Physics Need some advice! (making a physics YouTube channel)

[Mysticphysicss]

Good evening, folks! I have been anticipating making a physics YouTube channel that involves teaching the subject (classical physics) , but I would like to on how to make my channel stand out and be more effective than others. Should I also provide experiments?

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

What is your academic background in Physics?

 

[Mysticphysicss]

I'm currently an Undergraduate student at CUNY, majoring in physics (Sophomore), and a math tutor as well in my uni. I know it's not much experience, but that is my goal as I expand my career into becoming a Physics professor. I want to make Physics fun to learn for people in/outstide of STEM.

 

[berkeman]

I want to make Physics fun to learn for people in/outstide of STEM.

If you haven't done so already, have a look through the threads in our Educators and Teachers forum. There are lots of good threads on different ways to present physics material and some good discussions on how to improve things. You can see this long thread started by @TensorCalculus for example:

Thread 'I want to help Physics education. What should I do?'

Jul 23, 2025

Okay, so this is something I have been thinking about for a long time, because it's something I am passionate about and something that has personally affected me - and that's the generally negative attitude that people take towards physics.
I think it's fair to say that the secondary (Middle+ High) school that I go to is one of the most elite in the country - yet I am yet to see another person with a passion for physics. There are countless who have dedicated their life to Chemistry, Computer Science, Maths, Biology... pushing boundaries and achieving genius level things in those subjects...

• TensorCalculus
• Replies: 48
• Forum: STEM Educators and Teaching

• 

 

[robphy]

Good evening, folks! I have been anticipating making a physics YouTube channel that involves teaching the subject (classical physics) , but I would like to on how to make my channel stand out and be more effective than others. Should I also provide experiments?

I admit that I am also contemplating a YouTube channel.
But, yes, I feel there are lots of things to consider before taking that first step.
(Although I wonder, if I should just dive in and figure it out while in there,
rather than planning from the outside (which could lead to endless planning).)

For your idea, including experiments might be neat... that would be different.
but at what level?
Are you looking to the get the general qualitative idea out of the experiments?
Or are you looking for more quantitative results?
For something more quantitative, do you have access to equipment?
How time-consuming would it be?
Would the experiments be your primary focus of your channel?
Or just an important supplement to other features of your channel?
For comparison, do you have specific channels that may have some similar aspects to your proposed channel?

 

[Choppy]

Success in this area is as much about identifying and catering to a target audience as it is about making cool videos. So you might want to start with what unique take can you provide, and who specifically is going to be interested in that. Videos for undergraduate physics majors will be different than those for middle schoolers. Or maybe you want to target a more general audience and give explanations for how things work.

 

[PeroK]

I'm currently an Undergraduate student at CUNY, majoring in physics (Sophomore), and a math tutor as well in my uni. I know it's not much experience, but that is my goal as I expand my career into becoming a Physics professor. I want to make Physics fun to learn for people in/outstide of STEM.

It looks to me like it's already a saturated market.

 

[sbrothy]

It looks to me like it's already a saturated market.

Which has to do with the lack of job opportunities I'm guessing (perhaps this depends on where you're from?). You'd probably need some kind of gimmick. Targeting ambitious kids or adolescents perhaps. Which I realize is probably harder than adults, but if they're motivated maybe not. I've thought about teaching simple math or programming at my local library, or even Danish (EDIT: or ,indeed, English). I know they need language teachers. This would just be for passing the time though. Not to make money.

EDIT: I can see I’m basically echoing @Choppy . Sorry.

 

[CrysPhys]

For comparison, do you have specific channels that may have some similar aspects to your proposed channel?

This is a good place for anyone planning a new offering to start. Survey what is already out there, and identify deficiencies and shortcomings to address.

 

[Choppy]

One idea that might be compelling is more of a scientific journalism slant.
Start by interviewing professors, post-docs, and graduate students on your campus. Ask them what they are currently researching, why it's important, and why they chose to pursue that particular problem. (Or anything else you want really...) You might have to decide before hand on a target demographic so your interviewees will know the rough level of an explanation your want. If you can, get video of their lab, apparatus, simulation results, etc. Do some voiceovers of any necessary background information. Then compile it all into a 3-5 minute timeslot. You could watch some three minute thesis presentations to build up an idea of what's possible to present.
There's a lot of really cool research that people are doing and I often feel it's a shame that it gets less media attention than it does.
If nothing else, you'll have a base audience of the groups of the people you're interviewing. And it will give them something to link to on their websites that will help to showcase the work they're doing, so your interviewees will be likely to promote it.