Physics Videos

Astrophysics

The Sound of Earthsong
A NASA spacecraft has recorded eerie-sounding radio emissio
coming from our own planet. These beautiful "songs of Earth" could, ironically, be respo
ible for the proliferation of deadly electro
in...

Rare Type 1a Supernova Progenitor System Observed
The multi-i
titutional Palomar Tra
ient Factory (PTF) team has released the fi
t-ever direct observatio
of a Type 1a supernova progenitor system. Astronome
have collected evidence indicating tha...

Dark Matter
We take a look at mysterious dark matter - and a chocolate pie.77yXhAibQp4

Gigayear
Astronome
have a symbol for 1,000,000,000 yea
- that's a billion yea
.1_0cw6OrBeY

2012 Perseid Meteor Shower
The Pe
eid meteor shower is underway. There's more to see than meteo
, however, when the shower peaks on August 11th through 13th. The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the midd...

Classical Mechanics

Unit Conversion
Paul discusses unit conve
ion by mea
of cancellation, illustrated with a simple average-velocity problem featuring Fast Freda.4EhkFuVGmco

Centrifugal Force
Hank addresses the so-called centrifugal force, and explai
why you really mean centripetal force.DLgy6rVV-08

Bikes and Bee Problem
Paul shows a simple solution to a classic problem involving the motion of a bee that flies to-and-fro between approaching bikes.lw-rhXczLGI

Linear Motion Definitions
Paul links central kinematic definitio
and equatio
to Barry Biker.MfDv4FMDlpI

Gravitation: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics
Hank continues our series on the four fundamental forces of physics with a description of gravitation - the interaction by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to that of their ma...

Usain Bolt vs. Gravity
Who's faster over 10 mete
- the fastest sprinter in the world, or gravity9YUtFpLpGfk

Demonstration

Schrödinger’s cat
Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpreta...

Foam Physics
What is the link between giraffes, wine corks and the map of the Unive
e?yLTrD9LYQTs

How Does A Boomerang Work?
A boomerang can execute its unique roundtrip flight by making use of three fundamental physics principles: lift, relative velocity, and gyroscopic precession.ADJKsLEAOHo

The Electric Cannon
We use an unusual cannon to demo
trate electrical conductivity at different temperatures.eA3SDiyMiWU

Yo-Yos in Space
NASA Astronaut Don Pettit uses his off-duty time to practice his microgravity yo-yo skills.ni4j5K4Lz3o

Touch Screens and Quantum Tunnelling
We look at the latest touch screen technology and how it uses the strange phenomenon of quantum tunnellingqI5q6OqSo4s

Electricity and Magnetism

Electromagnetism – Electrostatic Force: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics
Hank reaches the fourth and final of the four fundamental interactio
in physics: electromagnetism. In this part, he teaches us about the electrostatic force, which builds up a charge in an object...

Current and Magnets
Professor Roger Bowley uses fuse wire, magnets and electrical current for a quick demo
trationUV0wtX9AXq4

Electromagnetism – Magnetic Force: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics
In this final segment on the four fundamental forces of physics, Hank tackles the magnetic force, the second of the two ways in which electromagnetism is apparent in the unive
e.cy6kba3A8vY

Voltage vs Distance in a Uniform Electric Field
Greg Jacobs - AP Physics Summer I
titute: Voltage vs Distance in a Uniform Electric Field4Jnb_biFbd8

Cryogenic Experiments on Passive and Active Electronic Components
In this episode, Shahriar investigates the theory and experimental results of the impact of extreme low temperatures on passive and active components. Liquid Nitrogen in used in a tra
parent glass D...

Bottle Radio
Crystal radio technology has been around for many yea
. This "bottle radio" take on a crystal radio requires no power source, operates on the power from radio waves, and receives signal from a long...

Fluids and Thermodynamics

Solid Nitrogen, Vacuum Cooling and Dry Ice
What happe
when you decrease the pressure around a liquid? It boils. Water boils at room temperature once the pressure is low enough. What is interesting is that this decreases the temperature of t...

Effects of water pressure
This clip illustrates the effects of water pressure on a ball filled with air. The same compression happe
to the air i
ide the human ear, which is why we have to equalize the ea
when freediving....

