Thinking in Physics
Move beyond memorized formulas to develop genuine physical intuition. Learn how physicists use scaling, energy landscapes, angular momentum, and field lines to predict how real systems behave before running calculations.
Like Duolingo, but for Thinking in Physics. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Estimating and Bounding Real Systems and Tracking Motion Through Spin and Fields. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Thinking in Physics
- Base dimensions of length, time, and mass must match across both sides of an equation.
- Gravitational acceleration and length cannot combine to cancel an independent unit of mass.
- Matching powers of base dimensions uniquely fixes how variables must multiply together.
- Bone strength scales with cross-sectional area while self-weight scales with volume.
- Heat radiates through external surface area but is generated by total interior volume.
- Larger animals cool more slowly because volume grows much faster than outer surface area.
- Break complex physical systems into independent baseline assumptions and rates.
- Round each rough input to the nearest power of ten to absorb minor calculation errors.
- Combine intermediate exponents so overestimates and underestimates naturally balance out.
- In small-scale fluid regimes, viscous forces dwarf inertial resistance and momentum.
- Surface tension easily supports tiny masses where gravity pull per unit volume is small.
- Large, high-speed objects are governed almost entirely by inertial and pressure forces.
- Dimensionless numbers balance competing physical forces like inertia against viscosity.
- Dynamic similitude requires matching dimensionless ratios rather than raw geometric size alone.
- Shrinking a model requires increasing fluid speed or density to keep flow patterns identical.
- Equilibrium occurs where the slope of potential energy is zero
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Thinking in Physics 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.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
You want to find a pendulum's swing period. Why can't the formula involve the bob's mass?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
How to learn Thinking in Physics, step by step
Go in order. 12 short levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Estimating and Bounding Real Systems
- Dimensional Analysis and Scaling Laws
- Energy Landscapes and Equilibrium
- 2
Tracking Motion Through Spin and Fields
- Rotational Invariants and Torque
- Field Thinking and Flux
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about Thinking in Physics
How do I learn Thinking in Physics?
Go in order: start with Estimating and Bounding Real Systems, then Tracking Motion Through Spin and Fields. On Tomo that's 12 short levels, about 24 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for Thinking in Physics?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Thinking in Physics is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the Thinking in Physics course free?
Yes. Thinking in Physics is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn Thinking in Physics?
12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start Thinking in Physics?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Thinking in Physics is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. 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.
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Start Thinking in Physics today.
Download Tomo, search Thinking in Physics, and play your first lesson in under a minute.