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Calculators/Science/Physics

Physics calculators

Mechanics, electricity, energy and waves: first-principles formulas with every constant stated.

Ohm’s lawVoltage, current, resistance and power from any two.Resistors in series & parallelCombined resistance of up to four resistors.Voltage dividerOutput voltage across the lower resistor of a pair.Electricity running costWhat an appliance costs to run over time.Force, mass & accelerationNewton’s second law, with weight under gravity.Kinetic & potential energyEnergy of a moving or raised mass.Speed, distance & timeJourney arithmetic in metric and imperial.Acceleration & stopping distanceUniform acceleration, braking distance and reaction gap.Projectile motionRange, peak height and flight time of a launched object.Density, mass & volumeAny one of the three from the other two.Pressure from force or depthPressure under a load, and water pressure at depth.Wave speed, frequency & wavelengthRelates the three properties of any wave.Work, power & efficiencyEnergy transferred, the rate of transfer and what is lost.Momentum & impulseMomentum of a mass and the force needed to change it.Ideal gas lawPressure, volume, temperature and moles of a gas.Torque & rotational powerTurning force, and the power it delivers at a given speed.Centripetal force & circular motionForce, acceleration and period of an object moving in a circle at constant speed.Hooke's law & spring energyRestoring force and stored energy of a stretched or compressed spring.Pendulum periodSwing period of a simple pendulum for small angles.Elastic & inelastic collisionFinal velocities of two colliding masses, in a straight line.Capacitor charge & energyStored charge and energy of a capacitor at a given voltage.Inductor stored energyMagnetic energy stored in an inductor carrying current.RC circuit charge & dischargeHow a capacitor charges or discharges through a resistor over time.Carnot efficiencyMaximum possible efficiency of a heat engine between two temperatures.Linear thermal expansionHow much a material lengthens or shortens with a temperature change.Heat energy & specific heatHeat needed to change the temperature of a mass of material.Snell's law of refractionAngle of refraction as light passes between two media.Thin lens equationImage distance and magnification for a lens of known focal length.Doppler effect (sound)Observed frequency of a sound source moving relative to a listener.Sound intensity level (decibels)Decibel level of a sound from its intensity, referenced to the hearing threshold.Escape velocityMinimum speed to escape a body’s gravity from a given distance, ignoring drag.Circular orbital velocitySpeed and period needed to hold a circular orbit around a mass.Kepler's third lawOrbital period of a body from its orbit size and the mass it orbits.Buoyancy (Archimedes’ principle)Upward force on an object from the fluid it displaces, and whether it floats.Terminal velocityMaximum falling speed once drag balances gravity.Angular momentum (point mass)Rotational momentum of a point mass moving on a circular path.Bernoulli's equationPressure at one point in a steady, frictionless flow from conditions at another point.Reynolds numberRatio of inertial to viscous forces in a flow, and whether it is laminar or turbulent.Coulomb's lawElectrostatic force between two point charges.Electric field of a point chargeField strength and potential at a distance from a single point charge.Magnetic field of a straight wireField strength at a distance from a long straight wire, from Ampère's law.Newton's law of universal gravitationGravitational force and potential energy between two masses.Time dilationHow much slower a clock moving at speed v runs, compared to a stationary observer.Length contractionHow much shorter a fast-moving object appears along its direction of motion.Mass-energy equivalenceEnergy contained in a rest mass, from Einstein’s E = mc².Mass-spring oscillator periodPeriod, frequency and peak speed of a mass bouncing on an ideal spring.Moment of inertia of standard shapesRotational inertia of common rigid shapes, and the resulting rotational kinetic energy.RLC circuit resonant frequencyResonant frequency, Q factor and bandwidth of a series RLC circuit.Photon energyEnergy of a single photon from its wavelength or frequency.De Broglie wavelengthWavelength associated with the momentum of any moving particle.Relativistic kinetic energyKinetic energy of an object moving fast enough that Newtonian mechanics breaks down.Wien's displacement lawPeak emission wavelength of a blackbody at a given temperature.Stefan-Boltzmann lawTotal power radiated by a hot surface, from its temperature and emissivity.Mach numberSpeed of an object relative to the local speed of sound in air.Simple harmonic motionPosition, velocity and energy of a mass-spring oscillator at a given moment.Beat frequencyHow fast two close sound frequencies pulse in and out of phase.AC power & power factorReal, reactive and apparent power in an AC circuit from RMS values and phase angle.Lensmaker's equationFocal length of a lens from its surface curvatures, thickness and refractive index.Schwarzschild radiusEvent-horizon radius of a black hole of a given mass, from general relativity.Mean free path of a gasAverage distance a gas molecule travels