9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

9 min Updated: April 16th, 2022

A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

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Plates break when you drop them. Glasses help you see better. Have you ever wondered why?
Physics has the answer. It studies the observable as well as invisible aspects of nature. An essential part of this is
examining the structure and interactions of matter.
Are you a high-schooler studying for your exams? Or maybe you need to write an interesting physics paper for your
Ph.D. research or college seminar? This article presents a list of the most popular topics in physics for you to choose
from.
Best of all, you don’t have to push yourself too hard to nish your essay. Custom-writing.org is happy to help students
with all kinds of written assignments.

Top 10 Physics Research Topics

1 Modern vs. classical physics

2 Gravity method in geophysics

3 Why can’t the multiverse be real?

4 Nuclear physics vs. quantum physics

5 Photonics’ relationship to other elds

6 Is electromagnetism the strongest force?

7 What would extra dimensions look like?

8 The importance of kinematics in real life

9 Is string theory a generalization of quantum eld theory?

10 The di erence between liquid pressure and air pressure

Branches of Physics
Now: before writing about physics you should know about its main branches. These are classical and modern. Let’s take
a closer look:

1 Classical physics encompasses all research done before the 20th century. Its subcategories include:

Mechanics, which is concerned with motion. Two of its essential aspects are kinematics and dynamics.
Optics helps us understand the properties of light.

Another branch investigates waves and sound. It studies the way they travel and how they are produced.
Thermodynamics deals with heat and motion. One of its key concepts is entropy.

Electromagnetism studies the interactions between charged particles. It also deals with the forces and elds
that surround them.
Finally, physical geographers observe our Earth’s physical features. These include environmental processes
and patterns.

2 All advances in physics after the turn of the 20th century are part of modern physics. It includes:

Atomic physics, which examines the structure and behavior of atoms.

Nuclear physics investigates the nucleus of atoms. This branch often deals with radioactivity.

Scientists working in quantum physics concentrate on the erratic behavior of waves and particles.

Relativity can be general and special. Special relativity deals with time and motion. General relativity
describes gravity as an alteration of spacetime caused by massive objects.
Cosmology and astrophysics explore the properties of celestial bodies. Cosmologists strive to comprehend
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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

the universe on a larger scale.

Mesoscopic physics covers the scale between macroscopic and microscopic.

You can talk about any of these branches in your essay. Keep in mind that this division is a basic outline. Strictly
speaking, everything that happens around you is physics! Now, we’re all set to move on to our physics paper topics.

Top 10 Physics Topics 2022

11 Biophysics vs. biochemistry

12 The future of nano-physics

13 The use of perturbation theory

14 Possible cause of baryogenesis

15 Solid-state vs. condensed matter physics

16 Why is the quark model introduced?

17 The importance of plasma in physics

18 Statistical mechanics vs. statistical physics

19 Ways to calculate electronic structure

20 Di erence between matter and dark matter

Classical Physics Topics to Write About

Classical physics deals with energy, force, and motion. You encounter this kind of physics in everyday life. Below, we’ve
compiled a list with compelling prompts you’ll recognize from your physics class:

