Topics commonly taught around grade 3 · Ages 8–9 · about 7.5 hours
Measuring things, forces and magnets
UnitUnits, scales and metric conversions with everyday objects, then forces, magnets and patterns of motion.
around grade 3 → Thermodynamics and statistical physics
Physics
Choose a course designed around topics commonly taught at an approximate age or learning level. This is not school placement or equivalency; start where you feel comfortable and choose another course at any time.
11levels
Freealways
Choose a level
Each level builds on the one before. Start wherever feels comfortable.
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1
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2
Topics commonly taught around grade 5 · Ages 10–11 · about 15.5 hours
Forces, energy and sound you can see
UnitForces between two things, speed and motion graphs, energy transfers, sound and light, what repeated readings are for, gravity, and matter made of particles whose mass is conserved.
Take first: Measuring things, forces and magnets
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3
Signed motion and its graphs, free-body diagrams and Newton's second law, density, pressure and torque, work, power and efficiency, and one relationship each for waves, circuits and heat.
Take first: Forces, energy and sound you can see, Mathematics level 6
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4
Physics 1 · Ages 14–18 · about 20 hours
Physics 1
Algebra-based mechanics: motion, forces, circular motion and gravitation, energy, momentum, rotation, oscillations and fluids.
Take first: Physics with numbers, Algebra I
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5
Physics 2 · Ages 14–18 · about 17.5 hours
Physics 2
Algebra-based thermal physics, electric and magnetic fields, circuits, optics, and waves.
Take first: Physics 1
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6
Physics C · Ages 14–18 · about 19.5 hours
Physics C
Calculus-based mechanics and electricity and magnetism.
Take first: Physics 2, Calculus AB
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7
Modern physics · Ages 18+ · about 13 hours
Modern physics
Special relativity, photons, quantum models, and nuclear physics.
Take first: Physics C, Calculus II
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8
Classical mechanics · Ages 18+ · about 13.5 hours
Classical mechanics
Newton's laws in any coordinates, drag and rockets, oscillations, Lagrangian mechanics, central forces and orbits, rotating frames and rigid bodies, Hamiltonian mechanics, normal modes and chaos.
Take first: Physics C, Calculus III, Differential equations
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9
Electromagnetism · Ages 18+ · about 14 hours
Electromagnetism
Electrostatics with vector calculus, potentials and dielectrics, magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves, radiation and relativity.
Take first: Physics C, Calculus III, Differential equations
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10
Quantum mechanics · Ages 18+ · about 14 hours
Quantum mechanics
The wave function, solvable potentials, operators and measurement, the hydrogen atom and spin, approximation methods, identical particles and entanglement.
Take first: Modern physics, Calculus III, Probability, Differential equations
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11
Thermodynamics and statistical physics · Ages 18+ · about 15 hours
Thermodynamics and statistical physics
Equipartition, entropy from multiplicity, temperature and chemical potential, engines and free energy, Boltzmann statistics and quantum gases.
Take first: Physics 2, Calculus III, Probability