Modern Physics Challenges

Service Description

This is a fascinating physics class that will look at some of the main ideas of modern physics. While this topics are usually GCSE+ level, our aim will be to focus on the ideas rather than the maths in this class, to help brilliant young Thinkers expand their love and understanding of the ideas in physics. Catching Light in Motion ● Experiment: Ole Rømer's measurement using Jupiter’s moon Io. ● Fundamental Concept: Light has a finite speed — it doesn’t arrive instantly. ● Activities: Reconstruct how delays in Io’s eclipses revealed a measurable speed; simple simulations with light-delay animations. ● Takeaway: Measurement from space and time alone can reveal universal constants. -- The Wave Nature of Light ● Experiment: Thomas Young’s double slit. ● Fundamental Concept: Light undergoes interference; it acts as a wave. ● Activities: Demo/simulation of two-slit interference; ripple tank or laser pointer variant. ● Takeaway: Light isn't just a beam — it spreads, overlaps, and interacts like a wave. -- Light Comes in Packets ● Experiment: Einstein’s Photoelectric Effect. ● Fundamental Concept: Light is also quantized; made of photons. ● Activities: PhET simulation of why only certain frequencies eject electrons. ● Takeaway: Energy isn’t continuous — it comes in discrete packets (E = hf). --- No More Aether ● Experiment: Michelson–Morley interferometer. ● Fundamental Concept: There is no luminiferous aether; light speed is constant in all directions and reference frames. ● Activities: Simulation or explanation of an interferometer and what a null result means. ● Takeaway: The foundation of relativity — the laws of physics are the same everywhere. -- Inside the Atom ● Experiments: Millikan’s Oil Drop: Measured the charge of the electron. ● Fundamental Concept: Atoms are made of discrete particles: electrons and nuclei. ● Activities: Oil drop simulation + gold foil scattering visualizations. ● Takeaway: Matter is made of charged particles; atoms have internal structure. -- Matter as Waves ● Experiment: Davisson–Germer confirmation of de Broglie's theory. ● Fundamental Concept: Electrons (and all matter) behave like waves. ● Activities: Show images or simulations of electron diffraction patterns. ● Takeaway: There is no strict boundary between particles and waves — quantum mechanics unites them.