Physics around us: from a first experiment to your own lab
A free physics course with no skipped steps: observe, measure, and test explanations. The first eight lessons investigate a pendulum.
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Every lesson is open: reading needs no account.
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Why physics matters and what makes a question testable
Turn an everyday 'why?' into a question that an observation can answer, and start a lab notebook.
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Observation, explanation, and honest records
Separate what you saw from why you think it happened, and record inconvenient results too.
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Prediction and experiment: change one condition
Compare two cases so a result can be linked to the condition you changed.
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Quantity, number, and unit
Find out why '30' does not specify a length but '30 cm' does.
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Measuring length: scale, division, repeat
Measure from the hanging point to the weight's centre and see why a ruler cannot justify unlimited decimal places.
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Measuring time and a pendulum's period
Count complete swings and obtain the time for one from the time for ten.
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Tables, graphs, and limits of a conclusion
Organise results and plot two points without pretending to know an entire curve.
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Checkpoint: a pendulum investigation
Assemble your first complete investigation report and check that every conclusion follows from the record.