Physics posters
LearnPosters has 100 free printable physics posters, grouped into 7 topics: Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, Waves & optics, Quantum. The laws, equations and derivations a physics degree is built on. They are made for undergraduates, professionals and anyone revising the subject. Every one downloads as a vector PDF that prints sharp on US Letter, A4 or a copy-shop A1.
Mechanics through quantum, with the constants, units and problem-solving method that carry across every module.
100 free printable posters · 7 topics · vector PDF
Mechanics
Motion, forces, energy and momentum.
The SUVAT Equations
The four kinematic equations, and when each is the right one.
Newton's Laws
The three laws, stated precisely, and the common misreadings.
Free Body Diagrams
Drawing forces correctly, and resolving them.
Momentum
Conservation of momentum, and how impulse relates to it.
Work, Energy & Power
The definitions, and the relationships between them.
Circular Motion
Why circular motion requires a force, and where it points.
Gravitation
Newton's law, gravitational fields, and orbital motion.
Simple Harmonic Motion
The defining condition, and the equations that follow.
Moments
Turning effect, and the two conditions for equilibrium.
Stress & Strain
The stress-strain curve, and the points marked on it.
Material Behaviour
The vocabulary for how materials fail, and what each word means.
Projectiles
Separating horizontal and vertical motion, and why it works.
Motion Graphs
Reading gradient and area, and converting between graph types.
Friction & Drag
Static against kinetic friction, and why drag is different.
Rotational Motion
The rotational analogues of the linear quantities.
Thermodynamics
Heat, work, entropy and the laws.
The Laws of Thermodynamics
All four laws, stated plainly.
Internal Energy
What internal energy is, and how it changes.
Heat Capacity & Latent Heat
Two different calculations, and when to use each.
Kinetic Theory
What an ideal gas assumes, and what temperature actually measures.
The Gas Laws
The individual laws and the ideal gas equation in both forms.
Heat Transfer
The three mechanisms, and what each requires.
Heat Engines
Why no engine can be 100% efficient, and what sets the limit.
Entropy
The statistical and thermodynamic definitions, and how they connect.
Thermal Equilibrium
What equilibrium means, and how temperature is defined from it.
Thermodynamic Processes
The four named processes, and what is held constant in each.
Phase Diagrams
Reading a pressure-temperature diagram, and the special points.
Thermal Expansion
Why materials expand, and the three coefficients.
Thermal Measurements
Measuring specific heat capacity and latent heat in the laboratory.
Energy Resources
The sources, their conversion efficiency and their limits.
Electromagnetism
Fields, circuits and Maxwell's equations.
Circuit Basics
Current, voltage and resistance, and how they relate.
Kirchhoff's Laws
The two conservation laws that solve any circuit.
EMF & Internal Resistance
Why terminal voltage is less than EMF, and how to measure both.
Electric Fields
Field strength, potential, and the two field geometries.
Capacitance
What a capacitor stores, and how it charges.
Magnetic Fields
The force on a current and on a moving charge, and the hand rules.
Electromagnetic Induction
Faraday's and Lenz's laws, and what the minus sign means.
Transformers
The turns ratio, and why transformers only work on AC.
AC Circuits
RMS values, and why they are what meters read.
The EM Spectrum
The whole spectrum, with wavelengths and uses.
Motors & Generators
The same machine run in two directions.
Charged Particles in Fields
How electric and magnetic fields deflect charges differently.
Resistivity
The material property behind resistance, and what changes it.
Potential Dividers
Splitting a voltage, and using sensors in a divider.
The Photoelectric Effect
The observations that classical wave theory could not explain.
Waves & optics
Oscillation, interference and light.
Wave Properties
The quantities describing any wave, and how they relate.
Types of Wave
Transverse against longitudinal, and what polarisation reveals.
Superposition
What happens when waves meet, and the condition for interference.
Young's Double Slit
The experiment that established the wave nature of light.
Diffraction Gratings
Why a grating gives sharper maxima than two slits.
Standing Waves
How they form, and where the nodes and antinodes sit.
Refraction
Why waves bend, and Snell's law.
Total Internal Reflection
The critical angle, and the technology built on it.
Lenses
The lens equation, magnification, and the sign convention.
The Doppler Effect
Why an approaching source sounds higher, and the astronomical version.
Sound
How sound intensity is measured, and why the scale is logarithmic.
Polarisation
What polarisation is, and the ways it is produced.
Wave-Particle Duality
The evidence on both sides, and the de Broglie relation.
