From Serendip
From Serendip | INTERACTIVE PHYSICS |
The web provides not only a previously inconceivable wealth of information, but also the potential for experiences which it was previously difficult or impossible to have oneself. This last characteristic is particularly important in an educational context, since it opens the door for entirely new exploration-based forms of education. With this potential in mind, the list of sites related to physics and provided below has been compiled as an aid to teachers and students wishing to try out virtual, "hands-on" experiences in physics.
The list focuses on sites which make use of one or another kind of simulation, and in general does not include course outlines or class notes. We have attempted to characterize the level of prior physics and mathematics education needed. A "general" accessibility level suggests material suitable for children and/or adults having no particular expertise in either physics or math. The "high school" and "college" accessibility levels are self-explanatory. We have also tried to characterize sites in terms of "playfulness," "interactivity," and "explanation." Sites which encourage enjoyable exploration will score highly on the first two categories, while the third category indicates the extent to which the site provides its own explanations of observable phenomena. Sites are listed under the appropriate one of a series of subject catergories.
The list and annotations was created by Sasha Schwartz, working with Bryn Mawr College Assistant Professor of Physics Elizabeth McCormack and Serendip's Paul Grobstein. Links were checked July 2005 by Yaena Park. The site was further checked and updated by Maeve O'Hara December 2005 and by Ashley Dawkins August 2007. Suggestions for additions to the list are warmly welcomed and should be sent to Serendip.
Multiple Topics Sites
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Ratings System
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
| Applets Menu by Pascal Renault a science educator, requires Shockwave, topics include kinematics, optics, electricity, waves and oscillations, and thermodynamics | high school |  |
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| Fowler's Physics Applets by Michael Fowler, a physics professor at the University of Virginia, topics includes mechanics, statistical mechanics, waves, and modern physics, links to relevant lectures for a number of the applets are provided | high school | |
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| Interactive Physics and Math with Java from the University of Hawaii topics include mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics | high school | |
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| IPPEX Interactive Physics Modules from the Internet Plasma Physics Education eXperience, requires Shockwave, topics include matter, electricity and magnetism, energy, and fusion | general | |
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| Java Applets on Physics by Walter Fendt a science educator, topics include mechanics, oscillations and waves, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, theory or relativity, physics of atoms, and nuclear physics | high school | |
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| Mathematical Ideas in Science by Seven Stones Multimedia requires Shockwave, topics include mechanics, waves, astronomy, relativity, and quantum mechanics | high school | |
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| NTNU Virtual Physics Laboratory by Fu-Kwun Hwang an associate professor of physics at the National Taiwan Normal University, topics include mechanics, dynamics, waves, thermodynamics, electromagnetics, and light/optics | high school | |
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| Physics Applets at the University of Oregon topics include astrophysics, mechanics, energy and environment, and thermodynamics. Note: Experiments may not run properly on certain browsers | high school | |
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| Shockwave Physics Studios by Tom Henderson a science educator, requires Shockwave, topics include mechanics, relativity, and optics, explanations of the physics given only in the relativity sections | high school | |
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| The Physics Classroomn topics include mechanics, energy and waves | high school | |
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Einstein Light
It has several film clips (about a minute each) that use demonstrations and animations to give overviews to Galilean relativity, electromagnetism, the apparent inconsistency between them, Einstein relativiy, time dilation and length contraction, E=mc2 and beyond relativity. The site also provides links for further exploration. | college | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
| Amusement Park Physics from the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection attempts to demonstrate principles of Newtonian mechanics through the design of roller coasters and analysis of bumper car collisions | general | |
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| Bang! Boing! Pop! Physics Applets by ThinkQuest explains conservation of energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum, interactivity involves quizzes and two Java "games" | high school | |
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| Billiard Ball Simulation at Marshall University simulates a pool ball hitting a rail, no explanation of underlying physics | general | |
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| The Pendulum Lab by Franz-Josef Elmer a theoretical physicist at the University of Basel, Switzerland, extensive lectures on all aspects of a pendulum are given, accompanied by five interactive Java labs | high school | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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Interactive Experiments in Gravity by John Walker
developer of Fourmilab, includes movies in both MPEG and QuickTime formats,
includes a "basement experiment" for testing the universality of gravity and an applet
demonstrating general relativity | high school | |
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Kepler's Second Law - A Java Interactive Tutorial at Syracuse University
Kepler's second law illustrated through text and Java applet | high school | |
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Many Moons Java Simulation by Jeffrey Rosenthal
a statistics professor at the University of Toronto,
simulation of many body system under force of gravity | general | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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Brownian Motor at the Max-Planck Institut für Strömungsforschung, Göttingen
explains and demonstrates the physics of a Brownian motor that
seems to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics | college | |
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The Ising Model by Simon Catterall
an assistant professor of physics at Syracuse University,
explains the idea of statistical physics through the example of the magnetic spins
of an array of particles | general | |
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Kinetic Theory Applet by Julio Gea-Banacloche
a professional physicist,
an applet simulates the evolution of an ideal gas and shows a graph of its speed distribution | college | |
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Particles Diffusion Java Applet from Pira Tordesillas
applet illustrating the Browning motion of an initial collection of particles positioned
at a single location | high school | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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Interference Applet by Serge G. Vtorov
an M.S. in mathematics and computer science,
presents the optical phenomenon of interference through the double slit experiment,
allows the user to change various aspects of the apparatus | high school | |
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Wheel of Saturation, Intensity, and Hue by Rich Franzen
a software engineer for DBA Systems, Inc., detailed explanation
and illustration of color and how it is displayed on a computer monitor | general | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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The Twin Paradox by Rob Salgado
a physics graduate student at Syracuse University,
gives the basics of special relativity and illustrates the concepts by presenting
an applet that helps to resolve the Twin Paradox | college | |
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The UM-StL Anyspeed Applet on 1-D Constant Acceleration by Phil Fraundorf
a professional physicist,
calculator designed to solve acceleration problems in special relativity,
very useful for students of special relativity | college | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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Quantum Mechanics Applet from Ohio State University
applet demonstrating the time evolution of a quantum particle in a box | college | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)
a non-profit organization of teachers, educators, and physicists located around the world,
includes particle physics, fusion, and nuclear physics,
these modules are an excellent source from which to learn about modern physics | general | |
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Exploration of Modern Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder
includes many different topics in modern physics, wonderfully explained through the
use of dialogues and Java applets | general | |
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| Website and Notes | Accessibility Level | Playfulness | Interactivity | Explanation |
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The Heat Equation Applet by Silvia Veronese
a member of the math faculty at the University of Utah,
illustrates the dispersion of heat through a medium as time progresses | general | |
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This site contains extensive lists of links to interactive physics sites. Many of the above links were selected from this site.
Jars.com Listing of Physics Java Applets
back to top
Eric Weisstein's Treasure Trove of Physics
an excellent, cross-referenced encyclopedia of physics
Physlets
a site encouraging and assisting in the production of physics applets for teaching purposes
back to top
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