Physics: Age 12

23 illustrated Physics lessons for Age 12.

How a suction cup sticks When you press a suction cup flat, you push the air out from underneath it. Then only the air outside pushes o…
How a wing lifts a plane A wing has a curved top and a flatter bottom, so air moves faster over the top. Faster air presses less on the…
Short arm pushes, long arm flings When the pivot sits close to a heavy block, a light block far out on the long arm can balance it. If the beam …
Interactive Water levels and rooftop tanks Water in connected containers settles at the same height when it can move freely. A tank placed high on a roof…
Series and parallel circuits In a series circuit, the bulbs sit on one shared loop, so removing one bulb stops the current. In a parallel c…
Interactive Chainring and sprocket sizes A front chainring turns a rear sprocket through the chain. The size ratio between them decides how many times …
Interactive Lifting a Boulder With a Plank A plank resting on a steel wedge lets a small push at one end raise a heavy boulder at the other end. The fart…
Two motorcycles on a wet road Two motorcycles brake on the same wet road. The faster one leaves a tire mark many times longer than the slowe…
Iron filings around a bar magnet A bar magnet lies under a thin sheet. When iron filings are sprinkled on top, they line up in curved arcs that…
Rocks That Join in Orbit Small rocky pieces circle a planet in a broad ring. When two pieces collide slowly, they can stick together an…
Two Eyes Two Views Your two eyes sit a few centimetres apart, so each one gets a slightly different view. Your brain compares the…
Storm Spiral Earth’s spin makes rising air turn sideways. That turning wraps the air into a spiral, giving a storm its rota…
Mass and Atmospheres A planet's mass pulls gases toward it with gravity. If the planet is too small, its gravity is too weak and ga…
Particles and a Nucleus A hot, crowded cloud contains tiny particles. Protons and neutrons can join into a small central core while el…
Storm Cloud Collisions Inside a tall storm cloud, ice crystals and water droplets swirl in turbulent air. When they bump into each ot…
Blue Sky Light Sunlight contains many colors. Air makes short blue waves spread out much more than long red waves, so the sky…
Curved Wing in Airflow A wing's upper surface curves upward. Air moves faster over that curve than beneath, so the pressure above dro…
Spider silk and steel cables A spider silk cable and a steel cable have the same thickness. The spider silk cable holds a full-size coach b…
Airbag Above the Snow A skier's backpack inflates into a big balloon in about two seconds. With more volume, the moving snow lifts t…
Short Jaws, Stronger Crush Two open pliers sit on a bench. The short pliers crack a walnut, while the long pliers leave a same-sized waln…
Compact Shape Holds Heat For the same mass, a smooth, round body has less skin on the outside than a body stretched into a long neck, t…
Sailboat Moving Forward Wind pushes the sail from the side. Water pushes back on the fin below, so the boat moves forward.…
Timing a Light Beam to a Mirror A telescope fires a short pulse of light at a mirror far away, and the light bounces straight back. Because li…