Optical Instruments
How the standard instruments are built from lenses and mirrors.
Quantum
States, operators and the key results.
What Quantum Mechanics Claims
The core departures from classical physics, stated plainly.
Energy Levels
Why atoms emit at specific wavelengths only.
The Uncertainty Principle
What it does and does not say.
The Wavefunction
What ψ is, and what its square means.
Particle in a Box
The simplest bound system, and why it is the model for everything else.
Tunnelling
Passing through a barrier without the energy to climb it.
Spin & the Exclusion Principle
The quantum number with no classical analogue, and its consequence.
Quantum Numbers
The four numbers that specify an electron's state.
Blackbody Radiation
The problem that started quantum theory.
The Nucleus
What holds it together, and why it has a size limit.
Radioactive Decay
The three decay modes and the exponential law.
Mass-Energy & Binding
Why fusion and fission both release energy.
The Standard Model
The full inventory of fundamental particles.
Conservation Laws
What must balance in any particle interaction.
Quantum Technologies
Where quantum effects are already engineering, not theory.
Relativity
Special relativity and its consequences.
Special Relativity
Two postulates, and everything that follows from them.
Time Dilation
Moving clocks run slow, and the experiments that show it.
Length Contraction
Moving objects are shorter along the direction of motion.
Relativity of Simultaneity
Two events simultaneous in one frame are not in another.
Mass-Energy Equivalence
What E = mc² actually asserts.
Relativistic Momentum
Why particles approach c but never reach it.
Spacetime
The single structure that replaces separate space and time.
General Relativity
Gravity as geometry rather than force.
Gravitational Time Dilation
Clocks run slower deeper in a gravitational field.
Black Holes
What the event horizon is, and what it is not.
Cosmology
The expanding universe, and the evidence for it.
Stellar Evolution
How a star's mass decides its whole life and its end.
Relativity in Daily Life
Where relativistic effects are already engineered into technology.
Methods
Units, errors, approximation and problem solving.
SI Units
The seven base units and how every other unit derives from them.
Dimensional Analysis
Checking an equation before trusting the number it gives.
Uncertainty
How to state a measurement honestly, and how uncertainty propagates.
Accuracy & Precision
Two different things that are routinely confused.
Graphs
How to plot data so the relationship is visible and testable.
Linearising Relationships
Turning curves into straight lines you can actually test.
Designing an Experiment
Building an experiment that can actually answer the question.
Reducing Uncertainty
Practical techniques that improve a measurement.
Significant Figures
Carrying the right precision through a calculation.
Physical Constants
The constants that recur across every branch of physics.
Orders of Magnitude
Estimating to the nearest power of ten, and why it is a real skill.
Modelling Assumptions
The simplifications physics makes, and when each one breaks.
Analysing Results
Turning measurements into a defensible conclusion.
Physics Lab Safety
The specific hazards of a physics laboratory.
Questions about the Physics posters
- What is the Physics section of LearnPosters?
- The laws, equations and derivations a physics degree is built on. Mechanics through quantum, with the constants, units and problem-solving method that carry across every module.
- What topics do the Physics posters cover?
- 100 posters across 7 topics. Mechanics — Motion, forces, energy and momentum. Thermodynamics — Heat, work, entropy and the laws. Electromagnetism — Fields, circuits and Maxwell's equations. Waves & optics — Oscillation, interference and light. Quantum — States, operators and the key results. Relativity — Special relativity and its consequences. Methods — Units, errors, approximation and problem solving.
- Who are the Physics posters for?
- The physics charts are pitched at undergraduates and professionals — the frameworks and equations a course keeps returning to. Nothing here is tied to a school year, so a curious beginner and someone revising the same material for an exam are looking at the same physics chart.
- Which Physics poster should I print first?
- The SUVAT Equations, Newton's Laws and Free Body Diagrams are the ones people reach for first — they are the references the rest of the physics set assumes you already have on the wall.The SUVAT EquationsNewton's LawsFree Body Diagrams
- Are the Physics posters free to print?
- Yes — all 100 of them. Each physics poster is a free vector PDF that needs no account, prints on US Letter or A4, and enlarges to A1 without softening. Home, classroom, library and tutoring use are all covered by the licence.Read the licence
Where the physics charts come from
These posters summarise. When you need the full account — or the normative text a chart is compressing — start here.
- CODATA fundamental physical constants — NIST. The authoritative values for every constant printed on a sheet.
- The SI Brochure — Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. Definitions of the units used throughout these charts.