102 Fun Facts About Physics to Blow Your Mind

The universe is a crazy place. We learned a thing or two about its mysterious nature, but we still have a long way to go, Here are 102 Fun Facts About Physics that can impress you.

physics science

The speed of time.

If you travel at the speed of the light, time would stop. According to Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, the faster you go, the slower time passes relative to your surroundings.

Seriously, if you ride in a Ferrari for an hour, you’ll have aged a little less than if you were relaxing at home on the computer. The extra nanoseconds you get may not be worth the gas price, but hey, it’s an option.

Now, before creating a quick immortality scheme, keep in mind that moving at the speed of light is not really possible unless you are made of light. Technically speaking, moving so fast would require an infinite amount of energy (and frankly, not even a Chihuahua has as much energy).

Find that star.

Our sun bends the light. Affected by gravity, the path of a ray of light is not exactly straight. So if a beam of light from a distant star passes near our sun, it will actually curve slightly around it. The effect on an observer, like us, is that we see stars in different places where they really are.

Where is the dough hidden?

The amount of total mass in the universe is much greater than the mass we can explain. Physicists have developed an explanation for this, and the main theory at the moment is that dark matter, a mysterious substance that emits no light, explains the lost mass. Dark matter and dark energy make up almost 95% of mass of the universe.

physics facts

 Understanding cosmic expansion.

This is where things get a little incomprehensible. Before it was a TV show, the Big Bang theory was an important explanation for the origin of our universe. Basically, the universe started out as an explosion.

The wreckage (planets, stars, etc.) were thrown in all directions, driven by the enormous energy of the explosion. As all these debris is very heavy, we expect this explosion to subside after a while.

Here’s the kicker: it hasn’t slowed down at all. In fact, the universe is expanding faster with passing the time. This is as crazy as throwing a baseball that gets faster and faster without ever hitting the ground again. The predominant explanation for this is that the force exerted by dark matter and energy is driving cosmic expansion.

So many hydrogen atoms.

Hydrogen atom is the most abundant atom in the universe. Almost 74% of the atoms in the Milky Way are hydrogen atoms.

facts about physics

Electrons behave differently when you observe them.

That’s completely true, the mere act of observation can completely change the outcome of the event! In the famous Double Slit Experiment, research has shown that when a camera observes electrons, they act as particles.

However, when no equipment is used to observe electrons, they act as waves and particles simultaneously. There is a huge disagreement and uncertainty about why this is happening.

Empty space.

There are, in the channels of science, some facts that simply make you lose faith. Things that, if they hadn’t been studied for years by the smartest minds on the planet, I’d be tempted to instantly dismiss as the stupenalyded delusions of an absolute madman.

If this is the case, I’m still tempted to do that. Apparently, all the matter that makes up the human race would fit into a sugar cube. That’s the way it is. Everyone you’ve ever met, everyone who’s ever lived, by the way, we could all be crushed into a small piece of matter with about half an inch on each side if you just reduced us to our basic components. After all, atoms are 99.99999999999999% of empty space.

Multicolored holes?

Black holes aren’t black. They’re very dark, of course, but they’re not black. They glow slightly, emitting light across the spectrum, including visible light. This radiation is called “Hawking radiation” in honor of former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge Stephen Hawking, who first proposed its existence.

Because black holes are constantly emitting this radiation and therefore losing mass, they will eventually evaporate if they have no other source of mass to sustain them.

Usain Bolt. The heaviest man in the world?

The faster you move, the heavier you become. However, this is negligible at human speeds, even Usain Bolt is not noticeably heavier when running than when it is still, but when it reaches an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, it’s mass increases rapidly.

So in a way, if you put yourself in the context of the entire known universe, you’re basically as fast as Bolt.

gravity facts

I’m already at my ideal weight! On the moon!

The weight (force of gravity) decreases as you move away from the Earth. That’s because, although we don’t think much about it during our lives on Earth, weight isn’t really an objective measure of how much matter a thing contains, that’s why we have mass.

Weight is a measure of how much gravity something experiences, which is a function of what other bodies are around this object and how they themselves respond to gravity.

