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Physics

Semiconductors

Semiconductors are an important part of CCD cameras (Charge-coupled Devices). They help to convert light into a current in the technology.

A dotted cube with a grey sphere at each corner. There is a smaller outline of a grey cube inside, tilted at an angle. Again, there are grey spheres at each corner, and some of these spheres connect to each other with grey lines. The result is a crystal structure.
This work by The Schools' Observatory is licensed under All rights reserved
3D silicon crystal; each atom is bound to 4 others.

Electricity

Some particles can have a positive or negative charge. For example, protons have a positive charge, and electrons have a negative charge.

They have electric fields around them. The stronger the charge, the bigger the electric field.

A small red circle is in the centre with a plus (+) symbol on it. Thin, straight, black lines leave the circle at different angles, stretching out to all edges of the image. These have arrowheads pointing away from the circle.
This work by Geek3 is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International
The electric field around a positive charge (like a proton)

Gravitational Lensing

Space is not flat. It is 3D, and we say that everything in it is held together on an imaginary surface we call spacetime. The idea of spacetime was put forward in Einstein's theory of relativity.

A white meshed grid against a black background. Three spheres of different size and mass sit on the grid, appearing to distort the grid beneath it. The largest sphere is yellow and causes the most distortion, with the next smallest being orange that causes less distortion. A red sphere is the smallest, with the mesh around it barely being distorted.
This work by ESA–C.Carreau is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
Artists impression visualising space-time being distorted by three spheres with different masses. 

Gravitational Waves

Gravitational waves are tiny, invisible ripples in space. They travel for huge distances at the speed of light. The waves squeeze and stretch any objects they pass, but only by a tiny amount.

An artists impression of gravity waves caused by binary neutrons stars. The stars are blue dots towards the upper right of the image. There appears to be ripples extending out from them, moving through a blue and yellow lattice grid.
This work by R.Hurt/JPL-Caltech is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
Artist impression of gravitational waves caused by two orbiting neutron stars.

Relativity

Gravity is the force we are most familiar with in everyday life. It has been studied for longer than the other forces of nature. However, it is also the least well understood.

An image showing many galaxies within a cluster. Towards the centre, the light has curved, appearing to form the outline of a face and a mouth smiling whilst two bright galaxies look like the eyes.
This work by NASA/ESA is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
A galaxy cluster appearing to have two eyes and a nose to form a smiley face. The eyes are actually very bright galaxies, and the lines are arcs caused by an effect called gravitational lensing.

Light and Telescopes

One of the first people to study light was Ibn al-Haytham (known as Alhazen). He was a Muslim, living in Egypt in the early 11th Century. Alhazen is first person we know of who used the scientific method. He wanted to know why our eyes could see things.

A simple experiment using paper and a light source to show light travels in straight lines..
This work by The Schools' Observatory is licensed under All rights reserved
A simple experiment using paper and a light source to show light travels in straight lines