Mechanics Essay Topics

21 What does Newton’s laws of motion state?

22 How do ships stay a oat?

23 Equipartition: for what systems does it not hold?

24 What does Bernoulli’s principle state about uids?

25 Surface tension: what causes it?

26 How does buoyancy work?

27 An overview of the molecular origins of viscosity.

28 The equipartition theorem: how does it connect a system’s temperature to its energies?

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

29 The bene ts of the continuum assumption.

30 Contrast the di erent types of forces.

31 Explain the term “momentum.”

32 Kinematics: describing the relationships of objects in constrained motion.

33 What causes objects to oscillate?

Thermodynamics Paper Topics

34 Thermodynamics as a kinetic theory of matter.

35 What is entropy?

36 Describe the three types of thermodynamic processes.

37 The Carnot heat engine as part of a thermodynamic cycle.

38 Perpetual motion: is it possible or not?

39 Investigate re in terms of chemistry and thermodynamics.

Electromagnetism Topics to Research

40 Examine the connection between electric potential and electric eld.

41 What makes an excellent conduit?

42 How does a dielectric impact a capacitor?

43 Contrast current, resistance, and power.

44 How do magnetic elds relate to electricity?

45 Explain inductance. What causes it?

46 How do induction stoves work?

Essay Topics on Sounds & Waves

47 Sound waves: how do they travel?

48 Describe the two types of mechanical waves.

49 What are electromagnetic waves used for?

50 The di erence between interference and di raction.

51
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51
Music and vibrations: the properties of sound.

Optics Topics to Write About

52 How does re ection work?

53 What happens when an object absorbs light?

54 Why does light break into a rainbow?

55 Lasers: what do we use them for?

56 What causes Aurora Borealis?

57 Photography: what happens when you change the aperture?

58 Explain what in uences the colors of sunsets.

59 Fata Morgana mirages: where do they originate from?

60 What is the Novaya Zemlya e ect?

Modern Physics Topics for a Paper

The world of modern physics shifts away from its more tangible origins. It deals with atoms and even smaller particles.
Nuclear, atomic, and quantum physics belong to this category. One of the central problems of modern physics is
rede ning the concept of gravity.

61 Relativity: a discovery that turned our understanding of physics upside down.

62 An overview of 20th century physics.

63 The ultraviolet catastrophe and how it was solved.

64 What happens to the energy entering an ideal blackbody?

65 The photoelectric e ect: creating current with light.

66 Why did the classical lightwave model become outdated?

67 How do night vision devices work?

68 The production of x-rays.

69 Explain why the charge of electrons is quantized.

70 How does the kinetic energy of an electron relate to the light’s frequency and intensity?

71 Describe the photon model of the Compton Scattering.

72 How do you identify an element using its line spectra?

73 Cold Fusion: how likely is it?

74 Explain the Pauli Exclusion Principle.

75 Electron shells and atomic orbitals: properties of electrons.

76 What causes peaks in the x-ray spectrum?

77 How do you calculate radioactive decay?

78 Carbon dating: how accurate is it?

79 The discovery of radioactivity.

80 What holds electronic nuclei together?

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

81 Nuclear Fusion: will it ever be possible?

82 Describe the types of elemental transmutation.

83 Applications of nuclear ssion.

84 Virtual particles: how do they come into existence?

85 Nucleosynthesis: creating atomic nuclei.

86 How do you dope a semiconductor using ion implantation?

87 What are the magic numbers?

88 Superheavy primordial elements: the history of unbihexium.

89 Predictions surrounding the island of stability.

90 How does a computer tomography work?

Physics Project Topics for a Science Fair

What’s the most fun part of every natural science? If you said “experiments,” you guessed it! Everybody can enjoy
creating rainbows or exploring the e ects of magnets. Your next physics project will be as fascinating as you want it to
be with these exciting ideas!

91 Build a kaleidoscope and learn how it works.

92 Investigate the centripetal force with the help of gelatin and marbles.

93 Make a potato battery.

94 Construct an elevator system.

95 Prove Newton’s laws of motion by placing objects of di erent weights in a moving elevator.

96 Learn how a telescope works. Then build one from scratch.

97 Levitate small objects using ultrasound.

98 Measure how fast a body in free fall accelerates.

99 Find out what causes a capacitor to charge and discharge over time.

100 Measure how light intensity changes through several polarizing lters.

101 Observe how sound waves change under altered atmospheric conditions.

102 Find out how a superheated object is a ected by its container.

103 Determine the mathematics behind a piece of classical music.

104 Replicate an oil spill and search for the best way to clean it up.

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

105 What makes a circular toy easy to spin? Experiment by spinning hula hoops of di erent sizes.

106 Make DNA visible. What happens if you use di erent sources of plant-based DNA?

107 Charge your phone with a handmade solar cell.

108 Find out what properties an object needs to stay a oat.

109 Create music by rubbing your nger against the rim of a glass. Experiment with several glasses lled with
di erent amounts of water.

