantum Mechanics where the laws of Newton's Physics don't seem to work.  Electrons don't orbit the nucleus like tiny solar system they instead exist in a murky cloud of probability and the mere act of measuring an electron changes it.

Einstein hated Quantum Physics; "I refuse to believe that God plays dice with the universe."  With quantum physics we know that not only does he play dice (probability) but he hides some of the results inside of black holes another place where the laws of Newton's Physics don't seem to work.

Answer 2

Ideally, there is no difference.

Answer 3

Physics is the study of the physical world - reality

Answer 4

Reality is the set of all that exists.  What exists are concepts, all of which are sub-concepts of the one primary concept "to exist."  

The physical existence (universe or set of universes) is a manifestation, or physical representation, of the concepts.  So it is a tangible model of Reality.  

Physics is the study of the physical existence and how it works.  Since the physical existence is a representation of Reality, that makes Physics the study of Reality.

However, it is not a complete study of Reality, because it leaves out questions of meaning and interpretation.  It gives a mathematical model of what happens and the relationship between physical things, but it does not tell the story behind this story, which is one of pure concepts.  To get at the *meaning* of the physical laws, you need Philosophy, which is also the study of reality.

Together, physics and philosophy make a complete study of Reality.  

If you would have asked, "what's the difference between reality and the physical realm," i'd say there's no difference, one manifests the other.

But since you said physics, i say the difference is, one is the (partial) study of the other, or put a different way: one is the set of mathematical rules that partially describes the other.