You are currently viewing 25 Best Websites to learn Physics and Astronomy for Students and Amateurs in 2022

25 Best Websites to learn Physics and Astronomy for Students and Amateurs in 2022

The internet is awash with information. There are reportedly over 1.17 billion websites in the world right now, with over 250,000 new websites being created every day. By the time you finish reading this article, they’ll be another 2,000+ new websites on the web. Now that’s a lot of information for anyone to sift through. This is why I have taken the liberty to compile the 25 best physics websites on the internet for you. Whether you are a physics student, teacher, or just a mailman interested in the formation and development of black holes, I’ve got you. My comprehensive list caters to all classes of people, from those in academia to those “in the hood”.

Of course, it comes down to your preferences and what you are looking for in a physics website. So without further ado, I bring to you the …

Physics websites for students (early college and high school)

Student learning from computer

These are curriculum-based physics blogs. They are sort of like textbooks, but they are on the web. Most of them are written by teachers and aimed at students. This list is not in order of preference.

The Physics Classroom

I believe the idea for this website is to have a physics website that really feels like a classroom, and for that, I give them an ‘A’. The website is well structured with lessons and sub-lessons, with sub-lessons consisting of “Check Your Understanding” providing an opportunity to assess one’s understanding of the lesson material.

A lesson on Newton’s second law of motion, for example, is divided into 5 generous sections. The sections begin by tackling the underlying conception problem (misconception) of Newton’s laws and then develop the idea to eventually incorporate numerical problems at the end.

This site also boasts one of the most popular tutorials on the internet. Other popular sections of the website with monitoring come at a small subscription fee. I am willing to bet it’s worth your money.

Khan Academy

In 2008, Salman (Sal) Khan was tutoring his cousin in mathematics using a Yahoo! Doodle Images service. It involved videos recorded in the virtual background with Khan’s voice narrating over them. Khan posted the videos on YouTube and they gradually gained attention. The rest is history as they say.

Today, the Khan Academy YouTube channel has over 6 million subscribers, over 7000 videos, and over 1.8 billion views.

The website’s mission reads as follows, “To provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere …

The website covers are vast category of materials ranging from early kindergarten to early college. Most of these are mathematics and science courses.

It’s basically a free online educational platform – and it’s one of the best.

Toppr

Started by former classmates Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti in 2013, the duo quoted “poor education quality and price” as the reasons for the inspiration to start the online educational platform. The platform focuses chiefly on the Indian Curriculum mostly catering to students preparing for JEE and medical examinations.

The platform relies heavily on a fleet of freelancers to prepare modules, classes, and other teaching materials. Most freelancers don’t have much good to say about Toppr, with most citing “excessive working hours, pressure and low payment”.

However, in my opinion, if you are a student, the website has very good, up-to-date, well-prepared content – most of it is free.

You only pay for video classes, live-classes, and some exercises. You can also ask three doubts (questions) free of cost on the App, after that you’ll have to pay to unlock others. Like Khan Academy, it caters to students ranging from as early as 10 years old to early-twenties (early college students).

The Physics Hypertext Book

Glenn Elert, the author of Physics Hypertext Book laments, “most physics textbooks are written by corporations and not authors … as a result, they lack a writer’s voice …” I suspect most physics students share the same sentiment about textbooks.

He, therefore, started the Physics Hypertextbook as a way of putting a writer’s voice on a physics textbook. Except this textbook will beavailable on the internet – for free.

His website is structured to look like a high-school physics book, with contents presented chapter-wise. It is one of my favorite physics websites on the internet.

Lumen Learning

Cofounded by Dr. David Wiley and Ken Thanos in 2013, Lumen Learning is dedicated to make education more affordable by facilitating the integration of Open Education Resources (OER) and bring new ideas to pedagogy.

The website has over 65 subjects which are (for a large part) freely available. Lumen Learning collaborates with learning institutions, and if there is anything that is going to involve payment, the institution will pay – not the student.

The payment services include customized courses, feedback for students, homework system, which are more institution-tailored anyway. If you are looking to study physics on your own, you may not even need those premium options, the free content will suffice.

Byju’s

This education technology company offers learning programs for students following Indian-curriculum students. In a nutshell, it is a mine of educational materials, tutorials, and content. If you are looking to study physics – this is among the top websites that you should visit.

Study

This is an online learning platform with plenty of experience in the industry. Started in May of 2002 by Adrian Ridner and Ben Wilson, the website provides both personalized adaptive learning and tools for both teachers and students.

