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Introduction to Middle school physics

In this course, you'll develop a foundation in the physical laws that govern our world. From forces and motion to energy and waves, learn about the principles that explain how and why things work the way they do. Created by Iman Howard.

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Video transcript

- Hi everyone. Sal Khan here and welcome to Middle School Physics. I have Iman Howard, who manages all of our STEM content. Iman, why should folks be excited about Middle School Physics? - So, Middle School Physics is, like, the only science out there that explains how things happen. And so basically everything's made of matter. Me, you, the chair that I'm sitting on, and this course is gonna explore how we exist in the natural world. So, for example, we talk a little bit about movement in forces, and we learn that everything that we have a collision with has this equal but opposite force that's applied when the collision happens. So that's why when you give those high fives, and then your hand starts stinging. It's because the same force you gave your buddy is the same force they gave you back. And then we also talk about force in a way where it doesn't touch you. So, like, I'm thinking like "Star Wars". There's, like, this force energy like gravitational. There's magnetic energy. There's electric energy. And then finally we get into waves, and we talk a little bit about how waves, you know, exists, whether it's sound waves or even the waves in the ocean. What do you think is exciting about it? - Oh, well that's a dangerous question to ask me. I wanted to be a physicist, and I still aspire to be it, because, you know, we kind of wake up in this cosmos, and we're just trying to understand where we fit in. And physics asks the most fundamental questions about how the universe works. And so when I first learned about Newton's laws, and fields, and all of the things that you just touched on, it started to give me goosebumps, 'cause I'm like, wow, we can finally understand how the universe fits together, and then use that to make predictions, and then think about things that we don't understand. And there is so much that we don't understand. So I think this is the beginning of a very, very exciting journey in physics. - I agree, Sal. (gentle music)