24 Beautiful Physics Poster Designs That Inspire You

String theory is part of a quest to understand, and answer some very big questions. What are we made of? What is the machinery of the universe? What forces move and shape it?

Special and general relativity are the framework for understanding how the universe functions when we are considering very large and/or objects which are approaching the speed of light. Quantum mechanics is concerned with how the universe functions over distances measured on the atomic and subatomic scale.

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

The scientific field of thermodynamics and the laws of thermodynamics all deal with the various aspects of heat energy and its interactions with matter.

The First Law of Thermodynamics says heat is a kind of energy, and therefore, thermodynamic operations are governed by the law of conservation of energy: Thermal energy can’t be created or destroyed, it can only be transformed or passed between systems.

The Second Law describes how thermodynamic systems tend to evolve toward chaotic equilibrium. Like a pessimistic goth friend, the Second Law is all about inefficiency, deterioration and disorder.

The Third Law of Thermodynamics describes the behavior of thermodynamic systems as they approach the lowest limits of energy.

The universe is filled with matter: You see it all around you. Invisible to the human eye, dark matter is a type of matter that is very different from the “ordinary” matter we know so well. Many scientists say dark matter exists because we can see the electromagnetic effects it has on stars and galaxies in the depths of space.

Dark Energy is a theoretical kind of energy that exerts a repulsive force; the reverse effect of gravity. We are unable to directly observe dark energy, but we are able to confidently infer its existence based on observations of astronomical bodies and clusters.

Gravity makes things fall because the earth is pulling them toward itself. Gravity pulls objects toward other massive objects. You can see this most clearly in the way a large, heavy object like the sun keeps the earth in its orbit. Even the moon is heavy enough to make some waves—its gravity pulls on our oceans to create tides.

Electromagnetism isn’t just about keeping the lights on. It’s also what attracts atoms to each other to make molecules as atoms share or transfer electrons. And in attracting atoms to each other, electromagnetism holds the world together.

From an atom’s perspective, strong force is a hundred times stronger than electromagnetism and trillions of times stronger than gravity. It’s strong enough to hold atoms together, keeping everything around you from flying apart.

Despite its name, weak force is not the weakest of the four fundamental forces of nature. It’s much stronger than gravity, and it causes the kind of radioactivity that generates power within a nuclear reactor. It’s just weak because it can only operate within a very tight range.

The galaxy-filled sphere of space-time we know as our universe may not be the only one. Many highly-respected theoretical physicists have been arguing that our universe is one of many unique universes, a scenario also known as a multiverse.

The idea of supersymmetry fills in the holes of the Standard Model, and it is the only known mathematical symmetry that can be added to the symmetries of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity without producing equations inconsistent with the known Universe.

Used in everything from electrical generators to motors, electromagnetic induction describes how a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current, and conversely how an electric current generates a surrounding magnetic field.

Developed by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse as an alternative to Thomas Edison’s direct current (DC), alternative current (AC) is when a flow of charges repeatedly reverses direction, often many times per second.

Electromagnetic radiation is a type of energy that incorporates both electricity and magnetism. Forms of electromagnetic radiation include visible light, radio waves, gamma rays and X-rays.

First published by Albert Einstein in 1905, special relativity describes the relationship between space and time. While Sir Issac Newton theorized that space and time were independent of each other, Einstein concluded that the two are inextricably linked.

Einstein assumed that light travels in a straight a line as possible so how could the laser appear to bend? The apparent motion of the laser light could be better understood if we assume that the space-time through which it traveled were curved.