The materials here are not free, it costs anywhere between 30$ – 60$ a month for premium options. However, following the Covid-19 pandemic, last year Study announced that it’ll be putting together a list of 40 free online courses in history, math, English, and science.

Article-based physics websites: For the common reader.

Woman reading from a smartphone.

If you are not in school, but just interested in the concepts of physics out of your own curiosity without an annoying test or exam hanging over your head. Then I have these 8 article-based physics websites on the web that will cater to your appetite for curiosity.

Physics World

If I were to cram everything into one physics website for common readers and scientists alike, then Physics World would be it. Launched in the late 1980s, this website forms part of a larger Physics World Portfolio that includes magazines, films, podcasts and so much more. Some of the best science writers and editors out there write the articles on this website.

Here is their mission, “… we provide international readership with a unique mix of daily news, opinion and analysis …” Honestly, that’s about anything you could be looking for out there right?

Physorg

Started in 2004 as “Physorg.com”, it has evolved to be “phys.org”. It is (in a nutshell) a comprehensive science website covering almost all fields of science. The website, which is part of the Science X network, boasts 5 million scientists, researchers, and engineers every month, with over 200 articles published every day. The mission is “to provide the most complete and comprehensive daily coverage of the full sweep of science, technology, and medicine”.

It is one of the best and commanding physics websites on the web. On their about page, they have outlined “12 reasons for reading daily news on Science X”. Gotta love the PR team!

Sciencing

This is where I would go to do everything. From learning How to calculate the force of friction to help me understand my physics homework to learn about the Composition of a Black Hole when I want to pass the time.

It is one of the few websites on the web that caters to my needs both as a student and as someone interested in physics. This is best summarised on the website about page. “We want to be every student’s go-to resource for all things science … whether you need help solving quadratic equations or the latest update on a major storm …

Quora

This a Q/A (questions and answers) website. More of a platform than a website to fair. If your search on the web revolves around physics questions, then I’d recommend this site for you.

Chances are the questions that you have, may have already been asked and answered. So you may not have to ask the question again, your task will only be navigating this site for answers. (Don’t sweat about it, the Quora algorithm will make it easy for you).

For example, you could ask, What banged the Big Bang? And the award-winning theoretical physicist, Richard Muller, will answer you! Plus multiple Ph.D. students, undergraduates, teachers, and others may also answer you. Ultimately, you end up with a whole lot of perspectives – from real people, some of who are the best in the field.

Other websites (not necessarily exclusive to physics) include the following:

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a wealth of information. Almost all phenomenona are covered in Wikipedia, including biographies, events, and other debates pertaining to physics. In addition, Wikipedia articles are a wealth of references, you get lots of information crammed into one article.

The biggest disadvantage is that almost anyone can edit articles on there, so there’s a chance that they may be misleading. Also, Wikipedia articles lack engagement and a writer’s voice, they feel like a research paper. That can put off some people.

Britannica

This is essentially like Wikipedia with one big advantage: they cannot be edited by anyone. As a result, information on Britannica is very reliable. Not only that, the authors writing for Britannica are some of the best in their fields. Authors of physics articles include qualified physics professors, writers, and scholars such as Michio Kaku, Cyril Domb, Anthony Aguire, and others.

Other notable mentions in this category includes:

Science Tech Daily

Discover magazine

Nasa Science

Scientific American

Quanta Magazine

New Scientist

Websites about space, astronomy, and the universe.

Space

Astronomy

Bad Astronomy

Physorg

Physics research papers and journals

For research papers, journals and other scientific publications you might want to visit the following:

Papers in Physics

Academia

ResearchGate

Last but not least, (in fact, the greatest) if you believe you have discovered something new in physics and you wish to publish your results, here is what you do:

Write a scientific paper including an abstract detailing your theory and send it to “Physical Review Letters” here is their website (Information for authors).

They are very honest people and won’t try to steal your discovery.

If you think there is any experiment that can test your theory, be sure to include it there as well.

My personal favorites?

I would say Probing Physics! Because it’s mine (ha-ha!)

But other than that, I’d say Space, Physics World, and Quanta magazine. I am also a regular reader of Discover Magazine and Scientific American from time to time. On YouTube, I am subscribed to the World Science Festival, MIT Open Courseware, and Yale courses. I highly recommend these last two if you are looking to study college physics, seen as most curriculum-based websites in this list stop at high school or early college.

Credit: QuoteFancy

Conclusion

Of course, this is not the ultimate list of “best physics websites” on the internet. There may be other physics websites on the internet that may be better at some aspects than those mentioned here. Also, depending on one’s taste and preferences, this list might not appeal. This list is more of a reference list than an ultimate list.