24 Beautiful Physics Poster Designs That Inspire You
Physics · Poster Design
Physics is abstract — but that doesn’t mean it’s invisible. Universal gravitation lifts you out of bed every morning. Electromagnetism keeps your phone screen lit. Entropy is responsible for your coffee going cold.
2046 Print Shop designed these 24 posters with one goal: to turn physics concepts into beautiful objects. The kind that hang on a classroom wall or study room and catch your eye every single day. The subjects are large — dark matter, quantum mechanics, string theory — but the presentation is clear. Each one holds a single concept on a single page. In the same spirit that Alejandro Guijarro turned physics blackboards into gallery photographs, these posters treat the language of physics as something worth looking at.
Below, we wrote what each poster is about — not in 2046’s words, but in ours.
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01
String Theory
Strings · Dimensions
Why is the universe so precisely calibrated? String theory approaches the question this way: perhaps everything — every particle, every force — is made of tiny vibrating strings. At the smallest layer of matter, strings are playing, and the universe is an instrument.
02
Quantum Mechanics
Subatomic · Probability
Where is an electron? Until you look — nowhere, or everywhere. Quantum mechanics describes how the laws of physics become something entirely different at the subatomic scale. Newton’s beautiful clockwork universe comes apart here.
03
Universal Gravitation
Newton · Force
Newton’s law is simple and merciless: everything with mass in the universe pulls at everything else. An apple, a planet, a galaxy. The force weakens as distance grows — but it never quite reaches zero.
04
Thermodynamics 0
Equilibrium · Temperature
The zeroth law seems almost obvious: if two systems are each in equilibrium with a third, they are in equilibrium with each other. The entire logic of temperature measurement rests on this single, unremarkable sentence.
05
Thermodynamics 1
Energy · Conservation
Heat is a form of energy. And energy cannot be created or destroyed — only transformed. The first law is that clear. But inside that clarity lives a large truth: the universe runs without shortcuts. Everything has a cost.
06
Thermodynamics 2
Entropy · Direction
Order moves toward disorder on its own. Disorder does not move toward order on its own. The second law is the one that gives the universe its direction. Coffee cools, ice melts, everything scatters. You can resist this law. You cannot repeal it.
07
Thermodynamics 3
Absolute Zero · Limit
As you approach absolute zero, everything stops — vibrations slow, entropy reaches its minimum. The third law describes this. And it adds: reaching absolute zero is not actually possible. The floor exists; you just can’t touch it.
08
Dark Matter
Invisible · Gravity
Roughly eighty percent of the matter in the universe is invisible to us. It doesn’t reflect, emit, or absorb light. But look at the gravitational behavior around galaxies and it’s clearly there. Dark matter is the universe’s largest blank.
09
Dark Energy
Expansion · Unknown
We knew the universe was expanding. What we didn’t expect was that it was accelerating. Something is pushing the expansion. We call it dark energy. It makes up roughly seventy percent of the universe’s total energy — and we have no idea what it is.
10
Gravity
Space-Time · Curvature
Why does gravity exist? Newton found the formula. Einstein explained the reason: large masses bend space-time, and objects move along that curve. The geometry of space-time is why the apple falls. Several of the best physics and mathematics documentaries return to this concept — because it never quite stops surprising you.
11
Electromagnetism
Force · Light
One of the four fundamental forces — and electricity and magnetism are just two faces of the same thing. It holds atoms together, forms molecules, produces light. Electromagnetism is the invisible glue holding the world in one piece.
12
Strong Force
Nuclear · Binding
Protons inside an atomic nucleus repel each other — same charge. So why doesn’t the nucleus fly apart? Because of the strong force. A hundred times more powerful than electromagnetism, trillions of times stronger than gravity. Matter exists because of this force.
13
Weak Force
Radioactivity · Decay
The name is misleading — it’s far stronger than gravity. The radioactivity that powers nuclear reactors is driven by the weak force. It can disassemble matter. It just does it at extremely short range, inside the atom itself.
14
Multiverse
Cosmology · Parallel
Our universe may not be the only one. A significant number of theoretical physicists argue that ours is just one of countless universes, each with its own physical constants and laws. The multiverse — unproven, but impossible to put down.
