Classical Physics

Enrollment and Tuition

If you have never taken a Physics Lyceum class, choose a phenomenon you observe in the world around you, investigate its physics, and prepare a short explanation. Discuss what you observed, the evidence for your explanation, and what you still want to understand in an admission interview. We look for deep curiosity and thoughtful reasoning.

The interview fee is $100, separate from tuition and nonrefundable. Paying for the interview does not guarantee admission. Email team@teenscientists.org to arrange it. Returning Lyceum students do not need this interview or pay its fee. Course prerequisites apply to all students.

What the Classical Core Is

Six semester-long courses in the Physics Lyceum: High School curriculum, taught on the Deep Physics model that runs through the whole SoTS Physics Lyceum. They cover the topics from a typical high school physics curriculum, taught at a much deeper level.

Each course is self-contained, so a student starts wherever their interest and preparation point them. They also build on each other: Mechanics of Motion comes first for most students, and Mechanics of Bodies and Fluids and Waves and Oscillations follow it.

Labs and equipment. Every course in the classical core carries laboratory work. The lab is an advanced form of the school physics lab: students are taught how to design their own experimental procedure, what to measure, how to measure it, and how to interpret the results. How a particular experiment can be approached is discussed and planned together in class, before anyone runs it.

The Lyceum provides the equipment needed for labs to every student, handed over in person to students who attend in person and shipped to students who attend online, and there is no separate materials fee. Experiments are then run at home, where a student can take as much time as the work needs, and the results come back to class for discussion.

Demonstrations using videos. Videos showcase phenomena at scales beyond any classroom: from the very large to the very small, from the very fast to the very slow. They can slow a phenomenon down, magnify it, or show perspectives impossible in person.

Thought experiments. Physicists often use thought experiments (Imagine a windowless train: can you tell it is moving? What if it accelerates?) Students reason through these, debate with classmates, find where intuition breaks, and understand why. This is what Einstein did in Princeton, and what many physicists do regularly.

Physics in everyday life. Students learn to see physics in the world around them.

The Six Courses

Prerequisites

Grade: open to students in grades 9–12.

Math: algebra, geometry, and basic trigonometry. No calculus is required anywhere in the classical core.

Physics: prerequisite courses can be completed in the SoTS Physics Lyceum or elsewhere.

Certificates and Transcripts

Tuition covers the teaching, the lab equipment, and one in-person Pass/Fail evaluation. The evaluation is optional. After completing a course, a student may schedule it with the instructor. It may include solving problems and a conversation with the instructor about the course material. It may also take into account homework and classwork grades from the course. A passing evaluation earns a Lyceum Course Certificate in that course. Every enrolled student also has a cumulative transcript listing their coursework, research, and any certificates earned, useful for any student demonstrating substantial physics study on a college application.

Completed Course Certificates accumulate toward Lyceum-wide full program credentials. Completing the classical core earns Mastery in Classical Physics; adding two Modern Physics electives earns Mastery in Classical and Modern Physics. See Certificates and Transcripts for the full credential structure and requirements.

Lyceum courses are taught by expert physicists. Meet the team.