Useful links for "normal" people.

nesf

This thread is for links to useful articles, sites and papers that are aimed at either beginners or members of the general public.

Preferably stuff that's written in plain English without jargon. Second level maths is fine but try to avoid putting links on here that point at sites that have college+ level maths on them.

This thread is for lay people who want to build on their knowledge of physics without having to wade through jargon and heavy maths.

chrismon

Still waiting on a link.......

nesf

Meh you are all as lazy as I am!!



Here's a link to the good wiki on the topic which has loads of good info and links

Wikipedia, better than sex. Well, no. But damn close!

beserker

I find this site excellent for reference n fact finding.Very intuitive. Might be better in the Physics sites thread though. You guys decide:)

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

ghostchant

beserker wrote:

I find this site excellent for reference n fact finding.Very intuitive. Might be better in the Physics sites thread though. You guys decide:)

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Yeah that's a brilliant site - use it in college all the time, and its also interesting just to flick through the different topics too.

3greenrizla's

www.howstuffworks.com - not as in-depth as wikipedia but dumbed down with big colour moving piktures!

Professor_Fink

http://physicsworld.wolfram.com

Decerto

Found these amazing lectures on mits opencourseware, physics wise its mechanics, E&M and waves&vibrations about 20-30 of each, taught by walter lewin who apparently is quite well known for his teaching ability, they are really comprehensieve from the ones ive watched so far and he seems like a brilliant communicator, wish i went to MIT:(,
heres the link
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/av/index.htm#Physics

i found standford ones taught by leonard susskind aswell, the "father of string thoery", they seem a bit more advanced though and more orientated twords the physics and theoretical physics undergrads who have some background in it, maybe thats because in MIT everyone has to do physics so maybe the ones by lewin are created for everyone in mind, heres the link neways, you have to scroll down a bit

http://ie.youtube.com/profile?user=stanforduniversity&view=playlists

the courses are mechanics, special rel and quantum mechanics less vids but they are like twice as long

Larianne

I'm looking for sites with basic info on Physics as in what are vectors, newton's laws etc. Just started the Physics module and I'm a bit confused.

Decerto

Larianne wrote: »

I'm looking for sites with basic info on Physics as in what are vectors, newton's laws etc. Just started the Physics module and I'm a bit confused.

www.wikipedia.com :P

Turtwig

Well, seeing as I've been reading boards.ie for ages, I think it's about time i posted a post

These set of lectures (physics for futures presidents) are pretty good for explaining concepts in close-to-laymen/laywomen terms. Be Warned though some lectures run for over 90 mins!!

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=095393D5B42B2266

ApeXaviour

Decerto wrote: »

www.wikipedia.com :P

I'm a physics phd student and I find many of the pages on that a bit intimidating. When explaining vector space they jump right into using dirac notation. Not exactly layman stuff...

TW Mr Tayto

There's always simple Wikipedia

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light

Thats just an example !

mcrdotcom

An excellent site for those who like physics but arnt MAD about it then....

http://www.sixtysymbols.com

and for those chemistry fans....your periodic video collection awaits you...

http://www.periodicvideos.com

These are both video sites, they inclide videos from professors at Nottingham University and are great fun to watch!

Marvinthefish

mcrdotcom wrote: »

and for those chemistry fans....your periodic video collection awaits you...

http://www.periodicvideos.com

These are both video sites, they inclide videos from professors at Nottingham University and are great fun to watch!

Fantastic link. I just watched the video on Ruthenium and I agree they are great fun. In fact, this professor's tie in the video is simply "epic":D

cianl1

I was wondering when somebody would post something chemistry related. Just seems a bit... fair, you know?

mcrdotcom

cianl1 wrote: »

I was wondering when somebody would post something chemistry related. Just seems a bit... fair, you know?

Well I did post up www.periodicvideos.com

its all about the periodic table but has added extra videos since they fiinished the whole table (twice). I personally am not a masive fan of physics but I havnt checked any other links so Im afraid I connot coment on the number of Chemistry links:rolleyes:

Morbert

Minute Physics:

http://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics

Concepts in physics presented in short, digestible videos.

What if:

http://what-if.xkcd.com/

From the guy who does xkcd. Strange and unusual scenarios/questions are rigorously analysed with a particular emphasis on physical laws.