15
Supersymmetry
Standard Model · Partners
A proposed symmetry that fills the holes in the Standard Model: every particle has a “superpartner.” It’s the only known mathematical symmetry that can be added to Einstein’s relativity without contradiction. No experimental evidence yet — but theoretically, it’s very hard to let go.
16
Electromagnetic Induction
Faraday · Generators
A changing magnetic field produces an electric current. Faraday discovered this in 1831. Since that day, every electric generator, every motor, every transformer has been built on this principle. Every time you use electrical energy, it starts here.
17
Alternating Current
Tesla · AC Power
Tesla and Westinghouse fought Edison’s direct current and won. In AC, electrons oscillate back and forth, reversing direction dozens of times per second. The world runs on the winner of that battle.
18
Electromagnetic Radiation
Spectrum · Waves
Visible light, radio waves, X-rays, gamma rays — all the same family. Electromagnetic radiation is energy traveling as waves, different frequencies obeying the same physics. The sunlight hitting your window and your microwave oven are distant relatives. There is something quietly extraordinary about watching waves made visible.
19
Special Relativity
Space-Time · Einstein
In 1905, Einstein said: space and time are not independent. They are two faces of a single fabric. Approach the speed of light and time slows, lengths contract. Physics never looked the same again.
20
General Relativity
Gravity · Geometry
Special relativity’s sequel, ten years later. This time Einstein explained gravity: large masses bend space-time, and even light follows that curvature. Black holes, gravitational waves — all were predictions of general relativity before they were observations. You can watch the theory being assembled in real time in Einstein’s Zurich Notebook, where the field equations emerge across dozens of pages of trial and error.
21
Entropy
Disorder · Arrow of Time
A room is easy to scatter, hard to tidy. Entropy measures exactly that tendency: systems move toward disorder. It’s the heart of the second law of thermodynamics. And it’s also the reason time flows in only one direction. Marcus du Sautoy’s documentary The Code — part of our list of beautiful math and science documentaries — returns to this idea again and again.
22
Laws of Motion #1
Inertia · Newton
The law of inertia: an object in motion stays in motion, a stationary object stays still — unless a force intervenes. An object launched into space, with nothing ahead of it, continues forever. Feynman argued in his lectures on physics education that this law is far stranger than it sounds — it took Newton to notice that rest and constant motion are the same state.
23
Laws of Motion #2
F = ma · Newton
F = ma. Force equals mass times acceleration. Newton’s most-used law. It explains how much force it takes to accelerate a car, how a rocket gains speed. Three letters, most of classical mechanics. Richard Feynman called the pleasure of understanding laws like these the pleasure of finding things out.
24
Laws of Motion #3
Action · Reaction
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you push against the floor, the floor pushes back. A rocket exhausts gas downward; the rocket goes up. Newton’s third law is one of the first things taught in physics — and one of the deepest things it says.
Keep wandering
A few more pieces in the same spirit — math, design, and slow attention.
[
The Feynman Technique: A Complete Guide
The four-step learning method developed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. How it works, why it works, and how to apply it to anything.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/articles/feynman-technique)
[
The chip that required a geometry lesson
A Pringle is a hyperbolic paraboloid — stack, snap, can, and factory physics.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/articles/geometry-behind-pringles)
[
25 Beautiful Math Documentaries to Make Students Love Mathematics
A Trip to Infinity, The Proof, N Is a Number — 25 documentaries that show the other face of mathematics: obsession, beauty, and the particular madness of chasing a question.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/25-beautiful-math-documentaries-to-love-math)
[
A Number That Cannot Be the Smallest
Most proofs that √2 is irrational use prime factorization. This one uses something simpler: if a smallest natural number witnessing rationality existed, you could always find a smaller one.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/articles/sqrt2-irrational)
[
Five Books That Teach You to Think Like a Mathematician
Mathematical thinking is a skill, not a talent. Five books that teach proof, logic, and the art of constructing an argument so airtight no counterexample can survive it.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/book-lists/five-books-mathematical-thinking)
[
How Magritte Broke Perception Without Breaking a Single Rule
In 1965, Magritte painted a woman on horseback through a forest. Everything is real. Nothing is possible. A 2023 study in the Journal of Vision finally explains exactly how he did it.
Open
](https://abakcus.com/articles/magritte-blank-signature)
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