54 interactive lessons · no math background needed

Physics you can touch.

Push crates, launch cannonballs, fling moons into orbit. Every idea comes with a live simulation, a plain-English explanation of why the world works that way, and the math — built step by step from your own numbers.

Start learning — it's free Try a lesson first

The first two lessons are open to everyone, and so are the exercises, past exams and library — no account needed.

Every lesson follows the way your brain actually learns

Intuition first, formula second, and never a symbol you haven't been introduced to.

1. Play

Start with a live simulation. Make predictions, break things, build a gut feeling.

2. Understand why

Plain-English explanations of the reason behind each law — not just what it says.

3. See the math

Every symbol explained. Formulas recomputed live with the numbers from your experiment.

4. Check yourself

Short quizzes with full explanations. Earn XP, keep a streak, track your progress.

Math-friendly by design

Scared of equations? Perfect.

Module 0 starts from “what does the = sign mean?”. After that, every formula comes with a card that explains each symbol, a sentence telling you how to read it out loud, and worked examples you reveal one step at a time.

Equations taught as balance scales
A colour code: velocity is always blue, force is always orange
Live 'math with your numbers' under every simulation
Glossary pop-ups for every new word

Want the math on its own, at your pace? Math for Physics is a companion course of 18 lessons, from fractions to first steps in calculus. Each physics lesson links to the math it uses.

Newton's second law

\textcolor{#f97316}{F} = \textcolor{#64748b}{m}\,\textcolor{#f59e0b}{a}

Say it out loud: “force equals mass times acceleration.”

FForce — the push or pull, in newtons

mMass — how hard it is to get moving, in kg

aAcceleration — change in velocity each second

The courses

Introduction to Physics

See the physics lessons

The Math Toolkit

· Equations Are Balances
· Units & Powers of Ten
· Vectors: Arrows With Meaning

Motion

· Position & Velocity
· Acceleration
· Free Fall
· Projectile Motion

Forces & Newton's Laws

· Inertia
· F = ma
· Action & Reaction

Energy & Momentum

· Energy & Its Conservation
· Momentum & Collisions

Gravity, Oscillations & Waves

· Gravity & Orbits
· Springs & Oscillations
· Waves

RotationPro

· Circular Motion
· Torque & Balance
· Spinning & Angular Momentum

FluidsPro

· Pressure & Depth
· Floating & Sinking
· Flow & Bernoulli

Heat & ThermodynamicsPro

· Temperature & Heat
· Gases & Pressure
· Heat Flow & Equilibrium

ElectricityPro

· Electric Charge & Force
· Current, Voltage & Resistance
· Series & Parallel Circuits

Magnetism & InductionPro

· Magnets & Magnetic Forces
· Electromagnetic Induction

Light & OpticsPro

· Reflection & Refraction
· Lenses & Images
· Interference: Light as a Wave

Modern PhysicsPro

· Special Relativity
· Photons & Energy Levels
· Radioactivity & Nuclear Energy
· Particles & the Standard Model

Math for Physics

The companion course: every piece of math the physics uses, with the same diagrams, quizzes and practice.

See the math lessons

Numbers & Proportion

· Fractions, Ratios & Percentages
· Powers & Roots
· Direct, Inverse & Square Proportion

Algebra & Graphs

· Rearranging Formulas
· Straight Lines & Slope
· Parabolas & Quadratics

Triangles, Circles & Waves

· Right Triangles & Pythagoras
· Sine, Cosine & Tangent
· Circles & Radians
· Sine Waves

Growth & LogarithmsPro

· Exponential Growth & Decay
· Logarithms

First Steps in CalculusPro

· Rates of Change: Derivatives
· Adding Up Slices: Integrals

Vectors & Simultaneous EquationsPro

· Simultaneous Equations
· Multiplying Vectors: Dot & Cross

Measurement & DataPro

· Measurement & Uncertainty
· Best-Fit Lines & Straightening Curves

Practise on real problems. Then sit a real exam.

When a lesson clicks, make it stick. Everything here is free and needs no account.

Example 2.9 from College Physics

Calculating Final Velocity: An Airplane Slowing Down after Landing

An airplane lands with an initial velocity of 70.0 m/s and then decelerates at 1.50 m/s² for 40.0 s. What is its final velocity?

Strategy

Draw a sketch. We draw the acceleration vector in the direction opposite the velocity vector because the plane is decelerating.

Show the next step: solution

1 of 3 steps open

2,752 worked problems

Worked examples from 6 open textbooks: 486 in physics and 2,266 in math. Solve one on paper, open the solution a step at a time, then mark it solved or save it to review.

Browse the exercises

2025, Paper 1 90:0020 multiple choice + 5 written · 51 marks

6 years of official exams

Queensland's final-year QCE Physics exams, 2020–2025, exactly as students sat them: 214 questions. Time yourself, get the multiple choice marked, then check your written answers against the official marking guide.

Sit a past exam

7 free textbooks

Complete OpenStax books for physics and math to read right here, plus a reading list of the 23 books we'd hand a student who wants more.

Visit the library

Built on sources you can trust

Explanations follow open, peer-reviewed textbooks and world-class references — every lesson lists its sources so you can dig deeper. The exercises and the library are OpenStax's own books, and the past exams are the official QCAA papers.

OpenStax (physics and math) Active Calculus The Feynman Lectures (Caltech) HyperPhysics (Georgia State) NASA NIST & BIPM PhET (CU Boulder) QCAA (Queensland)

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