110 Compare the free-fall speed of a Lego gure using various parachutes.

111 Experiment with BEC to understand quantum mechanics.

112 Make a windmill and describe how it works.

113 Build an automatic light circuit using a laser.

114 How do concave and convex mirrors a ect your re ection?

115 Investigate how pressure and temperature in uence the air volume.

116 Determine the conductivity of di erent uids.

117 Learn about the evolution of the universe by measuring electromagnetic radiation.

118 Capture charged particles in an ion trap.

119 Build a rocket car using a balloon.

120 Experiment with pendulums and double pendulums. How do they work?

Astrophysics Topics for a Research Paper

Astrophysicists, astronomers, and cosmologists observe what happens in space. Astronomy examines celestial bodies,
while astrophysics describes their mechanics. At the same time, cosmology attempts to comprehend the universe as a
whole.

121 Explain when a celestial body is called a planet.

122 Dark energy and dark matter: how do they a ect the expansion of the universe?

123 The cosmic microwave background: investigating the birth of the universe.

124 What are the possible explanations for the expansion of the universe?

125 Evidence for the existence of dark matter.

126 The discovery of gravitational waves: consequences and implications.

127 Explore the history of LIGO.

128 How did scientists observe a black hole?

129 The origins of light.

130 Compare the types of stars.

131 Radioactivity in space: what is it made of?

132 What do we know about stellar evolution?

133 Rotations of the Milky Way.

134 Write an overview of recent developments in astrophysics.

135 Investigate the origin of moons.

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

136 How do we choose names for constellations?

137 What are black holes?

138 How does radiative transfer work in space?

139 What does our solar system consist of?

140 Describe the properties of a star vs. a moon.

141 What makes binary stars special?

142 Gamma-ray bursts: how much energy do they produce?

143 What causes supernovae?

144 Compare the types of galaxies.

145 Neutron stars and pulsars: how do they di er?

146 The connection between stars and their colors.

147 What are quasars?

148 Curved space: is there enough evidence to support the theory?

149 What produces x-rays in space?

150 Exoplanets: what do we know about them?

Physical Geography Topics to Write About

Physical geographers explore the beauty of our Earth. Their physical knowledge helps them explain how nature works.
What causes climate change? Where do our seasons come from? What happens in the ocean? These are the questions
physical geographers seek to answer.

151 What creates rainbows?

152 How do glaciers form?

153 The geographical properties of capes.

154 What causes landslides?

155 An overview of the types of erosion.

156 What makes Oceania’s ora unique?

157 Reefs: why are they important?

158 Why is there a desert in the middle of Siberia?

159 The geography of the Namibian desert.

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160 Explain the water cycle.

161 How do you measure the length of a river?

162 The Gulf Stream and its in uence on the European climate.

163 Why is the sky blue?

164 What creates waves?

165 How do marshes form?

166 Investigate the causes of riptides.

167 The Three Gorges Dam: how was it built?

168 Explain the phenomenon of Green Sahara.

169 The consequences of freshwater pollution.

170 What are the properties of coastal plains?

171 Why is the Atacama Desert the driest place on Earth?

172 How does a high altitude a ect vegetation?

173 Atmospheric changes over the past 100 years.

174 Predicting earthquakes: a comparison of di erent methods.

175 What causes avalanches?

176 Seasons: where do they come from?

177 The Baltic and the Northern Seas meeting phenomenon.

178 The geographical properties of the Altai Mountains.

179 How do the steppes form?

180 Why are some water bodies saltier than others?

Theoretical Physics Topics to Research

Math fans, this section is for you. Theoretical physics is all about equations. Research in this area goes into the
development of mathematical and computer models. Plus, theoretical physicists try to construct theories for
phenomena that currently can’t be explained experimentally.

