Physics: Age 17

8 illustrated Physics lessons for Age 17.

A Star's Wobble Reveals a Hidden Planet A planet's gravity tugs on its star, so both circle a shared centre of mass and the star wobbles slightly. Ast…
How a fish floats at any depth Water pressure rises with depth, so the gas in a fish's swim bladder gets squeezed into a smaller volume the d…
Equal areas in equal times The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal amounts of time. To do that, the planet h…
Waves through a narrow gap Straight waves arrive at a barrier with a small opening and spread out as curved arcs on the far side. A narro…
Two dippers in a water tank Two small dippers touch the water surface together, and their circular ripples spread out and cross. Where cre…
Night-Vision Goggles Night-vision goggles take in faint moonlight or starlight. They turn photons into electrons, multiply the elec…
Funnel from a tilted spin Inside a severe storm, winds can rotate around a horizontal axis. A strong rising warm current tips that rotat…
Measuring a Wave A wave repeats the same shape over and over as it travels. Amplitude tells you how tall it is, wavelength how …