Sciences Grades 10-12

Explore the interactions between two atoms. Turn on the force arrows to see the total force acting on the atoms or the individual attractive and repulsive forces. Try the "Adjustable Attraction" atom to see how changing the parameters affects the interaction.

What does E=MC2 actually mean? Why is it so useful to us as physicists and humans? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini sits down to go over the basics of it all.

What does E=MC2 actually mean? Why is it so useful to us as physicists and humans? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini sits down to go over the basics of it all.

Originally discovered by accident, X-rays are now used about 100 million times a year in clinics around the world. How do X-rays work? This video describes the history and mechanics of the X-ray machine and CT scanners.

Clifford Johnson describes the idea of breaking down the universe to a few very small elementary particles. Visit the Think and Dig Deeper links for a quiz and additional information.

In 2012, scientists at CERN discovered evidence of the Higgs boson, one of two types of fundamental particles and a game-changer in the field of particle physics, proving how particles gain mass. This animated video explains the exciting implications of the Higgs boson.

How did the universe begin and how is it expanding? CERN physicist Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these questions by replicating the heat, energy, and activity of the first few seconds of our universe, from right after the Big Bang. (site)

Why does a balloon stick to your sweater? Rub a balloon on the sweater, then let go of the balloon and it flies over and sticks to the sweater. View the charges in the sweater, balloons, and the wall.

Why do we not observe quantum effects in everyday life? Sabine Hossenfelder explains a break through paper that attempts to answer this question.

It's time to delve into the world of AC Circuits (or alternating currents). We’ve talked about how they change voltage, which helps transmit electricity over long distances, but there’s so much more to the physics of AC circuitry.

Hans Christian Oersted had just discovered the connection between electricity and magnetism. Meanwhile, André-Marie Ampère was experimenting with some wires, trying to learn more about the connection between currents and the magnetic fields they create. Ampère would discover one of the most fundamental laws of electromagnetism: what we now call Ampère’s Law.

By now you know your way around a basic DC circuit. You’ve learned how to simplify circuits with resistors connected in series and parallel with a single battery source. But a lot of the real-world circuits that you encounter — and will have to describe — are much more complicated.

How does Stranger Things fit in with physics and, more specifically, circuit analysis? I'm glad you asked! In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini walks us through the differences between series and parallel circuits and how that makes Christmas lights work the way they work.

Batteries power much of your daily life, so today we're going to talk about how they work. We're also explaining how terminal voltage results from the natural internal resistance of every real battery. We'll get into both series and parallel circuit configurations, and how the laws of conservation affect the current and voltage for each.

The way light behaves can seem very counterintuitive, and many physicists would agree with that, but once you figure out light waves it all starts to make more sense! In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini shows us how we know that light exists as a wave and why that's really cool!

You’re probably familiar with the basics of magnets already. Did you know that only certain materials, especially those that contain iron, can be magnets? And there’s a magnetic field around Earth, which is why you can use a compass to figure out which way is north? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini takes us into the world of magnetism!

In the mid-1800s, Scottish physicist James Maxwell decided to assemble a set of equations that held true for all electromagnetic interactions. In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini talks to us about Maxwell's Equations and how important they are to our understanding of Physics.

What is light? That is something that has plagued scientists for centuries. It behaves like a wave... and a particle... what? Is it both? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini introduces the idea of quantum mechanics and how it helps us understand light.

e=mc2... it's a big deal, right? But why? And what about this grumpy cat in a box and probability? In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini attempts to explain a little more on the topic of quantum mechanics.

Light is everywhere … but it’s not as predictable as you might think. It’s a wave that travels in straight lines, yet it also reflects off of surfaces, refracts through various materials, and generally changes direction all the time!

So, how do those defibrillators you see on TV actually work? Surprise! Physics can explain! Okay, buckle up, everyone! Today, Shini has the task of breaking down electrical potential energy, electric potential, voltage, capacitors, energy storage, and potential energy... it's a lot!

"Light a light bulb by waving a magnet. This demonstration of Faraday's Law shows you how to reduce your power bill at the expense of your grocery bill." [site]

There are three types of color receptors in your eye: red, green and blue. But how do we see the amazing kaleidoscope of other colors that make up our world? This video explains how humans can see everything from auburn to aquamarine.

"Marie Skłodowska Curie’s revolutionary research laid the groundwork for our understanding of physics and chemistry, blazing trails in oncology, technology, medicine, and nuclear physics, to name a few." Watch this video to learn about her amazing discoveries.

To help us understand the Higgs boson (a magic particle) and the Higgs Field, this video outlines an analogy of a large dinner party, a loud group of physicists, and Peter Higgs himself.

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that you can never simultaneously know the exact position and the exact speed of an object. Why not? Because everything in the universe behaves like both a particle and a wave at the same time.

What is charge? Is there a positive and negative charge? What do those things mean? In this episode, Shini talks about electrostatic forces, electrical charge, Coulomb's law, and the force between charged particles.

So, electric current works like a river... kinda... Instead of flowing based on elevation, electric current works a little differently. But it's a good metaphor. Shini talks to us about electric current, voltaic cells, and how we get electric charge.

As we learn more about electricity, we have to talk about fields. Electric fields may seem complicated, but they're really fascinating and a crucial part of physics. Shini chats about capacitors, conductors, electric field lines, and how objects with net charge generate electric fields.

Megneto helps Shini explain what induction is, how it works, and why magnetism is so seemingly complicated.

Chemical bonds form in order to minimize the energy difference between two atoms or ions. Learn about ionic and covalent bonds and how to calculate the energy transferred in an ionic bond using Coulomb's Law.

This video provides a history of discoveries related to electricity and how the words "electric, "electricity", and "batteries" came into use.

Ever notice how cereal tends to stick together in the middle of the bowl? Or it clumps to the edges. That makes it easy to eat, but why does it happen?

One of the greatest inventions is the steam engine. But why? What makes it so useful? And how does it work? In this episode, Shini talks to us about how engines work, what makes them efficient, and why they're pretty cool.

In this activity, you relate gravitational force to masses of objects and distance between objects. In addition, you learn about Newton's third law for gravitational forces. You can visualize the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other.

This activity, which is designed for high schoolers, allows students to collect data and calculate the speed of sound.

"How fast are you moving?" seems like an easy question, but it's actually quite complicated -- and perhaps best answered by another question: "Relative to what?" Even when you think you're standing still, the Earth is moving relative to the Sun, which is moving relative to the Milky Way, which is...you get the idea. Tucker Hiatt unravels the concepts of absolute and relative speed.

What if the next wave of spacecraft were small enough to fit into our pockets? This video describes the future of microspacecraft, and how scientists at NASA are hoping to use micropropulsion to launch tiny vessels outside of Earth’s orbit.