Why Raindrops Are Mathematically Impossible

Rain shouldn't happen, according to basic physics.

 

How Do Airplanes Fly?

How do airplanes fly?

 

What IS Angular Momentum?

Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute!

 

Why is it Harder to Drive Backwards?

Why is it harder to drive backwards than forward

 

Why are Stars Star-Shaped?

Stars are spherical...so why do we draw them with points?

Because of diffraction...

 

How Far Can Legolas See?

Vision is limited by diffraction.

 

How to Find an Exoplanet

These planets are too far away for direct observation.

 

How Long Can You Balance a Pencil?

Equilibrium.

 

How to See Without Glasses

A pinhole can replace a lense.

 

A Polarizing Discovery About the Big Bang!

Relativity Isn't Relative

Several important quantities are not relative.

 

How Modern Light Bulbs Work

Incadescent lamps, halogen lamps, fluorescent lamps, vapor lamps, LED.

Magnetic Levitation

Diamagnetism and magnetic levitation.

3 Simple Ways to Time Travel (& 3 Complicated Ones)

Walk, build a wormhole...

 

MAGNETS: How Do They Work?

How do magnets work? Why do they attract and repel at long distances? Is it magic? No... it's quantum mechanics, and a bit more, as we explain in this, the longest MinutePhysics video ever.

 

 Magnetism seems like a pretty magical phenomenon. Rocks that attract or repel each other at a distance - that's really cool - and electric current in a wire interacts in the same way. What's even more amazing is how it works. We normally think of special relativity as having little bearing on our lives because everything happens at such low speeds that relativistic effects are negligible. But when you consider the large number of charges in a wire and the strength of the electric interaction, you can see that electromagnets function thanks to the special relativistic effect of length contraction. In a frame of reference moving with the charges, there is an electric field that creates a force on the charges. But in the lab frame, there is no electric field so it must be a magnetic field creating the force. Hence we see that a magnetic field is what an electric field becomes when an electrically charged object starts moving.

 

How to Destroy a Magnet (+ interactive periodic table)

Magnets are amazingly strong... but there's a very easy way to destroy them. All you need to know is a little bit about ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, and temperature!

 

How to Survive a Lightning Strike

Conductors, Faraday cage...

 

Do We Expand With The Universe?

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

 

How to Turn Sound Into Light: Sonoluminescence

Another awesome thing the Mantis Shrimp does...

 

Can we Predict Everything?

Einstein didn't like quantum mechanics because it wasn't able to make perfect predictions... but science is not about what you like, it's about what's true!