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Physithon - Climate & Energy Physics | LearningFirst

Last revised May 21, 2026

Physithon - Climate & Energy Physics

Thermodynamics, atmospheric and oceanic physics, the greenhouse effect, photovoltaics, wind, hydro, and grid storage — the physics behind climate science and modern energy.

Understand the physics behind climate science and modern energy systems. Topics include thermodynamics and energy fundamentals, atmospheric and oceanic physics, radiative transfer and the greenhouse effect, photovoltaic and solar thermal energy, wind and hydropower mechanics, battery electrochemistry, and smart grid physics. Ideal for students preparing for advanced physics competitions with a focus on real-world energy and environmental challenges.

Academic primerPhysics olympiad prep

Earn2CreditsinPhysics

5Modules14Sessions186Cards59Quizzes

What you can earn

Certificates, credits, and a record of your progress.

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2 base learning credits

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Modules in this Collection’s System

One session. One clear takeaway.Each short session develops one distinct idea with a clear takeaway. Together, the sessions show how those ideas connect into a structured understanding of the topic.

Thermodynamics and Energy Fundamentals

Thermodynamics, energy conservation, entropy, and Carnot efficiency — the working physics inside every energy technology.

3Sessions

Climate Science Physics

Radiative transfer, the greenhouse effect, atmospheric circulation, and oceanic heat transport — the physics behind the climate system.

4Sessions

Solar Energy

Photovoltaic physics, Shockley-Queisser, multi-junction cells, and concentrated solar — the physics making solar the cheapest energy source in human history.

4Sessions

Wind and Hydropower

Wind aerodynamics (Betz's limit), turbine engineering, hydropower, and pumped storage — the kinetic-energy harvest from atmosphere and water.

2Sessions

Energy Storage and Grid Physics

Battery electrochemistry (lithium-ion, solid-state, lithium-sulfur), grid frequency control, and the inverter physics reshaping power systems.

1Session

What You'll Walk Away With

1thermodynamics quick-reference covering the four laws, Carnot efficiency, entropy, enthalpy, and Gibbs free energy with the equations and physical intuition each carries
1greenhouse effect mechanism card showing the radiative-transfer math, the absorption bands of CO₂, methane, and water vapor, and how feedback loops amplify warming
1renewable energy comparison matrix — solar PV, solar thermal, wind, hydropower, geothermal — on capacity factor, levelized cost, energy density, and grid integration challenges
1Shockley-Queisser limit explainer for why single-junction silicon caps at ~33% efficiency, and how multi-junction and tandem cells push past it
1battery electrochemistry primer covering lithium-ion architecture, energy density math, charge-discharge cycle behavior, and the solid-state and lithium-sulfur next-gen frontiers

You'll Have Answers To

?Why is Earth's surface ~33°C warmer than blackbody calculations predict — and what does the radiative-transfer math actually show?
?What is the Shockley-Queisser limit, and why does it cap single-junction silicon photovoltaic efficiency at ~33%?
?Why does wind power scale with the cube of wind speed — and what does that imply for turbine siting and rotor design?
?How does lithium-ion battery electrochemistry actually work — and why is energy density the bottleneck on the energy transition?
?What changes in grid physics when generation shifts from synchronous turbines to inverter-based renewables?

Critical Concepts Explored

First and second laws of thermodynamicsCarnot efficiency and entropyRadiative transfer and the greenhouse effectAtmospheric circulation (Hadley cells, ENSO)Shockley-Queisser limit and PV efficiencySolar thermal and concentrated solar powerBetz's limit and wind power scalingHydropower and pumped storageLithium-ion battery electrochemistryGrid frequency control and grid-forming inverters

Editor's Note

“Climate physics taught as climate physics — not climate politics”

This collection treats the climate-energy nexus the way a physics curriculum should: thermodynamics first, radiative transfer next, then the engineering that follows from both. Solar PV gets the Shockley-Queisser explanation, wind gets Betz's limit, and storage gets real electrochemistry. A genuinely Physithon-grade primer on the physics that's reshaping the energy system.

Editor's Brief

Who it's for: Physithon and physics olympiad students who need climate and energy physics treated with the same rigor as quantum or astrophysics — and any reader who wants to ground climate-policy debate in the physics rather than the politics.
What stands out: The unified treatment — thermodynamics, radiative transfer, photovoltaic physics, wind aerodynamics, battery electrochemistry, and grid stability — taught in one voice, so the connections between energy supply, climate impact, and grid integration are visible.
Read if: You want to understand why solar caps at 33% efficiency, why wind power scales with v³, and why battery energy density is the bottleneck on the energy transition — at the level of physics, not handwaving.

Gold Quotes

The greenhouse effect is not an analogy. It is a quantitative consequence of radiative transfer physics, with absorption bands, emission spectra, and a measurable contribution from each greenhouse gas.

Without atmospheric greenhouse gases, Earth's average surface temperature would be approximately −18°C. The observed ~14°C surface average reflects the radiative-transfer effect of water vapor, CO₂, methane, and other IR-active gases. The math is well-established: each doubling of CO₂ concentration produces ~3°C of equilibrium warming after feedbacks. The physics is settled; what's contested is policy.

The Shockley-Queisser limit caps single-junction silicon photovoltaic efficiency at approximately 33%. This is not an engineering shortcoming — it is a thermodynamic ceiling rooted in the blackbody nature of sunlight and the bandgap of silicon.

Photons below silicon's 1.1 eV bandgap don't generate carriers; photons far above it dump excess energy as heat. Multi-junction tandem cells capture more of the solar spectrum and have demonstrated >47% lab efficiency. Perovskite-on-silicon tandems are the leading candidate for affordable high-efficiency commercial cells in the late 2020s.

Wind power scales with the cube of wind speed. Doubling the wind speed produces eight times the power. This is why turbine siting and rotor diameter dominate wind economics.

P = ½ρAv³ — air density × swept area × cube of wind speed. Betz's limit shows no rotor can extract more than 59.3% of available kinetic energy. Modern utility-scale turbines reach 75-80% of Betz, with rotor diameters now exceeding 200m. The cube relationship is also why a 5-knot increase in average wind speed transforms project economics — and why offshore wind dominates levelized-cost comparisons in coastal regions.

About the Curator

AAcademic Marathon

Academic Marathon is the editorial voice behind LearningFirst's Physithon and Biothon competition-prep collections — producing rigorous, mathematically grounded primers across the cutting-edge sub-disciplines of physics and biology that competition-track high-school students need to know.