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Physics - Modern Physics - High School and AP Physics
Rating: 4.6 out of 5(35 ratings)
339 students

Physics - Modern Physics - High School and AP Physics

Master modern physics with atomic models, photons, spectra, nuclear physics, and algebra based problem solving
Created byCorey Mousseau
Last updated 6/2026
English
English [Auto],

What you'll learn

  • Understand the concepts of the photoelectric effect, particle physics, nuclear physics, and the standard model.

Course content

3 sections • 19 lectures • 2h 30m total length

  • Introduction3:22

    explore modern physics as a shift from classical, continuous energy to quantized energy and quantum concepts, including wave-particle duality and early ideas behind blackbody radiation.

  • Physics Course Online Course Map
  • AP Physics Only - Quantum Physics and Blackbody Radiation14:32

    Explore blackbody radiation and how freely vibrating electrons absorb and reemit all em radiation in an idealized blackbody. Learn how classical theory fails, prompting Planck's quantized energy and Planck's constant.

  • The Photoelectric Effect Part 14:37

    Explore how light ejects electrons from materials via the photoelectric effect, with emission driven by photon energy and frequency, not light intensity.

  • AP Physics Only - The Photoelectric Effect Part 29:53

    Explore the photoelectric effect: light acts as photons with energy hf that eject electrons when hf exceeds the work function and threshold frequency, linking intensity, kinetic energy, and stopping potential.

  • Atomic History, Bohr Model, Emission Spectra Part 111:24

    Trace the atom's history from Thomson's cathode ray revealing the electron to Rutherford's gold foil showing a dense nucleus, then Bohr's quantized energy levels and photon-driven transitions.

  • Atomic History, Bohr Model, Emission Spectra Part 215:04

    Explore atomic history and the Bohr model to see how electrons move between energy levels, absorb and emit photons, and form hydrogen's emission spectra across ultraviolet, visible, and infrared.

  • AP Physics Only - Introduction to Nuclear Physics18:04

    Identify the fundamentals of nuclear physics, including protons, neutrons, electrons, and isotopes, and use atomic mass, atomic number, and mass number to explain binding energy via mass defect.

  • AP Physics Only - Introduction to Nuclear Physics Part 21:08

    Explore nuclear physics as part of modern physics through AP and high school lessons, delivered as clearly marked video series to master the AP curriculum.

  • The Standard Model of Particle Physics Part 112:13

    Explore the standard model by detailing the atom’s nucleus, protons, neutrons, and electrons. Understand mass-energy equivalence via E=mc^2, atomic mass units, MeV, and the strong, weak, EM, and gravity forces.

  • The Standard Model of Particle Physics Part 214:23

    Explore the standard model of particle physics by examining antiparticles, hadrons and leptons, quark composition of protons and neutrons, and the Higgs boson as predicted by the model.

Requirements

  • Students should have already completed Algebra and Geometry courses.

Description

This course is one of several Mousseau Physics courses designed for students in high school physics, AP Physics, and introductory college physics. In this course we focus on modern physics, including the ideas that changed physics beyond classical mechanics, waves, and electricity. Students will study atomic models, light as photons, energy levels, spectra, the photoelectric effect, nuclear physics, radioactive decay, and related algebra based problem solving.


The videos and resources use clear lectures, diagrams, demonstrations, and worked out example problems. Students will learn how to connect conceptual models to equations, how to interpret what a quantum or nuclear model is saying, and how to solve problems involving energy, frequency, wavelength, photons, half-life, and nuclear reactions. The goal is to make modern physics approachable without hiding the important physical ideas.


This course is a strong fit for high school physics students, AP Physics students, and introductory college physics students working through algebra based modern physics. It does not require calculus. The course can be used as a full unit, a supplement to class, or a focused review when modern physics appears near the end of a school year.


By the end of the course, students should be more comfortable explaining why classical physics needed new models, using modern physics equations, interpreting atomic and nuclear processes, and solving the kinds of modern physics problems that appear in high school, AP, and introductory college physics courses.


Students can work straight through the course as a full unit or use individual lessons as targeted support alongside a class. The videos are built to be paused, rewound, and practiced with pencil and paper, so the course works well for homework help, test review, exam preparation, or rebuilding a topic that did not fully click the first time.

Who this course is for:

  • This course is intended for any high school or introductory college physics student.

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