The Physics of the Void
Understand the invisible rules that govern the cosmos, from why satellites don't fall to how gravity bends the very fabric of time.
Like Duolingo, but for The Physics of the Void. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Moving Through the Vacuum and The Rules of Reality. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Physics of the Void
- Space is a near-vacuum with no air resistance to create friction
- Air in space is too thin or non-existent to provide resistance for swimming motions
- Objects in motion stay in motion unless an outside force acts on them
- Newton's third law requires throwing something away to move in the opposite direction
- Stopping in space requires an active force like a reverse engine burn
- Internal movements like waving arms won't change your center of mass position
- Understanding that movement in a vacuum requires expelling mass
- Understanding the lack of friction and the permanence of momentum in space
- Gravity is still nearly as strong in low Earth orbit as it is on the ground
- Rockets move by pushing exhaust gas out of a nozzle, not by pushing against outside air
- Movement in a vacuum requires expelling mass
- Weightlessness is caused by being in a constant state of freefall
- Atmospheric pressure actually pushes back against the exhaust, slightly hindering the rocket
- Lack of friction and permanence of momentum
- The station is moving sideways fast enough to miss the Earth as it falls
- Spacecraft cannot 'turn' by friction like a car wheel on a road
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Physics of the Void 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.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
If you are floating in the middle of a space station, why can't you 'swim' through the air to reach a wall?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where The Physics of the Void takes you
- 1
Moving Through the Vacuum
- Getting Around Without Ground
- Falling Forever: The Logic of Orbits
- 2
The Rules of Reality
- Light and the Universal Speed Limit
- The Fabric of Spacetime
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
The Physics of the Void is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. 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.
More Science on Tomo
Navigating the Void
Move beyond naming planets and start understanding the physics of the frontier. Learn how we use gravity as a slingshot and survive the most hostile environment known to man.
Time in Motion: Relativity and the Twin Paradox
Move beyond the basics of physics to understand why time isn't a constant, how speed alters aging, and why the famous Twin Paradox isn't actually a contradiction.
Everyday Quantum Physics
Discover the strange mathematics governing the microscopic universe and the modern devices in your pocket. Learn how probability vectors, wavefunctions, and quantum leaps make lasers, solid-state drives, and quantum computers work.
How to Leave the Planet
Ever wondered why rockets are so big or how satellites stay up without engines? Master the core physics of escaping Earth and surviving the silent void of space.
Time Travel in the Real World
Discover how time travel isn't just for movies. Explore the real physics of time dilation, the logic of paradoxes, and why your GPS depends on time travel to work.
The Strange Logic of Quantum Physics
Discover the counter-intuitive rules that govern the very small, where particles can be in two places at once and reality changes just because you looked at it.
Start The Physics of the Void today.
Download Tomo, search The Physics of the Void, and play your first lesson in under a minute.