ScienceExplain Like I'm 5Intermediate
Physics from First Principles course icon

Physics from First Principles

Like Duolingo, but for Physics from First Principles. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

21 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Proton Pete
Physics from First Principles
with Proton Pete
21
Levels
4
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Physics from First Principles

  • Momentum is the product of mass and velocity
  • Impulse is force multiplied by time
  • Stopping depends on total momentum
  • Safety features don't change total momentum lost
  • The center of mass follows a simple trajectory even if the rest of the object is rotating.
  • External forces like gravity act on the center of mass as if the entire object's weight were there.
  • Conservation of momentum requires equal and opposite changes within a closed system.
  • Recoil occurs because the total momentum before and after an internal push must stay the same.
  • Torque is the product of the force applied and the distance from the pivot point.
  • Predicting the path of the center of mass in complex motion
  • Increasing the 'lever arm' length allows you to produce more rotation with less physical effort.
  • The transfer of momentum in a recoil scenario
  • How lever arm length affects rotational difficulty
  • Energy as a numerical property that remains constant in isolated systems
  • Why objects with vastly different scales can possess identical momentum
  • Energy tracks capacity to do work rather than being a tangible material
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Physics from First Principles the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Oomph and the Squish

If a tiny, speedy marble and a giant, slow-rolling boulder have the same 'oomph', what must be true?

Get it right to open this lesson and 20 more in the app.

Course map

Where Physics from First Principles takes you

Master the fundamental laws that govern the universe by looking at the world through the lens of forces, energy, and scaling. Learn to predict how things move, break, and flow without getting lost in the equations.

  1. 1

    The Mechanics of Impact

    • Momentum and the Logic of Collisions
    • Energy: The Universal Accounting System
  2. 2

    Fields and Invisible Forces

    • The Geometry of Fields
    • Waves and Resonance
  3. 3

    Systems and Scale

    • Heat, Entropy, and Efficiency
    • The Physics of Size
  4. 4

    The Modern Reality

    • Relativity and Quantum Foundations

4 sections · 7 units · 21 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
Explain Like I'm 5

Physics from First Principles is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

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Start Physics from First Principles today.

Download Tomo, search Physics from First Principles, and play your first lesson in under a minute.