Physics Summer School - Part 1 - Detailed Outline

This page provides a detailed outline of the Physics Summer School – Part One, showing the themes and topics explored in each session across the three-day course. The programme below explains what students study on each day, from Newton’s Laws of Motion and universal gravitation to electricity, magnetism, light, and the measurement of the Earth, the Solar System, and the wider universe.

The course is taught through a combination of discussion, mathematical problem-solving, and collaborative investigation. Students are encouraged not only to understand physical ideas conceptually, but also to express them precisely in mathematical form and apply them to challenging problems.

View and download a pdf of the outline here.

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Day One – Newtonian Mechanics
Day Two – Electromagnetism
Day Three – Astrophysics

Across the course, students explore how physicists use mathematical models to describe the physical world, test explanations, and infer unseen realities from limited evidence. Beginning with Newtonian mechanics, the course introduces students to the idea that a small number of simple laws can explain a wide range of phenomena when expressed with sufficient precision. It then develops the field-based framework of electromagnetism, showing how electricity, magnetism, and light can be understood within a unified mathematical description. Finally, in astrophysics, students use geometry, trigonometry, and physical reasoning to reconstruct how we determine the size of the Earth, the distances to the Sun and Moon, and the scale of the universe beyond our Solar System. Throughout, the emphasis is on combining conceptual understanding with exact reasoning, so that students experience physics not simply as a body of knowledge, but as a method for discovering how the universe works.

Please note that for some groups, sessions may run in a different order.

10.00 – 1.00 The Laws of Motion

Newton’s Laws of Motion provide one of the first examples in physics of a simple mathematical framework capable of describing an enormous range of physical phenomena. In this session, students move beyond the everyday intuition of motion and begin to think in terms of idealised systems, forces, and reference frames.

Starting with the Principle of Inertia, students consider what it would mean to describe motion in a universe without friction, and how physical laws can be formulated independently of particular situations. Newton’s Second Law is then developed as a precise mathematical relationship between force and acceleration, allowing students to analyse motion quantitatively across a range of contexts.

These ideas are applied to problems involving circular motion, rotating systems, and weightlessness, before introducing Newton’s Third Law through examples such as rocket propulsion. Throughout, students work through structured problems that require them to translate physical situations into mathematical form and solve them rigorously.

1.00 – 2.00 Lunch

2.00 – 3.30 The Universal Law of Gravitation

Building on the laws of motion, this session introduces gravity as the first universal force law — a single mathematical relationship capable of describing both falling objects on Earth and the motion of planets.

Students explore the inverse-square nature of gravitational force and its consequences for orbital motion, deriving relationships such as Kepler’s Third Law and applying them to calculate planetary periods.

The emphasis throughout is on connecting physical intuition with mathematical description, including problems involving free-fall, orbital motion, and artificial gravity. Students are encouraged to test how far a single law can be pushed in explaining apparently very different phenomena.

10.00 – 1.00 Electricity, Fields, and the Structure of Matter

This session introduces electricity not simply as a set of phenomena, but as a fundamental force underlying the structure of matter itself. Students begin with electrostatics and the historical development of ideas about charge, before moving to the modern concept of electric fields as a way of describing forces acting across space.

Key ideas include the behaviour of charges, field representations, and the relationship between potential difference and energy. Students use these ideas to analyse systems mathematically, including the motion of charged particles and the forces acting within electric fields.

The session develops the idea that physical laws can be expressed in terms of fields, providing a framework that extends beyond simple force-based descriptions.

1.00 – 2.00 Lunch

2.00 – 3.30 Electromagnetism and the Nature of Light

The afternoon session explores the unification of electricity and magnetism, culminating in the understanding of light as an electromagnetic wave.

Students examine how electric and magnetic fields interact, and how this leads to a description of light with a fixed and measurable speed. They then apply these ideas to explain observable phenomena such as reflection, refraction, and the formation of rainbows.

Where appropriate, students are guided through calculations that connect theoretical ideas to measurable quantities, reinforcing the link between mathematical description and physical reality.

10.00 – 1.00 Measuring the Earth and the Solar System

This session focuses on one of the central achievements of physics: the ability to determine the scale of the universe using relatively simple observations and mathematical reasoning.

Students reconstruct the methods used by ancient astronomers such as Aristarchus and Eratosthenes to determine the size of the Earth and the relative distances of the Sun and Moon.

Using trigonometry and geometric reasoning, they derive these results for themselves, gaining insight into how physical knowledge can be built from limited observational data. The emphasis is on understanding the assumptions involved and the challenges of making accurate measurements.

1.00 – 2.00 Lunch

2.00 – 3.30 Stars, Galaxies, and the Scale of the Universe

The final session extends these ideas beyond the Solar System to the wider universe. Students explore how distances to stars and galaxies are measured, and how we infer the structure and scale of the observable universe.

This includes discussion of stellar formation, fusion, and the evidence used to estimate distances on astronomical scales. Students are encouraged to consider both the methods and the limitations of our knowledge, and how successive models build on earlier approximations.

This outline provides a detailed view of the themes and topics explored during the Physics Summer School – Part One. The programme is designed to introduce students to the core ideas and mathematical frameworks that underpin classical physics, while also giving participants the opportunity to apply those ideas through problem-solving and discussion.

For students with a strong mathematical background, Part 2 of the course explores more advanced areas of modern physics, including relativity, quantum mechanics, and particle physics, and is suitable for those who have studied at least one year of A-level Mathematics.

Return to the main Physics Summer School page for full practical details about the course and how to apply.