🏭 Applied Physics
Physics in the wild: sports, vehicles, medicine, energy, electronics and the technology around you.
What you will learn
- Connect classroom physics to engineered systems
- Explain how everyday devices use physics
- Analyze sports through mechanics
- Describe energy technologies physically
Study guide
High School concepts
Aerospace Physics Basics — Lift, Thrust, Drag and Orbits
Aerospace physics basics: the four forces of flight, how wings really make lift, thrust and drag, orbits and escape velocity.
Car Physics — Braking, Cornering and Crash Safety
Car physics: why braking distance grows with v², cornering and centripetal force, crumple zones, and ABS.
Renewable Energy Physics — Solar, Wind and Hydro Power
Renewable energy physics: solar photovoltaic effect, wind power and the Betz limit, hydroelectric energy, and storage.
Robotics Physics — Torque, Sensors and Control
Robotics physics: torque and gearing, sensors (ultrasonic, encoders), balance and center of mass, and feedback control.
Smartphone Sensors — The Physics Inside Your Phone
The physics inside smartphones: MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, GPS and Einstein's relativity correction.
The Physics of Sports — Projectiles, Spin and Collisions
The physics of sports: projectile motion, the Magnus effect and curveballs, collisions, friction and grip.
Beginner concepts
Everyday Electricity — Your Home's Circuits and Power Bill
Everyday electricity: home circuits, series vs parallel outlets, power P = IV, the kilowatt-hour, and reading your power bill.
Nanotechnology — Physics at the Billionth-of-a-Meter Scale
What happens between 1 and 100 nanometers: surface-area scaling, quantum confinement, and why materials change color and chemistry at the nanoscale.
Intermediate concepts
How GPS Depends on Einstein's Relativity
GPS satellites carry atomic clocks that tick 38 microseconds fast per day because of relativity. Without Einstein's corrections, positions would drift about…
Superconductors — Zero Resistance and the Meissner Effect
Below a critical temperature some materials conduct with exactly zero resistance and expel magnetic fields. How it works, from mercury at 4.2 K to high-Tc…
Introductory College concepts
Medical Imaging Physics — X-rays, Ultrasound and MRI
Medical imaging physics: how X-rays, CT, ultrasound and MRI work — photons, sound echoes, and magnetic resonance.
Semiconductors Explained — Bands, Doping and the pn Junction
Band gaps, n-type and p-type doping, and how the pn junction turns silicon into diodes and transistors — the physics inside every chip.
Practice
Energy Technology Practice
10 problems · 10 practice problems on energy technology — solar, wind, batteries and efficiency in the real world.…
Medical Physics Practice
10 problems · 10 practice problems on medical physics — X-rays, MRI, ultrasound and radiation in medicine.…
Space Physics Practice
10 problems · 10 practice problems on space physics — orbits, microgravity, rockets and the challenges of spacefli…