Quick Fun Facts About Physics:

  • If we discard the empty space of each person, compressing their atoms. The human race would be reduced to a dense cube weighing 5 billion tons.
  • We still don’t know for sure what the cosmos is made of. Despite recent discoveries, most are composed of dark matter and dark energy (98%).
  • A very interesting fact is the effect that gravity and speed have on time.
  • If you were an astronaut and were on the International Space Station, you would become younger. Every 747 days you would get a second, because time passes slower.
  • The goal of physics is to describe how everything works around us. From the movement of small particles to the movement of spaceships.
  • Physics also explains the phenomena of light and sound.
  • Concepts such as heat, work, strength and energy were developed thanks to the work of important physicists.
  • Physics contributes directly to many other disciplines.
  • In architecture, physics is part of studies of acoustics, lighting, heating and structural stability.
  • Geology requires physics for earthquake analysis.
  • Biophysics is a combination of the biology and physics.
  • In medicine, physics is present in diagnostic methods such as X-rays, MRI and Ultrasound. It is also in treatments such as radiotherapy.
  • Physics is a vast science with many fields to explore, from infinitely small to abysmal.
  • Wilhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays in 1895.
  • The GPS system, which means global positioning system, uses these relationships to determine travel time from one place to another.

More Interesting Fun facts about physics:

  • The mechanism by which the microwave oven heats food is purely physical. A device called magnetron generates electromagnetic waves.
  • Physics is one of the oldest and most evolving sciences. This is the desire of the human being to explain his environment.
  • The first physicist was Anaxagoras (500-430 BC), who felt that change is the main characteristic of nature.
  • Aristotle is the idea that astronomy could not be divorced from physics.
  • Archimedes’ contributions (287-212 BC) to physics were static and hydrostatic. He is credited with the phrase “give me a point of support and I will move the world”.
  • The studies of Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) served as the basis for the heliocentric theory of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Copernicus.
  • The revolution in physics began with Isaac Newton, famous for the law of universal gravitation, he also enunciated the laws of movement.
  • The discovery of the atom by John Dalton (1766-1844), the acoustic studies of John William Strutt (1842-1919) and the studies of electricity by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) were great contributions to post-Newton physics. .
  • Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 1916 revolutionizing the vision of space, matter, energy and time.
  • Physics deals with the fundamental laws of the universe, that is, with the understanding and description of the mechanics with which the universe operates.
  • Despite the great advances of astrophysics in recent decades, more doubts have arisen about the composition of the universe.
  • The amount of visible matter (planets, stars, stellar objects) represents 2% of the universe’s matter, but the rest is composed of what we call “dark matter” and “dark energy”.

