Discover the Fascinating Physics Behind Your Daily Life!

Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue or why your coffee cools down so quickly? Physics isn't really only a subject that we take in school, it's really the unseen force that makes our every day experiences what they are. Let’s explain some simple yet fascinating physics phenomena that we encounter in our daily lives, exploring the science behind them in a casual and relatable way.

Let us define what physics is before we begin diving in and having fun. Physics is the study of matter and energy and their relations to one other. From one atom to the entire universe, it helps us to clarify how things work. In daily life, we refer to what ideas control the environment in which we live when we talk of physics.

The Sky’s Color: Why is it Blue?

Probably one of our first physics wonders was why is the sky blue. When it's clear it's a beautiful shade of blue, but why. This is all thanks to a process called Rayleigh scattering.

The light rays from the sun enter our atmosphere and strike the gas molecules. The light of the sun is composed of many colors, each with its own wave length. Blue light has a shorter wavelength and scatters more than the other colors, making the sky appear blue to our eyes. How cool is that that light can make such beauty?

The Magic of Rainbows

Speaking of colors, have you ever marveled at a rainbow following a rainfall? Another wonderful physics occurrence are rainbows. Sunlight passing through raindrops and then refracted—that is, bent—then refracted once more into the several colors. This bending of light is called refraction.

As I watch a rainbow arch across the sky, I can’t help but feel a sense of wonder about how light can create such vibrant colors. The order of colors in a rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—can be remembered using the acronym ROYGBIV.

Staying Warm

When the cold months come around we like to grab our favorite blanket. However, have you ever stopped to consider the logic behind why blankets are able to keep us so warm? It all comes down to thermal insulation.

Wool, or fleece, insulation works by having little pockets of air all through it, and air is an extremely poor conductor of heat, and so the heat doesn't transfer to the outside air. Now if I pull my blanket up to keep warm, I'm not only insulating myself, I'm also retarding the amount of heat lost to the cooler air surrounding me. That is why we can be warm and cozy when it is below zero outside!

The Force Behind Our Movement

One law of physics that we use every day is force and motion; for instance, when we ride a bike or throw a ball, Newton's laws of motion describe how objects move when forces are applied to them; if we ride a bike and pedal, we exert a force in the direction that we wish to go, and according to Newton's first law, an object at rest will remain at rest until a force acts upon it. So if we didn't give that initial force on the pedal the bike would go nowhere, the same holds when we throw a ball, we give it a force so that it will travel through the air.

Why Do We Yawn?

Oh, yawning. This is something we all do—though occasionally we are unaware of it. Still, have you ever considered why? One well-liked theory holds that yawning cools our brains. Every time we yawn, we inhale deeply, thus more oxygen most likely reaches the brain and might also help cool it. We discover that we yawn far more when we're bored or tired. Our body's way of saying, "Hey, it's time to wake up!" is similar. Recall that yawning is an interesting physiological response rather than only a sign of tiredness the next time you yawn.

Why Do We Hear Echoes?

You know when you start yelling in a canyon and you can hear yourself? If it is how many gigahertz is that away? That's an echo, there's a physics of sound for ya. Sound is a wave, when this wave strikes the surface, it can bounce back to our ear.

343 m/s or so through air is the speed of sound. When I hear an echo, I’m actually listening to the sound waves that have traveled to a surface and back to me. It's such a neat little example of how sound works in our world!

The Force That Keeps Us Grounded

Gravity, the force we experience constantly but we never pay attention to it. It keeps us on the ground and why objects fall when we drop them. Sir Isaac Newton famously described gravity as a force of attraction between two masses. Our known life would not be possible without gravity. Just pause the next time you drop something and consider this force. Watch it fall.

The Reason We Can Walk

You know when you are sliding on a slick floor and you start to slide before you even know what is going on. That's friction! The force that opposes the sliding of two surfaces in contact. Friction is what allows us to walk without slipping. Our shoes rub against the ground when we walk, making enough traction so we don't fall over. You probably tried walking on ice, so you know how much we rely on friction!

Physics is All Around Us

In essence, physics permeates all we do. Physics is not only a topic covered in textbooks and classrooms as this article has shown. From the hue of the sky to the coziness of a blanket, it is the very basis of our daily experiences. I hope this laid-back investigation has motivated you to view the surroundings with a curious eye. From the awe of a rainbow to the thought of why does my coffee always get cold, physics is the cause. And so the next time you encounter some basic events, consider the incredible science underlying them!