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.

Saturday 31 August 2013

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 34

Gratings. Resolving Power. Single-Slit Diffraction. Angular Resolution. Human Eye. Telescopes.

 

Friday 30 August 2013

Secondary Flow

Edward S. Tyler, MIT
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

MAKE presents: The Diode

It's the simplest semiconductor device made. It ushered in the age of radio, the electronic valve that rectifies and regulates - the diode!

 

Thursday 29 August 2013

Jabulani Football Physics - Sixty Symbols

We discuss the Jabulani (official World Cup football) which has caused so much debate - and a few of our scientists take it for some field testing!

 

Out scientists field test the official World Cup football with an impromptu penalty shoot-out.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Pulling a Cloth From Under a Beaker

A beaker is placed on top of a cloth, on top of a stool. The cloth is pulled quickly from underneath the beaker, while the beaker remains stationary. The impulse of the net force is made very small by reducing the time over which the cloth acts on the beaker. In other words, the force of the cloth does not act on the beaker long enough to accelerate it, so it does not move.

 

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Planck Length - Sixty Symbols

The planck length is unimaginably small. More physics videos at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

Monday 26 August 2013

Hewitt-Drew-it! 59. Buoyancy

Why is buoyancy an upward force? Why not sideways, or in some other direction?

 

Saturday 24 August 2013

Plate Sliding Under a Soda Can

A can is placed on top of a metal sheet on a stool. A broom hits the sheet causing it to fly from underneath the can, while the can remains stationary. The impulse of the net force is made very small by reducing the time over which the metal sheet acts on the can. In other words, the force of the sheet does not act on the can long enough to accelerate it, so it does not move.

 

Friday 23 August 2013

MAKE presents: The Transistor

They electronically switch and amplify signals by harnessing the unique abilities of semiconductor materials. Their invention has transformed the world of electronics and accelerated our entry into the digital age. Behold - the Transistor!

Brought to you by makezine.com
Audio and video by Collin Cunningham

 

How do aircraft remain in the sky?

In less than 100 seconds, Kara Peters puts our minds at ease by explaining how lift force can overcome gravity.

 

Thursday 22 August 2013

Turbulence

Robert W. Stewart, University of British Columbia
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Curie Point of Iron

A piece of iron is suspended with a copper wire at the height of one pole of a magnet. At first the iron is attracted to the magnet. The iron is then heated with a torch and eventually falls from the magnet. As the iron cools it will again be attracted to the magnet.

 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 32

Review for Exam 3.  Magnetic materials, magnetic field in a solenoid, transformers, RLC circuits, electromagnetic waves...

 

Monday 19 August 2013

The Science of Hyperloop

Michael Aranda explains the nuts and bolts of Hyperloop, the new magnet-driven, solar-powered transit system proposed by Spacex genius Elon Musk. Learn how Musk answered three vexing questions to create the transportation of the future -- or maybe the transportation of Futurama.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 58. Liquid Pressure

Liquid pressure depends on the density and the height, not the volume.

 

Sunday 18 August 2013

How can you filter out the vuvuzela?

Sixty Symbols takes a look at the dreaded vuvuzela and how it can be filtered out of World Cup football broadcasts. More physics at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

Saturday 17 August 2013

Do We Expand With The Universe?

The universe is expanding...do we expand with the universe?

 

Friday 16 August 2013

Gyroscopes Made Easy

The motion of a gyroscope in response to an applied force is analyzed. TSG's gimbaled gyroscope is used to demonstrate.

 

Thursday 15 August 2013

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 31

Rainbows. A modest rainbow will appear in the lecture hall! Fog Bows. Supernumerary Bows. Polarization of the Bows. Halos around the Sun and the Moon. Mock Suns.

 

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Hewitt-Drew-it! 57. Scaling 3

How does scaling affect heating, nourishment, and falling speeds of various creatures?

 

Tuesday 13 August 2013

ScienceCasts: The Sun's Magnetic Field is About to Flip

Something big is happening on the sun. The sun's global magnetic field is about to flip, a sign that Solar Max has arrived.

 

Monday 12 August 2013

DC Motor

A DC current is sent around a wire loop that is free to rotate. The current causes the loop to feel a torque in the presence of a magnetic field. Switching the current when the loop flips over allows it to continue accelerating, demonstrating the principle of a DC motor and the Lorentz force law.

 

Higgs Boson: The Inside Scoop

In July of 2012, physicists found a particle that might be the long-sought Higgs boson. In the intervening months, scientists have worked hard to pin down the identity of this newly-found discovery. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes researcher's current understanding of the particle that might be the Higgs. The evidence is quite strong but the final chapter of this story might well require the return of the Large Hadron Collider to full operations in 2015.

 

Sunday 11 August 2013

What is a frequency comb?

In less than 100 seconds, Paul Williams explains how optical frequency combs fill an important technological gap between the light bulb and the laser.

 

Saturday 10 August 2013

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 30

Polarizers. Malus's Law. Brewster Angle. Polarization by Reflection and Scattering.  Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? The sun will set in the lecture hall!

 

Friday 9 August 2013

The World's First Human-Made Nuclear Reactor

Today on SciShow, Hank brings us a little science history, telling us the tale of the world's first human-made nuclear reactor, which was built by a team of scientists and students led by Enrico Fermi in a converted squash court under a football field in Chicago.

 

Thursday 8 August 2013

Hewitt-Drew-it! 56. Scaling 2

How does scaling up the sizes of living creatures affect heat transfer?

 

Wednesday 7 August 2013

How does a pressure cooker work?

The laws of Physics apply to our everyday activities, even cooking food. Watch this animated video explaining how a pressure cooker works to cook our food faster.

 

Tuesday 6 August 2013

How To Make a Quantum Bit

We have looked at how a transistor works, the fundamental unit of classical computers, and how a quantum computer works in theory, taking advantage of quantum superposition to hold exponentially more information than classical computers. Now we look at the practical side of making a quantum bit, or qubit. How do you put it in a state where it is stable? How do you read and write information on it? These processes are described for a solid state qubit - a phosphorous atom in a silicon crystal substrate. Both the electron and the nucleus of the phosphorous atom can be used as qubits.

 

Monday 5 August 2013

Could We Stop An Asteroid?

Could we stop an asteroid on a collision course for Earth? (featuring Bill Nye).

 

Sunday 4 August 2013

Non-Isotropic Oscillator

A puck on an air table acts as a non-isotropic oscillator, tracing out a Lissajous figure with a 2:3 ratio.

 For more on the theory behind this demo, and to see others like it, please visit us at http://www.ap.smu.ca/demos

 

Saturday 3 August 2013

Hewitt-Drew-it! 55. Scaling 1

How does scaling up the sizes of living creatures affect strength?

 

Friday 2 August 2013

ScienceCasts: Perseid Fireballs

New research from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office identifies the Perseids as the "fireball champion" of annual meteor showers. This year's Perseid display peaks on August 12th and 13th.

 

Thursday 1 August 2013

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 29

Snell's Law, refraction, total feflection, dispersion, prisms, Huygens's Principle, the illusion of color, the weird Benham top, Land's famous demo.