/r/physicsgifs

Photograph via snooOG

GIFs that show physics principles at work in the real world or in a simulation.

About

This subreddit is dedicated to showcasing interesting and entertaining physics principles in work in the real world or in a demonstration.


Rules

  • Submit gifs that show the interesting world of physics. Be it pendulums, crashes, or physical models.

  • Explanations for whatever is happening in the gif would be preferred, but isn't required. If you understand what's happening in the gif, feel free to put an explanation in the comments.

  • Also, please upvote intelligent and informative comments. Don't keep the upvotes soley for puns and references and all of that jazz.

  • Don't post videos.


Filter By Category

Electromagnetism

Thermodynamics

Fluid Dynamics

Light, Waves and Sound

Newtonian Mechanics

Astrophysics and Space

Nuclear Physics

Quantum Mechanics


Symbols, Superscripts and Subscripts

Superscript

  • E = mc2 is written as E = mc^(2)

Subscript

  • vo = vf - (a * t) is written as v*_o_* = v*_f_* - (a * t)

Arrows

  • Equilibrium arrow: ⇌
  • Left Arrow: ←
  • Right arrow: →
  • Left/Right Arrow: ↔
  • Up Arrow: ↑
  • Down Arrow: ↓
  • Up/Down Arrow: ↨

Equality Signs

  • Less Than or Equal To: ≤
  • Greater Than or Equal To: ≥
  • Not Equal: ≠
  • Approximation: ≅

Additional Symbols:

  • Theta: θ
  • Degrees: °
  • Mu: μ
  • Sigma: Σ
  • Delta: Δ
  • Phi: ϕ
  • Omega: ω
  • Alpha: α
  • Pi: π
  • Plus or Minus: ±
  • Integral Sign: ∫
  • Square Root: √

Please use these to help out fellow redditors that haven't studied physics! Live Example.


Other Subreddits

/r/chemicalreactiongifs

/r/biologygifs

/r/spacegifs

/r/oceangifs

/r/physics

/r/space

/r/mathpics

/r/askscience

/r/gif

/r/gifv


/r/physicsgifs

215,500 Subscribers

129

Why does my light has these moving lines I can even see w my eyes

The bulb is pretty old and it's not as bright as it used to be but it's still OK (I cranked down the ISO for better visibility)

45 Comments
2024/10/31
12:46 UTC

1,114

Object after being released from turntable continues radial motion

93 Comments
2024/10/28
13:10 UTC

141

"Wine Tears" in Gasoline | Marangoni Effect

1 Comment
2024/10/25
13:54 UTC

1,523

You can see the shockwaves travel down through the clouds, bounce off the ground, then go back up

10 Comments
2024/10/14
01:14 UTC

792

Newton's 1st Law Beautifully Explained by @explaining.astrophysics

14 Comments
2024/10/12
17:35 UTC

458

5D Schrödinger Surfaces

5D? Really? Yes. 3 spatial dimensions, 1 temporal, and 1+ rotation. This is an abstract way of visualizing the nested dimensions in String Theory.

105 Comments
2024/10/11
20:45 UTC

213

Trig Function Orientation in 3D Space

7 Comments
2024/09/20
20:07 UTC

908

Schrödinger Equation visualization 👀

41 Comments
2024/09/18
00:59 UTC

333

Wave Packets

Made in Blender using Geometry Nodes

2 Comments
2024/09/14
00:37 UTC

106

Does anyone have any idea why this happens?

21 Comments
2024/09/08
17:37 UTC

77

Spherical Scalar Field

3D Scalar Field over a sphere using Geometry Nodes in Blender

5 Comments
2024/09/06
13:04 UTC

139

Scalar Field

The scalar field of sin(2π(xy+σ)) oscillating as σ increases.

Red represents positive values, purple represents negative values, and sky blue represents values close to zero.

4 Comments
2024/08/30
03:42 UTC

28

Anybody ever seen double slit captured, not modeled, in 3D?

I've seen loads of 3D renders of how the double slit experiment works, but has anybody ever tried capturing the wave in 3D?

I picture a normal double slit set up but with a projection screen that moves in the z axis, closer and farther from the slits. Use a locked off camera or two to capture the result in hundreds/thousands of slices, that get assembled in the computer, removing the background in each slice and only showing the light, so you can reconstruct the wave pattern in 3D of actual light.

Would they be straight beams of light, or would they curve around like wave ripples, peaking and dimming in curves?

3D models are cool and all, but I want to see the actual light waves suspended in the air.

5 Comments
2024/08/04
13:39 UTC

57

Little animation I made showing the formation of the Wigner Seitz cell for the BCC lattice

0 Comments
2024/08/04
00:03 UTC

21

Easy tool/Software for making engineering/physics animation?

I am a mechanical engineer and running a youtube channel. I plan to make videos/animations related to engineering, physics and technology. I am looking for a best and easy to use tool for making animations. Can you guys suggest tools for making animations.

2 Comments
2024/07/20
08:19 UTC

290

Can Someone Explain This?

Balloon with confetti in it wants to stay in the air stream even when pushed out of the way.

33 Comments
2024/07/01
18:44 UTC

82

The cross product cartel!

7 Comments
2024/06/28
14:21 UTC

369

Deep Water Wave

9 Comments
2024/06/21
04:08 UTC

21

Gandalf Says: You Shall Not Pass(ymptote)!

1 Comment
2024/06/19
05:58 UTC

1,007

I captured a slow motion video of a thrown tomahawk hitting the block and rotating in a very strange way.

I thought this was so cool, I've never seen anything like this before.

53 Comments
2024/06/17
15:26 UTC

45

[OC] Automatic differentiation can find fluid initial conditions that evolve into any configuration

6 Comments
2024/06/11
21:54 UTC

68

Gravity's Sidekick: mg Sin θ

5 Comments
2024/06/05
14:20 UTC

63

The Doppler Effect (red/blue shift)

3 Comments
2024/06/04
00:38 UTC

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