This video uses two oppositely charged metal plates to demonstrate that a candle flame contains ions. Positive ions are attracted to the negative plate, while negative ions the positive plate. Even when the candle is extinguished, the smoke is attracted to both plates and so must also contain ions.

The aim of this investigation is to find the value of a number of resistors using a Wheatstone bridge.  Although this is an historical piece of equipment that has been superseded by modern methods it provides an excellent way to understand potential difference in circuits.

The video asks students to predict when a bungee jumper experiences maximum acceleration.  The answer is at the very bottom of the jump.  This is often counter-intuitive as the velocity at this point is almost zero. 

However, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity over time, a = ^Δv/_Δt...

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet guides students to use Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence equation to determine when the Sun will become a red giant. Included is an online video that discusses how we can determine how old the Sun is. Details on the relationship between mass and energy in...

Following the successful rendezvous of the Rosetta spacecraft, with comet 67P, this Catalyst article explains how a smaller spacecraft will land on the surface of the comet. Philae is due to land on the comet on 12 November 2014, the first ever attempt to land an object on the surface of a comet.

The article...

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A basketball and a 5kg medicine ball are dropped simultaneously. Which one hits the ground first? It seems obvious that the heavy one should accelerate at a greater rate and therefore land first because the force pulling it down is greater. But this is forgetting inertia - the tendency of mass to resist changes in...

In this activity, alcohol and air are mixed in a large plastic water bottle before being ignited, to simulate the physics principles of...

This animated clip investigates the idea of orbits. It begins with Alice and Bob wondering why the Moon doesn’t fall to the Earth but an apple does. Alice throws an apple hard enough that it goes into orbit around the Earth. This clip could provide a lead in to topics such as gravitational force, acceleration,...

Alice wonders why it’s dark at night. If we are in an infinite Universe, why isn’t the sky full of starlight. Bob suggests that for some reason the light from the very distant stars hasn’t reached us yet. This leads on to the idea that the universe has a beginning and an age. This clip could provide a lead in to...

The video begins by showing the misconceptions people have about weightlessness in space (space station). It explains how gravity exerts a force on the moon and so would also exert a force on the space station. It then shows that the astronaut is falling along with the space...

This video does not offer an explanation, but asks several people the question and shows their answers.