This collection of STEM resources is based on the physical world. Resources are listed in order of stage.
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Core Scientific Mathematics
This is the area of the advanced stemNRICH site devoted to the core applied mathematics underlying the sciences.
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chemNRICH
chemNRICH is the area of the stemNRICH site devoted to the
mathematics underlying the study of chemistry, designed to help
develop the mathematics required to get the most from your study of
chemistry at A-level and university.
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physNRICH
PhysNRICH is the area of the StemNRICH site devoted to the mathematics underlying the study of physics
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engNRICH
engNRICH is the area of the stemNRICH Advanced site devoted to the mathematics underlying the study of engineering
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Emmy Noether
Find out about Emmy Noether, whose ideas linked physics and algebra, and whom Einstein described as a 'creative mathematical genius'.
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Pinhole Camera
Make your own pinhole camera for safe observation of the sun, and find out how it works.
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Ancient Astronomical Terms
Some explanations of basic terms and some phenomena discovered by
ancient astronomers
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Perfect Eclipse
Use trigonometry to determine whether solar eclipses on earth can be perfect.
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Guessing the graph
Can you suggest a curve to fit some experimental data? Can you work out where the data might have come from?
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Construct the solar system
Make an accurate diagram of the solar system and explore the concept of a grand conjunction.
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The amazing properties of water
Find out why water is one of the most amazing compounds in the universe and why it is essential for life. - UNDER DEVELOPMENT
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Big and small numbers in The Physical World
Work with numbers big and small to estimate and calculate various quantities in physical contexts.
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Alternative Record Book
In which Olympic event does a human travel fastest? Decide which events to include in your Alternative Record Book.
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Big and Small Numbers in Chemistry
Get some practice using big and small numbers in chemistry.
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Big and small numbers in physics
Work out the numerical values for these physical quantities.
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The Power of Dimensional Analysis
An introduction to a useful tool to check the validity of an equation.
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Constantly changing
Many physical constants are only known to a certain accuracy. Explore the numerical error bounds in the mass of water and its constituents.
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Favourite
The not-so-simple pendulum 1
See how the motion of the simple pendulum is not-so-simple after
all.
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Hold still please
Can you arrange a set of charged particles so that none of them
start to move when released from rest?
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Favourite
Go spaceship go
Show that even a very powerful spaceship would eventually run out
of overtaking power
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The real hydrogen atom
Dip your toe into the world of quantum mechanics by looking at the
Schrodinger equation for hydrogen atoms
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Ideal gases
Problems which make you think about the kinetic ideas underlying
the ideal gas laws.
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Ideal axes
Explore how can changing the axes for a plot of an equation can
lead to different shaped graphs emerging
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Reaction types
Explore the rates of growth of the sorts of simple polynomials
often used in mathematical modelling.
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Drug stabiliser
How does the half-life of a drug affect the build up of medication
in the body over time?
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Levels of Bohr
Look at the units in the expression for the energy levels of the electrons in a hydrogen atom according to the Bohr model.
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Favourite
Lunar Leaper
Gravity on the Moon is about 1/6th that on the Earth. A
pole-vaulter 2 metres tall can clear a 5 metres pole on the Earth.
How high a pole could he clear on the Moon?
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Favourite
The not-so-simple pendulum 2
Things are roughened up and friction is now added to the
approximate simple pendulum
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Favourite
Whoosh
A ball whooshes down a slide and hits another ball which flies off
the slide horizontally as a projectile. How far does it go?
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Favourite
Gravity paths
Where will the spaceman go when he falls through these strange planetary systems?
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Keep your momentum going
A look at a fluid mechanics technique called the Steady Flow
Momentum Equation.
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Resistance
Find the equation from which to calculate the resistance of an
infinite network of resistances.
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Whose line graph is it anyway?
Which line graph, equations and physical processes go together?
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Big and small numbers in physics - Group task
Work in groups to try to create the best approximations to these
physical quantities.
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Mach Attack
Have you got the Mach knack? Discover the mathematics behind
exceeding the sound barrier.
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Earth orbit
Follow in the steps of Newton and find the path that the earth
follows around the sun.
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Lennard Jones potential
Investigate why the Lennard-Jones potential gives a good
approximate explanation for the behaviour of atoms at close ranges
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Diamonds aren't forever
Ever wondered what it would be like to vaporise a diamond? Find out
inside...
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Modelling Assumptions in mechanics
An article demonstrating mathematically how various physical
modelling assumptions affect the solution to the seemingly simple
problem of the projectile.
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Favourite
Escape from planet Earth
How fast would you have to throw a ball upwards so that it would
never land?
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Moving Stonehenge
A look at the fluid mechanics questions that are raised by the
Stonehenge 'bluestones'.
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Striking gold
Investigate some of the issues raised by Geiger and Marsden's
famous scattering experiment in which they fired alpha particles at
a sheet of gold.
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Maths in the Undergraduate Physical Sciences
An article about the kind of maths a first year undergraduate in
physics, engineering and other physical sciences courses might
encounter. The aim is to highlight the link between particular
maths topics (e.g. complex numbers) and their applications.
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The ultra particle
Explore the energy of this incredibly energetic particle which struck Earth on October 15th 1991
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Pack Man
A look at different crystal lattice structures, and how they relate
to structural properties
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Cobalt decay
Investigate the effects of the half-lifes of the isotopes of cobalt
on the mass of a mystery lump of the element.