Physics is the study of fundamentals, elements and energy. Combinations of elements are relegated to less fundamental sciences like chemistry and biology. In these notes I focus on fostering intuitive understanding of basic concepts. You may not need Newton's law of cooling in daily life, but it can be powerful to have a little deeper understanding of heat beyond "It's too darn hot."

Photons - How we see

A photon is a little bundle of energy. Some of them tweak molecules in your eye.

Molecules

An atom is electrons, protons, and neutrons. A molecule is a bunch of atoms.

Heat

Heat is most often vibrating molecules.

Quanta

Einstein invented quantum theory by explaining that a bookkeeping method invented by Plank was actually a manifestation of something that might be sort of real.

The Standard Model

Everything is built from a few standard pieces.

Randomness

Nature is fickle. How are we to cope?

The Binomial Distribution

One way to understand random events is to compare them to mathematical distributions. The "binomial" distribution is a model of events that have only two possible outcomes, like heads or tails.