Physics Learning Path
High School (11–12) Physics
Explore structured physics courses, solved problems, simulations and Python activities.
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Beats, Resonance and the Doppler Effect
StemPy LabBeats from two close frequencies, and how a tuner uses them. The resonance tube with its end correction. The Doppler effect for a moving source, a moving observer and both.
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Superposition and Standing Waves
The principle of superposition and the interference of two waves. Reflection at a fixed and at a free end. Standing waves and the normal modes of a string, and of pipes closed at one end or open at both.
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Travelling Waves and Wave Speed
Transverse and longitudinal waves. The equation of a travelling wave, with its amplitude, wavelength, period and phase. The speed of a wave on a stretched string, and the speed of sound in a gas with Laplace's correction.
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Periodic Motion and Simple Harmonic Motion
Periodic and oscillatory motion, with its period and frequency. The equation of simple harmonic motion, its amplitude and its phase. Its link with uniform circular motion, and the velocity and acceleration of the body.
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Force Law, Springs and Energy in SHM
The restoring force that grows with the displacement, and the angular frequency it gives. A mass on a horizontal or a vertical spring, and springs in series and in parallel. The kinetic, potential and total energy of an oscillator.
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The Simple Pendulum, Damping and Resonance
The simple pendulum and its period. Other bodies that oscillate: a liquid in a U-tube, a floating block and a rod swinging about one end. Damped oscillations that die away, and forced oscillations with resonance.
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Molecular Nature of Matter and the Gas Laws
Why we believe matter is made of molecules, and how far apart they are in solids, liquids and gases. The gas laws of Boyle, Charles and Avogadro lead to the ideal gas equation, with moles and the Boltzmann constant. Then Dalton's law of partial pressures, and where a real gas stops being ideal.
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Pressure, Temperature and Molecular Speeds
The kinetic model of an ideal gas. Molecules hitting a wall make a pressure. The average kinetic energy of a molecule is set by the temperature alone. Gas molecules have an rms, an average and a most probable speed.
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Equipartition, Specific Heats and Mean Free Path
A molecule can move, turn and vibrate. Each way of storing energy gets the same share of it. From that one rule we find the specific heats of gases, of mixtures, of solids and of water. Then we ask how far a molecule travels before it hits another one.
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Second Law, Heat Engines and Entropy
Heat flows from a hot body to a cold one by itself, and never the other way. A car engine wastes most of the energy of its fuel. In this course we state the second law of thermodynamics, we find the efficiency of heat engines and the coefficient of performance of refrigerators, we learn why the Carnot engine is the best possible, and we meet entropy, which tells us the direction in which changes happen.
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Specific Heats of Gases and Thermodynamic Processes
A gas has two specific heats, and the one at constant pressure is the larger. A gas that is compressed quickly gets hot, and a gas that is compressed slowly does not. In this course we find Mayer's relation, and we study the isobaric, isochoric, isothermal and adiabatic processes with the heat, work and change of internal energy of each.
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Heat, Work and the First Law
When you pump a bicycle tyre, the pump becomes warm, and nobody heated it. In this course we define the internal energy of a gas, we separate heat from work, and we find the work as the area under a pressure-volume graph. Then we write the first law of thermodynamics, which is the law of conservation of energy for heat and work.
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