between collisions with other molecules.Wheatstone bridgeUnknown resistance from three known resistors at the balance point.Electron drift velocityAverage speed of charge carriers moving through a current-carrying wire.Redshift & blueshiftDoppler shift of light and the recession or approach velocity it implies.Compton scatteringWavelength shift of a photon scattered off a free electron at a given angle.RMS speed of gas moleculesRoot-mean-square speed of molecules in an ideal gas from temperature and molar mass.Malus's lawLight intensity transmitted through a polarizer at an angle to the polarization axis.Aerodynamic drag forceDrag force on an object moving through a fluid, from its shape and speed.Lever & mechanical advantageEffort force needed to balance a load on a simple lever, from the arm lengths.Center of mass (two bodies)Balance point of two masses along a line, and its distance from each.Heisenberg uncertainty principleMinimum combined uncertainty in the position and momentum of a quantum particle.Capacitors in series & parallelCombined capacitance of up to four capacitors, wired in series or in parallel.Incline with frictionForces and acceleration of an object sliding down a ramp with friction.Young's ModulusA material's stiffness from an applied force, cross-section area, and resulting elongation.Poiseuille's LawVolumetric flow rate of a viscous fluid through a cylindrical pipe under laminar flow.Brewster's AngleAngle of incidence where reflected light becomes fully polarized, from two refractive indices.Solenoid Magnetic FieldMagnetic field strength inside a long, tightly-wound solenoid carrying a steady current.Force Between Parallel WiresMagnetic force per unit length between two long, straight, parallel current-carrying wires.Radiation PressurePressure an electromagnetic wave, like sunlight, exerts on an absorbing or reflecting surface.Angular VelocityRotational speed from the angle turned over time, plus linear speed at a given radius.RMS Voltage & CurrentRMS, average and peak-to-peak values of a sinusoidal AC voltage or current from its peak value.Ideal Rocket EquationVelocity change a rocket can achieve from its exhaust velocity and the propellant mass burned.Bragg's LawDiffraction angle for X-rays reflecting off crystal lattice planes at a given spacing.Rydberg EquationWavelength of light from an electron jumping between energy levels in a hydrogen-like atom.Stokes' Law Terminal VelocityFalling speed of a small sphere through a viscous fluid once drag balances its weight.Cyclotron FrequencyOrbital frequency of a charged particle circling in a uniform magnetic field.Distance to the HorizonGeometric sight distance to the horizon from an observer height above a sphere.Angular AccelerationRate of change of angular velocity over a time interval, from spin-up or spin-down.G-Force from AccelerationHow many g's a change in velocity over time represents, relative to standard gravity.Magnetic Dipole MomentStrength of the magnetic moment produced by a current flowing around a coil loop.Thermal DiffusivityHow quickly a material equalises temperature, from conductivity, density and specific heat.Poisson's RatioHow much a material bulges sideways when stretched or squeezed lengthways.Shear ModulusStiffness of a material against sideways (shear) deformation from an applied force.Specific ImpulseHow efficiently a rocket or jet engine converts propellant into thrust.Froude NumberRatio of flow inertia to gravity in open-channel or ship-hull flow.Hall CoefficientCharge-carrier density and sign in a conductor from a measured Hall voltage.Hoop StressCircumferential and longitudinal stress in a thin-walled pressure vessel.Synodic PeriodTime between successive alignments of a body with Earth, or another chosen reference body.Skin DepthDepth below a conductor surface where AC current density falls to 1/e of its surface value.Boyle's LawPressure or volume of a fixed gas amount after an isothermal change, from the other values.Photoelectric EffectKinetic energy and stopping voltage of electrons ejected from a metal by light.Blackbody RadiationSpectral radiance a hot object emits at one wavelength, from Planck's law.Hubble's LawRecession speed of a distant galaxy from its distance and the Hubble constant.Black Hole TemperatureHawking temperature and evaporation timescale of a black hole from its mass.Drake EquationOrder-of-magnitude estimate of communicating civilisations in the galaxy from seven factors.Hydrogen-Like AtomElectron energy level and orbital radius in a one-electron atom or ion, from the Bohr model.Diffraction GratingAngle at which a given order of light diffracts off a grating of known line spacing.Friction ForceFriction force resisting motion on a flat or inclined surface, from mass and coefficient.Angle Of ReposeSteepest stable slope angle for a granular pile from its static friction coefficient.Coriolis EffectCoriolis acceleration and force on a moving mass from its speed and latitude on Earth.Gear RatioOutput speed and torque of a gear pair from the tooth counts and the input speed.Latent HeatHeat energy absorbed or released during a phase change from mass and the specific latent heat.Weight On Other PlanetsHow much a mass would weigh on the Moon or another planet, from each body’s surface gravity.

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