also check 40 Internet Fun facts That Will Amaze you

  • The well-known Big Bang Theory is currently the most accepted in relation to the creation of the Universe we know.
  • The famous Equation E=mc² explains how mass and energy are part of the same thing, so if you move an object, you’re adding energy and therefore mass.
  • When physics teaching begins to explain Newton’s mechanics, the three famous laws of dynamics and the nature of forces, usually everything starts well.
  • About 10 seconds after the Big Bang, the temperature of the universe was about a billion kelvins.
  • Astrophysicists, like many scientists, never stop asking themselves.
  • Dark matter, as its name suggests, has no light. It does not absorb or emit radiation, so it cannot be seen directly.
  • To explain some puzzles left by the Big Bang theory, physicists devised a set of theories they called cosmic inflation.
  • If we look at the universe, we can see a sphere that seems to spread equally in all directions.
  • One of the key questions for scientists is where we’re going.
  • The laws of quantum physics say that the configuration of particles within each space is finite and that this configuration must necessarily repeat itself, implying that there are infinite parallel universes.
  • If you travel at the speed of light, time would stop.
  • According to Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, the faster you go, the slower time passes relative to your surroundings.
  • The total amount of mass in the universe is much greater than the mass we can actually explain.
  • Physicists have developed an explanation for this, and the main theory at the moment is that dark matter, a mysterious substance that emits no light, explains the lost mass.
  • Hydrogen atom is the most abundant atom in the universe. Almost 74% of the atoms in the Milky Way are hydrogen atoms.
  • Electrons behave differently when you observe them.
  • All objects fall at the same speed.
  • The force of gravity pulls objects toward the center of the Earth at exactly the same speed.
  • In 1923, American physicist Robert Andrews Millikan received the Nobel Prize in Physics.
  • In Physics it is necessary to experiment, make accurate measurements and, of course, draw conclusions.
  • The elementary electrical charge is one of the fundamental constants of physics. So its precise determination is vital for this science.
  • Newton’s third law says that when a body A exerts a force on another body B, A exerts another equal but opposite force.
  • This explains why when we push someone into the pool. Our body tends to make the same movement, but in the opposite direction.
  • The law of inertia states that if no force acts on a body, it will remain, indefinitely, moving straight with constant speed.
  • We can relate this to a ball that keeps rolling in a straight line until someone sticks it in.
  • The passage of heat from a cold body to a hot one does not occur spontaneously; this is specified by the second law of thermodynamics.
  • With physics as a starting point, Einstein’s discoveries have left their mark on very diverse fields, and his predictions continue to be confirmed to this day.
  • The word physics comes from the Latin physica and the Greek physos, its meaning denotes what is relative to nature.
  • Physics is also used in research projects to study the behavior of bodies in related scientific areas.
  • In statistical physics are studies that can be applied to statistical techniques, that is, in ergodic theory and collectivity theory.
  • Physics is applied in technology for the innovation of technological devices and the study of its effective functioning.
  • The world’s smallest electric motor is smaller than the head of a pin.
  • Without E=MC2, GPS would not work properly.
  • The first law of thermodynamics states that in any case, the total amount of energy within the system will be equal to the same amount of external energy.
  • In physics, a wave consists of the spread of a disturbance of some property of space.
  • Everything you can see around you today – buildings, mountains, clouds, stars and planets – comes from a big “bang” that happened about 13.7 billion years ago.
  • In the old case it was thought that the Earth was flat and that we could reach a point where it would end and fall into a strange and unknown void.
  • Geocentrism is the cosmological model that states that the Earth is the center of the Universe. And that all planets and stars revolve around it.
  • There are only four known types of forces in the Universe: gravitational interaction, electromagnetic interaction, weak nuclear interaction, and strong nuclear interaction.
  • These interactions are part of the standard model of physics that seeks to explain the functioning of the Universe through a set of particles and forces that exist between them.
  • Planets and stars attract due to their masses.
  • All the stars in the Universe are attracted by the fact that they have mass. This evidence was collected by Isaac Newton in 1687 in his book Natural Principles of Natural Philosophy.
  • In the same work Newton speaks of three fundamental laws that today are known as newton’s three laws.
  • 1st law: law of inertia. If the sum of all forces on a body is zero, the body will continue to move constantly or at rest.
  • 2nd law: definition of force. The force that a body suffers when subjected to an acceleration is directly proportional to the product of its mass by acceleration.
  • 3rd law: law of action and reaction. If a body exerts a force on a second body, the second will exert an equal force on the first, but in the opposite direction.
  • Currently Universal Gravitation has been absorbed by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.
  • A curiosity is that the gravitational force is much weaker than electromagnetic force.
  • Electric current can be generated thanks to a moving magnet.
  • Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are not the same phenomenon.
  • Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei come together to form a third nucleus of a different element, generating a large amount of energy and some particles.
  • Nuclear fission occurs when an atomic nucleus is formed to form two lighter atomic nuclei, becoming lighter elements and releasing energy.
  • So far everything seems to indicate that energy is not created or destroyed, only transformed into other forms of energy.
  • Planet Earth turns on itself at 1,000 kilometers per hour. And so even if we’re asleep, we’re going at that speed.
  • The first to study the speed of sound was Isaac Newton in his treatise Principia, written in 1687.
  • The equation for calculating the speed of sound is: velocity=frequency x wavelength.
  • This equation is constant, but the speed may change depending on the medium in which the sound is moving, temperature and humidity.
  • The first measurement of the speed of sound in solid elements was made in the 19th century by the German physicist Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni.
  • In 1826, swiss physicist Daniel Colladon made the first measurements of the speed of sound in the water at a temperature of 8 ºC, and the results were 1435 meters per second.
  • Light is an electromagnetic wave composed of photons. It can also travel through the air as waves or as particles in the vacuum.
  • The Doppler Effect is the change in the perception of the frequency of sound waves

Did you know these facts and curiosities about physics?

Initially, physics was part, like so many other sciences, of the natural philosophy of antiquity, but after the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century emerged as an independent field, interested in the fundamental laws of reality and using the formal language of mathematics to express them.

Currently, physics is one of the disciplines that most contributes to the change of the scientific, industrial and technological paradigm in the world.

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