Welcome


The title says it all: this blog features physics videos found everywhere on the web: animations, demonstrations, lectures, documentaries.
Please go here if you want to suggest other nice physics videos, and here if I mistakingly infringed your copyrights. If you understand French, you'll find a huge selection of physics videos in French in my other blog Vidéos de Physique.

Monday 28 February 2011

Electromagnetic Spectrum: Radio Waves

Radio waves and radiotelescopes. Made by NASA.

Other videos from this series

Dynamics of the rotor

A rotor in action in some amusement park:



The forces acting on a passenger:



Other animations by Yves Pelletier

Rolling motion

As the wheel rotates a complete revolution (without slipping), its center moves a linear distance equal to the circumference.

Other animations by Yves Pelletier

Electromagnetic wave

This short animation illustrates the propagation of a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave.  The electric field is shown in blue, and the magnetic field in red.

1D Standing Wave Patterns

This animation shows an assortment of standing wave patterns under varied boundary conditions.

Other animations by Penn State Schuylkill

Sunday 27 February 2011

Quarks (Sixty Symbols)

Professor Roger Bowley and Professor Ed Copeland from the University of Nottingham talk about quarks.

Source:  Sixty Symbols


Relativity (Cassiopeia Project)

Here is a very nice documentary about relativity.

Special relativity: time dilation, lenght contraction.  General relativity: curvature of space-time (chapter 5), black holes (chapter 6).

Source:  Cassiopeia Project

Other Cassiopeia Project videos


Chapter 1:



Chapteur 2:



Chapter 3:



Chapter 4:



Chapter 5:



Chapter 6:

Thursday 24 February 2011

Einstein for everyone

Short Einstein's biography.  E = mc^2, special relativity, general relativity, some anecdotes.

General public, no maths.

Other lectures from Jefferson Lab Science Series


The Reason for the Seasons

Seasons are created by the position of the Sun relative to the orientation of the Earth's rotation axis. As the Earth orbits the Sun, this relative position changes.

Source: Penn State Schylkill

Other animations by Penn State Schuylkill

Wednesday 23 February 2011

MIT 8.01 Classical Mechanics Lecture 8

MIT Physics Course
Professor Walter Lewin
8.01 Physics  I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999

Friction (at the end: an old movie showing a flee pulling a large frictionless object!)

See other videos in this series.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Jefferson Lab and the Mystery of Quarks

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility



Eureka! Episode 6: Gravity

Force of gravity: why do things fall down?

Other Eureka episodes

MIT Physics Demo -- Pendulum and Magnet

A solid copper pendulum is set into motion between the poles of an electromagnet. The magnets induce eddy currents in the copper which oppose the motion of the pendulum. The pendulum quickly slows to a stop.

When a copper pendulum with strips cut into it is swung between the same magnets, it is not slowed nearly as much as the solid pendulum. This is because the cuts in the copper prevent large eddy currents from forming.

Source:  MIT TechTV

See other MIT physics demos


Saturday 19 February 2011

Yale: Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics, Lecture 7

ASTR 160 - Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics
Spring 2007
Source: Yale University, Open Yale Courses

Third method to detect exoplanets: astrometry (and comparison with other methods:  radial velocity and transit).  In the last 10 minutes:  presentation of some upcoming projects:  Kepler mission (transits), SIM mission (astrometry), Terrestrial Planet Finder (direct planet imaging).

See other lectures in this series.

Friday 18 February 2011

Thursday 17 February 2011

The Human Body is the Ultimate Physics Laboratory

The Tyndall Lecture by Dr Kevin McGuigan: 'The Human Body is the Ultimate Physics Laboratory' toured Ireland from 20 January - 12 February 2009.  We explore how the same physical principles determine the size of an aneurysm, the characteristic tone of flatulence or the curvature of a David Beckham free-kick.

Using the latest images, movies and demonstrations we see why perspiration is much more socially acceptable compared the cooling methods used by other animal species. A forensic examination of road traffic collisions and the injuries they produce reveal that the physical cause for these is often closely related to one of the roles played by saliva!

Source:  Institute of Physics


Wednesday 16 February 2011

Beats animation

2 waves (green and cyan) have slightly different frequency. The amplitude of the resultant wave (yellow) varies with time.

Other animations by Yves Pelletier

Beats demo (tuning forks)

Two tuning forks with slightly different frequencies produce beats.

Monday 14 February 2011

The Siphon

Physics of Hockey

Brad Orr, from University of Michingan Physics Department.
Why ice is slippery?  Shooting.  How padding protects from collisions.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Jumping Ring

A solid metal ring is placed on an iron core whose base is wrapped in wire. When DC current is passed through the wire, a magnetic field is formed in the iron core. This sudden magnetic field induces a current in the metal ring, which in turn creates another magnetic field that opposes the original field. This causes the ring to briefly jump upwards.

If there is a cut in the ring, it cannot form current inside it, and thus will not jump.

