Physics in Pictures by Topic
Chaos
Polyhedral Peg, Round Hole
Finding the best way to pack objects into a container of a certain shape is harder than you might think.
Color Charge: Plastics, Polymers, and Voronoi Diagrams
Learn about plastics and polymers with the newest page from our upcoming all-ages coloring book!
Symmetry Wake
This image reveals the intricate wake structure left behind two cylinders rotating in a fluid.
Fluid Turbulence
Simulations reveal a striking battle between two forces when lighter fluids flow above heavier ones.
Slime Mold Evolution
A time lapse image of a developing slime mold network. By watching this growth, physicists hope to better understand the analogous development of transportation networks.
Flowing Beads
Mixing different beads delineates coherent structures, providing insight into how grains mix.
Quantum Simulation Bonding
Simulations indicate that hydrogen bond density is higher on the surface of titanium dioxide than on tin dioxide, but the hydrogen bonds are found to be stronger on tin dioxide than titanium dioxide.
Order Through Chaos
When researchers tried packing billiard-ball-like spheres in a number of ways, the most chaotic ones were consistently the most symmetrical.
Fractal Globule
Experimental evidence suggests that the human genome may bundle into these unknotted fractal globules.
Lighting Up Wall Street
High frequency trading computers can help make investors millions, but where in the world would be the best place for these computers to be located? Physics could help explain how to make your millions.
Human Genome Folded
Inside cells there is a long code that holds all of an organism’s hereditary information, but how does that long code fit in that tiny space?
Less is More for E. Coli
New simulations show that reducing the number of spare DNA genes in the microbe E. coli can actually increase the bacteria’s chances of survival.
Free Floating Plasma Orb or Squid Ghost
Ghost of discharged capacitor found haunting a glass of water! What could be more scary than that? Try a hot ball of electric plasma.
Red Dye Crowned in Milk
This crown is formed by the splash and droplets of a 2 mm drop of red dye impacting on a thin layer of milk.
Centrifugal Instability of an Oscillating Boundary Layer
A cylinder twisting back and forth in water, produces a "centrifugal instability," as shown by fluorescent dye. This fluid pattern will not only help scientists better understand ocean dynamics, but it is also aesthetically beautiful.
MHDPD-Magneto Hydro Dynamic Propulsion Device: The Experiment/ The Attenuation
Red and green dye reveals the turbulent fluid flows from the magneto hydro dynamic propulsion device.
My Cup Runneth Down
It might seem intuitively obvious that a layer of dense liquid resting on a less dense liquid is an unstable situation. What isn't as obvious is the complex way that liquids arranged in this manner and tend to move.
A 'Soapy' Solution
Researchers have been frustrated in their attempts to confirm the long-standing theory that describes how dyes mix in turbulent liquids.
Turbulence
The erratic, swirling fluid motion known as turbulence increases wind resistance, and airplane manufacturers go to great lengths to eliminate rough surfaces that promote it.
Simply Shocking
Sparks branch for the same reason that coral reefs and snowflakes do, according to new computer simulations.
Underwater Desert
Windblown dunes can engulf houses, roads, and airfields, but researchers have had a hard time studying them under controlled conditions.
Dripping Faucets
When the faucet drips, most people call the plumber or get out their tools, but some physicists are content to study the phenomenon instead.
Crystal Cannibals
The crystallization process that turns a liquid to a solid is brutally competitive, according to an analysis of experiments performed on the Space Shuttle.
All Mixed Up
If you fill a barrel part-way with red beads, add some green beads, and then roll it around the room a bit, will your beads blend?