181 What does the Feynman diagram describe?

182 How is QFT used to model quasiparticles?

183 String theory: is it a theory of everything?

184 The paradoxical e ects of time travel.

185 Monstrous moonshine: how does it connect to string theory?

186 Mirror symmetry and Calabi-Yau manifolds: how are they used in physics?

187 Understanding the relationship between gravity and BF theories.

188 Compare the types of Gauge theories.

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

189 Applications of TQFT in condensed matter physics.

190 Examine the properties of elds with arbitrary spin.

191 How do quarks and gluons interact with each other?

192 What predictions does quantum eld theory make for curved spacetime?

193 How do technicolor theories explain electroweak gauge symmetry breaking?

194 Quantum gravity: a comparison of approaches.

195 How does LQG address the structure of space?

196 An introduction into the motivation behind the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis.

197 What does the M-theory state?

198 What does the Ising model say about ferromagnetism?

199 Compare the thermodynamic Debye model with the Einstein model.

200 How does the kinetic theory describe the macroscopic properties of gases?

201 Understanding the behavior of waves and particles: scattering theory.

202 What was the luminiferous aether assumption needed for?

203 The Standard Model of particles: why is it not a full theory of fundamental interactions?

204 Investigate supersymmetry.

205 Physical cosmology: measuring the universe.

206 Describe the black hole thermodynamics.

207 Pancomputationalism: what is it about?

208 Skepticism concerning the E8 theory.

209 Explain the conservation of angular momentum.

210 What does the dynamo theory say about celestial bodies?

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

Quantum Physics Topics for Essays & Papers

First and foremost, quantum physics is very confusing. In quantum physics, an object is not just in a speci c place. It
merely has the probability to be in one place or another. Light travels in particles, and matter can be a wave. Throw
physics as you know it overboard. In this world, you can never be sure what and where things really are.

211 How did the Schrödinger Equation advance quantum physics?

212 Describe the six types of quarks.

213 Contrast the four quantum numbers.

214 What kinds of elementary particles exist?

215 Probability density: nding electrons.

216 How do you split an atom using quantum mechanics?

217 When is an energy level degenerate?

218 Quantum entanglement: how does it a ect particles?

219 The double-slit experiment: what does it prove?

220 What causes a wave function to collapse?

221 Explore the history of quantum mechanics.

222 What are quasiparticles?

223 The Higgs mechanism: explaining the mass of bosons.

224 Quantum mechanical implications of the EPR paradox.

225 What causes explicit vs. spontaneous symmetry breaking?

226 Discuss the importance of the observer.

227 What makes gravity a complicated subject?

228 Can quantum mechanical theories accurately depict the real world?

229 Describe the four types of exchange particles.

230 What are the major problems surrounding quantum physics?

231 What does Bell’s theorem prove?

232 How do bubble chambers work?

233 Understanding quantum mechanics: the Copenhagen interpretation.

234 Will teleportation ever be possible on a large scale?

235 The applications of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

236 Wave packets: how do you localize them?

237 How do you process quantum information?

238 What does the Fourier transform do?

239 The importance of Planck’s constant.

240 Matter as waves: the Heisenberg-Schrödinger atom model.

We hope you’ve found a great topic for your best physics paper. Good luck with your assignment!

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9/16/2022 A List of 240 Physics Topics & Questions to Research

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References
1 Physics: Encyclopedia Britannica

2 AP Physics C: Mechanics: AP Students

3 Topics in Modern Physics: WorldScienti c

4 All Projects: Dartmouth College

5 Topics in Astrophysics: Harvard

6 Ask an Astrophysicist: NASA

7 Physical Geography: National Geographic

8 Theoretical Physics: Latest Research and News: Nature.com

9 Topics in Theoretical Physics: University of Mississippi

10 What Is Quantum Mechanics?: LiveScience

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