These 42 Fun Facts About Physics Might Pull You In To Learn More

The higher you are (building-wise), the faster time will go.

Time is a hard concept to understand when you look at it through the lens of physics. A couple of seconds while standing on the ground will go slower than for someone who sits on a high building, like the Empire State building. It is best explained by Einstein and his famous theory of relativity.

The screens of smartphones work thanks to the electric charges leaving our fingers.

Touch phones work thanks to the physics behind the human body itself. When we touch the screens with our fingers, we let out a small number of electric charges that register with the mechanics and allow us to interact. For this reason, things like rubber, fingernails, and others don’t register.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the whole universe.

The water we drink, the sun that shines its rays onto us, and even human beings have hydrogen inside. Hydrogen is everywhere and is one of the essential elements in the whole universe. It is estimated that the Milky Way, our galaxy, is composed of around 74% of hydrogen atoms.

It’s nearly impossible to sink in the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is popular for the number of tourists that visit it, but also for having a large amount of salt in it. Salt is not only good for food, but also a good way of making the water much denser. There is so much of it in that sea that people who swim there have little to no chance of drowning. Of course, it is still important to keep things safe.

Wind casts an invisible shadow.

Shadows are not always cast by objects, and winds can do it too. The only problem? We can’t see them with the naked eye. Wind, a movement of a gas that varies from a small gust to full-on thunderstorms, can cast a small shadow only visible with the help of machines and physics.

Light gets much slower in water.

Water is not only a refresher at the end of the day, but also a great stopper for the wavelengths of light. Light travels through air at a very high speed, and that is thanks to its small density. Water, however, is thicker. Since every molecule has surface tension, light gets distorted due to the amount of energy needed to pass through.

Galileo Galilei proved his theory of free fall with the help of the leaning tower of Pisa.

While Galileo Galilei might have created the theory of free fall, he had to prove it by experimenting. He did it by throwing two cannonballs of the same material, but different masses, from the leaning tower of Pisa. His theory would be further supported by missions to the moon.

The universe is growing every second.

The universe is already a vast space full of planets, stars, and other celestial bodies. But it is still not big enough. The universe is growing at a high rate every second, expanding in every direction, getting colder and faster at the same time. This expansion has been going on for billions of years.

Water can boil and freeze at the same time.

At the same temperature, water can either boil or freeze. A triple point is a point where the temperature, pressure, and pressure value all coincide. The fact that all three states—liquid, ice, and water vapor—are present at this time allows water to boil and freeze at the same temperature.

Hard steel tends to be more elastic than rubber.

The capacity of a substance to assume its original form upon the application of an external force is known as its elastic property. For this reason, steel is seen as a more elastic material than rubber. Since steel can return to its original form faster, it is commonly used as a building material in bridges.

The myth of an apple falling on Newton is wrong.

We’ve all heard the story of an apple falling on Isaac Newton's head, but few know it was a myth. In reality, Newton drew inspiration from apples, not because one hit his head, but because they fell straight down and not sideways. This observation helped him develop the theory of universal gravity.

Heat gets generated from sound waves.

While we might associate heat with burning fires and hot water, sound can also generate a small amount of heat. When a sound wave gets emitted, it travels through the air till it hits an object. Once it hits something, it gets absorbed into it, and in return, a small amount of heat gets produced.

Saturn might float on water as ice does.

Saturn is one of the biggest planets that is full of gasses. Saturn has a small density, less than water, which has a larger one. When an object of a smaller density falls into a thick liquid, it should float, according to theory. So, if we were to place Saturn in water, it should float in it like ice does.

Seatbelts work thanks to inertia.

Accidents happen, and it’s important to prepare for them in the best possible way. Seatbelts in our cars protect us from serious injuries during an accident with the help of physics. When a vehicle comes to an instant stop, inertia kicks in by keeping our lower body on the seat while the top, thanks to the seat belt, moves forwards, distributing the energy.

Space is not entirely a vacuum.

While the darkness of it might hint that it is empty, that's not the truth, but actually, there is something there. About three atoms are present in every cubic meter of space. Sadly, it is so small that it doesn’t make a difference. A cubic meter of air contains roughly 2.5 x 1025 molecules at sea level.

It’s impossible to make a perpetual motion machine run indefinitely.

According to Newton's first law, unless another force is acting on an item, it could continue to travel at the same speed forever. Thus, if an object gets pushed, it should move indefinitely. Sadly, we live in a world of multiple forces. When an object moves, air resistance and other forces work against it, thus making an indefinitely running machine impossible.

A bike stays balanced thanks to the gyroscopic effect.

Bikes get ridden everywhere, yet few know how they can keep their balance for a long time. After all, two wheels connected by metal don’t always equal stability. We can thank the gyroscopic effect for it. It explains the tendency of objects to maintain the same direction when an external force affects them.

All of humanity could fit in a sugar cube.

When we look at a person like a walking pile of atoms, there is a lot of free space to work with. We are so empty (atom-wise) that if we were to remove all of the free space from all of the humans, we could fit in a single sugar club. However, its weight would be massive, around 5 billion tons.

The color of the sun doesn’t change during the sunset.

The sunset is a beautiful sight, yet we contribute the yellowish-red color to the sun when in reality, it doesn’t change. The sun emits wavelengths every second, and they change color. When they hit the atmosphere at a certain angle, we tend to see a change of colors, and during that period, the sun seems to emit another color.

Bodies of people who passed away float in water due to gas.

The reason why bodies float in water is a sad one. When lungs fill up with water, bodies sink to the bottom. However, when the person passes away, gasses are released that cause the body to rise and float. Because the density of the body changes, it becomes light enough to lift to the surface.