ScienceExplain Like I'm 5Beginner
Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things, a free science course on Tomo

Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things

Like Duolingo, but for Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

165 levels across 8 sections, about 330 minutes end to end, roughly 66 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Getting Moving: The Basics of Where and How Fast, Changing Gears: The Power of Acceleration, Visualizing Motion: Reading the Lines, The Kinematic Toolkit: Predicting the Future, Gravity's Pull: Objects in Free Fall, Breaking it Down: Vectors and Directions, Launching Out: Projectile Motion, and Perspective Matters: Relative Motion. It starts from scratch.

165 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Newton the Newt, the guide who teaches the Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things course
Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things
with Newton the Newt
165
Levels
8
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things

  • Displacement measures the change between start and end points
  • Displacement is a vector requiring a direction
  • A return to the starting position results in zero displacement
  • Distance is a scalar that ignores direction
  • The fundamental difference between distance and displacement in a round trip
  • How direction affects final position despite equal distance traveled
  • Scalars only have magnitude
  • Vectors have both magnitude and direction
  • Negative signs indicate direction in one-dimensional motion
  • Displacement is calculated as final position minus initial position
  • Categorizing physical quantities as scalar or vector
  • Mathematical representation of negative direction
  • Distance and displacement match only in straight-line motion without turning back
  • Any change in direction makes distance greater than displacement
  • Straight-line routes represent displacement
  • Identifying the scenario where distance and displacement magnitude are equal
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Magic of Ending Up Home

If you go on a big adventure, what does your displacement actually measure?

Get it right to open this lesson and 164 more in the app.

Course map

Where Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things takes you

Stop just memorizing formulas and start predicting how the world moves. From launching projectiles to reading the hidden stories in graphs, you will master the language of motion used by NASA engineers and pro athletes alike.

  1. 1

    Getting Moving: The Basics of Where and How Fast

    • Distance vs Displacement: How Far Did You Actually Go?
    • Speed vs Velocity: Why Direction Changes Everything
    • Calculating Your First Trip
    • Instant Speed vs Average Speed
  2. 2

    Changing Gears: The Power of Acceleration

    • What Acceleration Really Feels Like
    • Speeding Up and Slowing Down
    • Connecting Velocity and Acceleration
  3. 3

    Visualizing Motion: Reading the Lines

    • Position vs Time: Mapping Your Journey
    • Velocity vs Time: Finding the Speed Story
    • Acceleration vs Time: The Constant Push
    • Sketching Graphs from Real-Life Stories
    • Finding Distance by Looking at a Graph Area
  4. 4

    The Kinematic Toolkit: Predicting the Future

    • Picking the Right Equation for the Job
    • Solving for Time and Distance
    • The 'Big Four' Equations in Action
    • Handling Multi-Step Motion Problems
    • Common Math Traps and How to Avoid Them
    • When Acceleration Isn't Constant
  5. 5

    Gravity's Pull: Objects in Free Fall

    • The Magic Number: 9.8
    • Dropping vs Throwing Objects
    • What Happens at the Very Top of a Toss?
  6. 6

    Breaking it Down: Vectors and Directions

    • Splitting Motion into Horizontal and Vertical
    • Using Angles to Find Components
    • Adding Vectors Together
    • The Geometry of a Move
  7. 7

    Launching Out: Projectile Motion

    • The Independence of X and Y
    • Calculating Range and Hang Time
    • Launching from Cliffs and Platforms
    • Predicting the Perfect Landing
    • The Parabolic Path
  8. 8

    Perspective Matters: Relative Motion

    • Moving Walkways and River Crossings
    • Frames of Reference: Who is Actually Moving?
    • Calculating Speed from Different Viewpoints

8 sections · 33 units · 165 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
Explain Like I'm 5

Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Keep going

More Science on Tomo

Mastering the Rules of the Universe course icon

Mastering the Rules of the Universe

Explain Like I'm 5

Stop memorizing random letters and start seeing the invisible patterns that move the world. Learn how to predict the future using the simple math behind speed, force, and energy.

175 levels5h 50mBeginner
Mastering the Map: Topography and Terrain course icon

Mastering the Map: Topography and Terrain

Professor

Go beyond flat paper to see the world in 3D. Learn to predict the shape of the land, find the best path through the wilderness, and understand how water carves the earth.

54 levels1h 48mIntermediate
The Secret Life of Everything course icon

The Secret Life of Everything

Bestie

Discover how the world works by solving real-life mysteries. From decoding hidden messages in stories to calculating the speed of a falling apple, you'll learn to see the math and science hiding in plain sight.

26 levels52mBeginner
The 5th Grade Explorer's Handbook course icon

The 5th Grade Explorer's Handbook

Bestie

Master the coolest skills of 5th grade by solving real-world mysteries. From decoding secret messages in stories to mapping out new worlds and calculating your way through a mission, you'll see how every subject connects.

26 levels52mBeginner
The Living Puzzle: Mastering Evolution course icon

The Living Puzzle: Mastering Evolution

Storyteller

Move beyond basic survival of the fittest to understand the complex dance of life. Discover how genes shift, why weird traits persist, and how the history of the Earth is written in our own DNA.

170 levels5h 40mIntermediate
Quantum Reality and Your Mind course icon

Quantum Reality and Your Mind

Bestie

Explore the surprising connection between subatomic physics and the power of intention. Learn how the science of possibility can change the way you view your daily life and future.

26 levels52mBeginner
Start free

Start Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things today.

Download Tomo, search Mastering Motion: The Physics of Moving Things, and play your first lesson in under a minute.