When the ring is cooled in liquid nitrogen, the resistance of the metal is lowered, allowing more current to flow. This lets the ring jump higher. However, the magnetic field curves away at the top of the iron coil, meaning with DC power, the ring will never fly off the top.

When AC current is passed through the wire, the ring flies off the top of the iron core. This is due to the fact that the current lags the emf by 90 degrees in inductors (which is what we have here). This yields forces on the ring that are always pointing upwards, even as the current oscillates.

Source:  MIT TechTV

See other MIT physics demos

Saturday 12 February 2011

The physics of baseball

Jefferson Lab's Science Series
Speaker: Dr. Alan Nathan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: March 28, 2002

Other lectures from Jefferson Lab Science Series


Aurora Borealis

Collision of charged particles in Earth's magnetic field.

Friday 11 February 2011

Nearsightedness and Farsightedness

Normal vision, myopia (nearsightedness, shortsightedness), yyperopia (farsightedness,longsightedness hypermetropia), presbyopia.

Particle Hunters

CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at LHC.

Part 1:



Part 2:

Thursday 10 February 2011

Yale: Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics, Lecture 6

ASTR 160 - Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics
Spring 2007
Source: Yale University, Open Yale Courses

Finding planets from transits:  some planets are discovered when they partially obscure light coming from star.  Planetary migration.

See other lectures in this series.

Magnetic Motor

A toroid with three different wire windings is connected to 220 VAC 3-phase voltage. The voltage phase of each of the three windings lags 120 degrees behind the next, creating a changing induced magnetic field. The changing field causes metal objects to rotate when placed inside.

See other MIT physics demos

Boundary Conditions on a String

If the end of the string is fixed (hard reflection), the reflected impulse is reversed. If the end of the string is free to move (soft reflection), the reflected impulse is not reversed.

Other animations by Penn State Schuylkill

Wednesday 9 February 2011

X-Ray interactions

This animation illustrates the five primary mechanisms by which high energy photons interact with matter:  coherent scattering, Compton effect, photoelectric effect, pair production and photodisintegration.

Other animations by Penn State Schuylkill

Tuesday 8 February 2011

MIT 8.01 Classical Mechanics Lecture 6

MIT Physics Course
Professor Walter Lewin
8.01 Physics  I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999

Newton's laws, inertial frame of reference, action and reaction, Hero's engine.  Detailed example: an object at rest suspended by 2 strings.

See other videos in this series.

Saturday 5 February 2011

Eureka! Episode 5 - Acceleration II

How to calculate acceleration when we know the change in velocity and the time.

Other Eureka episodes

Tides

Tides are caused by gravitationnal force of the moon on the earth.

See other Brighstorm videos

Cloud Chamber

Subatomic particles such as cosmic ray muons, alpha particles, and high energy electrons are striking our bodies all the time. In the cloud chamber, these particles ionize air molecules, creating delicate cloud trails by condensing supersaturated alcohol vapor. This is similar to the way condensation trails are formed in the sky behind airplanes. This is about as close as you'll ever get to seeing subatomic particles with your own eyes...

See other MIT physics demos


Large Hadron Collider

A documentary about LHC, made by CERN.

Thursday 3 February 2011

Time Dilation - An Experiment With Mu-Mesons

Muon decay proves time dilation.  Filmed in 1962.

Hinged Stick and a Falling Ball

Two wood boards are connected by a hinge. A small cup is mounted near one end of the upper board with a tee for a ball on the end. The board is lifted to a certain height, and when released the ball ends up in the plastic cup. This shows that the board has moved farther than the ball in the same period of time.

Source:  MIT TechTV

See other MIT physics demos

Julius Sumner Miller - Mechanical Toys

Julius Sumner Miller uses various mechanical toys to illustrate physics principles.

Other physics demonstrations by Julius Sumner Miller




Coupled pendulums

Two pendulums attached to the same horizontal string transfer their motion back and forth.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Mechanical Advantage - Pulleys

Mechanical advantage of a fixed pulley, a movable pulley and a chain block.

MIT 8.01 Classical Mechanics Lecture 5

MIT Physics Course
Professor Walter Lewin
8.01 Physics  I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999

Uniform circular motion.  At 12 minutes:  experiment showing that if we stop pulling the object toward the center, its motion become linear.  Orbits of planets.  Centrifuging a wet lettuce.  Artificial gravity.  Centrifuge demonstration.  Bucket of water in vertical circular motion.

See other videos in this series.


Weightlessness in a free falling elevator

Dr Quantum - Double Slit Experiment

Double slit experiment and wave-particle duality.

Waves in a large free sphere of water

Filmed in the international space station.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

TED Talks: Andrea Ghez and the hunt for a supermassive black hole

Is there a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy?

Other TED Talks

Eureka! Episode 4 - Acceleration Part 1

Force varies with mass and acceleration:  F= ma

Other Eureka episodes

Brightstorm: Gravity Overview

Introduction to gravitational force.  Distinction between mass and weight.  How to calculate weight from mass.

See other Brighstorm videos