Mechanical Systems
Electrical Systems
Waves Systems
Physics 101
Physics in Pop Culture
100

In physics, this measures an object's resistance to motion. In chemistry, it measures the amount of matter in a substance.  

What is mass? 

100

The tiny component in almost every electronic device that stores charge like a "mini battery" is called this. 

What is a capacitor? 

100

This universal constant is about 299,792 km s-1 in a vacuum. 

What is the speed of light? 

100

The Milky Way's nearest neighbor, a barred spiral galaxy. 

What is Andromeda? 

100

Near this 2014 movie's black hole, one hour can equal seven years on Earth. 

What is Interstellar? 

200

This scientist formulated the law stating that all objects attract each other based on their masses and distance apart. 

Who is Isaac Newton? 

200

In an AC circuit, this quantity represents the effective voltage or current that would produce the same power as a DC circuit.

What is RMS (root mean square) voltage or current? 

200

This type of wave is created by small vibrations in an object, and transmits at different speeds through different mediums. 

What are sound waves? 

200

This female scientist is the only person to win a Nobel Prize in both Physics and Chemistry. 

Who is Marie Curie? 

200

This animated character's name honors a real Apollo astronaut and is the SI unit for luminous flux. 

Who is Buzz Lightyear? 

300

This type of energy is highest when a mass spring system is at maximum displacement.

What is elastic potential energy? 

300

At resonant frequency of an LRC circuit, this opposition to current reaches a minimum, allowing maximum current to flow. 

What is impedance? 

300

As a star moves away from Earth, the light we observe shifts red. This phenomenon allows astronomers to measure the star's speed relative to us. 

What is the Doppler effect? 

300

This scientist's thought experiment about a cat in a box was meant to highlight the paradoxes of quantum mechanics. 

Who is Erwin Schrödinger? 

300

In Frozen, Elsa's icy powers could be explained with this branch of physics that studies heat transfer and phase changes. 

What is thermodynamics? 

400

Tightrope walkers carry long poles to increase this quantity, which makes it easier to balance by lowering their angular acceleration. 

What is the moment of inertia? 

400

A changing magnetic field through a coil induces a voltage in the coil as described by this law.

What is Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction? 

400

In a medium where wave speed depends on frequency, two waves of slightly different frequencies can produce a repeating pattern of loud and soft sounds. This effect is known as this. 

What are beats? 

400

This radius marks the boundary around a black hole where not even light can escape. 

What is the event horizon? 

400

In the Star Wars universe, this device allows a ship to travel faster than light speed.

What is hyperdrive? 

500

Engineers designing tall buildings must account for this oscillatory phenomenon where wind or earthquakes can amplify vibrations disastrously. 

What is resonance? 

500

This Scottish physicist unified electricity and magnetism with a set of four equations that also predict electromagnetic waves travelling at the speed of light. 

Who is James Clerk Maxwell? 

500

Noise-cancelling in headphones, pretty colors on soap bubbles, and the "dead spots" in a concert hall all come from the same wave phenomenon.  

What is superposition (constructive & destructive interference)? 

500

These are the four fundamental forces of nature that govern all interactions in the universe.

What are gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force? 

500

In this 2001 space epic, a sentient AI and a rotating space station illustrate concepts of artificial intelligence and centrifugal force as a substitute for gravity.

What is 2001: A Space Odyssey?