Our mission
Physics Fundamentals exists to make the laws of nature clear, testable, and approachable for every learner. We build our teaching around the principle that an idea in physics is only fully understood once you can measure it, model it with mathematics, and predict an outcome that you can then check. That cycle of theory, prediction, and experiment runs through everything we offer.
Our courses cover mechanics, waves and sound, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics. In every subject we emphasize the handful of core equations and conservation laws that organize the field, and we spend considerable time helping students connect those laws to ordinary experiences: a ball thrown upward, a pendulum swinging, a current flowing through a bulb.
We are equally committed to honesty about uncertainty. Physics gives an exact account only within stated limits of measurement and approximation. Our students learn to state their assumptions, report their errors, and treat every result as a claim that could be improved with better data.
How the academy began
Physics Fundamentals began in 1998 as a weekend tutoring circle founded by three working engineers who wanted to share the clarity that a quantitative understanding of nature had given their own careers. The circle met in a borrowed room at the old power plant on Meadow Street, using a blackboard and a stopwatch and a cart full of springs.
In 2005 the group moved to its present building, settled on the name Physics Fundamentals, and opened its doors to the public as well as to formal students. The founding letter, quoted below, still guides how we teach. We have kept the small-scale, hands-on style of those first sessions even as our course catalog has grown to cover every major branch of physics.
We set out to teach not the mere words of physics but its working habits: measure first, reason next, and let the number, not the belief, have the final word. If a student can predict the motion of a weight on a spring and then watch that motion come true, that student has learned what physics is.
Facts at a glance
| Full name | Physics Fundamentals (acronym PF) |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Type | Educational teaching site and study academy |
| Branches covered | Mechanics, waves, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, optics, modern physics, astrophysics |
| Teaching building | Meadow Hall, 18 Newton Grove, Riverside |
| Director | Dr. Ilona Marsh |
| Curriculum lead | Professor Adrian Cole |
| Lab supervisor | Teresa Okonkwo |
| Availability | Open to enrolled students and the public by appointment |
| Languages of instruction | English, with worked examples in SI units |
How we teach physics
Our approach is the same in every class. The accordion below explains the three habits we ask every learner to practice.
Measure before you guess
Physics begins with what can be measured. Before discussing a law, we usually run or describe a measurement that the law is meant to explain. This keeps the mathematics attached to real instruments, real units, and real sources of error rather than drifting into abstraction.
Model with mathematics
We translate a physical situation into equations and clearly label every symbol and its units. A typical model for free fall near the ground treats acceleration as constant at about 9.8 m/s^2 downward, which is a good approximation for short falls over modest heights.
Predict, then test
Every model yields a prediction that can be checked. If the measurement disagrees with the prediction beyond the expected error, then either the model or the measurement needs revision. This testing habit, not memorizing formulas, is the core skill we aim to build.