Heat conduction
Heat conduction. Wooden and metal pedestal stand in hot water. Since metal is a better heat conductor than wood, the ice cube on a metal pedestal melt faster than the ice cube on wooden pedestal....

Paramagnetism of Oxygen
Oxygen gas is conde
ed into liquid form and then poured between the poles of a strong magnet so we can observe its paramagnetic properties.We send O2 gas through a copper coil, which is then imm...

Lenses and Vortices
NASA Astronaut Don Pettit takes advantage of the weightless environment aboard the ISS to do diffusion and le
experiments with pure water. Distributed as part of a collaboration between NASA and...

Anti-Gravity Water Trick
It's easy to keep water in an upside down container with nothing but a card. However, only those possessing extreme skill can keep the water from falling out when the card is removed. Are YOU skil...

Modern Physics

Michio Kaku Explains String Theory
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku explai
the basics of String TheorykYAdwS5MFjQ

Strong Interaction: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics
Part one of a four part series on the fundamental forces (or interactio
) of physics begi
with the strong force or strong interaction - which on the small scale holds quarks together to form proto
...

What is Antimatter?
Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes antimatter and its properties. He also explai
why antimatter, though a reality, doesn't pose any current threat to our existence!en2S1tBl1_s

Higgs Boson: How do you search for it?
Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes the concept of how the search for the Higgs boson is accomplished. Several large experimental groups are hot on the trail of this elusive subatomic particle...

What is the Wave/Particle Duality?
Wave Particle Duality and why quantum mechanics is weirder than anything we're used to in our daily lives!Q_h4IoPJXZw_riIY-v2Ym8

Neutrons and Nanoscience
Beams of neutro
can be used to make important discoveries in the world of nanoscience. Here we explore three i
truments (and beamlines) at the ISIS facility in Oxfordshire, where Neutro
are put to...

Nuclear Physics

Weak Interaction: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics
Hank continues our series on the four fundamental forces of physics by describing the weak interaction, which operates at an infinitesimally small scale to cause particle decay.cnL_nwmCLpY

Particle Physics

NOvA Neutrino Experiment Installs First Detector Block
Time lapse of Fermilab's NOvA neutrino experiment i
talling the fi
t of 28 detector blocks in Ash River, MN. Each block is 51 x 51 x 7 feet and when i
talled will weigh 500 metric to
.gFpK00WJl9...

The Evolution of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Over the cou
e of its 50 year history, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has evolved from a groundbreaking particle physics research facility to one of the world's foremost multipurpose laborator...

Gargamelle and Neutral Currents
Gathering dust (and beer ca
) under a tree at CERN - it's Gargamelle. This experiment played a key role in Nobel Prize-winning research into the weak force. It's now on public displaybasLNz6frO8...

Rutherford Scattering – Classroom Demo
Rutherford Scattering: A simple way to demo
trate back-scattering in a classroom.5ovtgA6GbxU

Higgs Boson: How to Discover a Particle
How do you know when you've "e;discovered"e; a particle? What do we mean by "e;discovery"e;?6guXMfg88Z8

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 20
Self-Inductance, RL Circuits, Magnetic Field Energy.UpO6t00bPb8

Theories

Animal Magnetism: How Animals Navigate
Hank tells us about new research into the question of how animals navigate from place to place - while the problem is still unresolved, we do have some hypotheses, and they all involve something cal...

Uncertainty
Uncertainty, Why we can never know the position of a proton for sure?D1yb1adU2vI

From Kaleidoscopes to Theories of Everything and Nothing
How the idea of symmetry helps us unde
tand the world.Dr. Howard Georgi - Harvard Unive
ity April 29, 1997PMZU_rM3bS0

Theory of Everything
A brief intro to the current theory of (almost) everything - the Standard Model of particle physics. It's like cake, only unive
al.HVO0HgMi6Lc

Albert Einstein: Why Light is Quantum
Pi day (3.14) is Albert Ei
tein's Birthday! To celebrate, we'll explain 4 of his most groundbreaking pape
from 1905, when he was just 26 yea
old.hSgIDgGpRpk

Einstein and The Special Theory of Relativity
How Ei
tein (& othe
) discovered Special Relativity.ajhFNcUTJI0