Physics in Your Life

Course Overview

Discover how physics shapes everyday experiences through 36 engaging lectures with Professor Richard Wolfson, covering everything from kitchen thermodynamics to space technology with hands-on demonstrations.

Video Lessons

Waves & Perception

1. Realms of Physics (32 min)
   Introduction to classical vs modern physics
2. The Amazing Disc (30 min)
   CD/DVD technology revealing light/sound principles
   4-6. Optics & Sound (90 min)

• Eye physiology to telescopes
• Rainbows and fiber optics
• Music physics and ultrasound

Motion & Forces

7-9. Newtonian Physics (91 min)

• Three laws of motion
• Friction’s crucial roles
• Circular motion mysteries
  10-11. Flight Technology (61 min)
• Airplane aerodynamics
• Spaceflight and “zero G”

Electromagnetism

13-18. Electric Universe (183 min)

• Atomic charge to power plants
• Magnetism applications
• Generators to credit cards
• Maxwell’s wave equations

Modern Technology

19-24. Digital Revolution (184 min)

• Silicon chip to motherboard
• Transistor invention
• Computer memory systems

Thermodynamics

25-30. Heat & Energy (184 min)

• Refrigerators to climate
• Phase changes in water
• Kitchen physics
• Shakespearean thermodynamics

Special Topics

31-36. Applied Physics (184 min)

• GPS technology
• Rotational motion
• Laser applications
• Nuclear medicine
• Cosmic origins