Physics is life
How is every part of you connected to the whole universe?
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Explain
You are made of star stuff.
Physics is in everything you do.
Look how far you have come! You have learned that forces move you, gravity holds you, and energy from the Sun feeds you.
Your eyes catch light, your ears catch sound, and electricity carries your thoughts.
Physics isn't just in a book. It is you, your home and the whole universe.
The same laws work from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy. Newton's laws move your bicycle, and also the planets.
Conservation of energy links sunlight to food, to your muscles, and to the heat that you give off.
Atoms made in stars now form most of your body, which can even work out how it all happened.
- Atoms from stars
- Energy from the Sun
- Forces in your body
Want the full story?
The hydrogen in you is older than the stars, and formed soon after the Big Bang. We still don't know everything. Dark matter, dark energy and how to join gravity with quantum physics are all unsolved. Those big questions might be answered by someone just like you.
Try it at home
You need your eyes and ears, a notebook.
You need: your eyes and ears, a notebook.
Find five kinds of physics at home.
- Spend a day looking out for physics.
- Write down one force, one kind of energy, one wave and one use of electricity.
- Teach someone what you found.
What's happening: you have started seeing the world like a physicist.
Physics is life
Your body
Physics works inside you.
Daily life
Physics runs your home.
Nature
Physics shapes nature.
Space
You are part of the universe.
Quick check
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Words to know
Atom: The tiny building block of everything around you.