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 Suggestions for additions to the list are warmly welcomed and should be sent to Serendip.

Multiple Topics Sites
Mechanics
Gravity
Electricity and Magnetism
Statistical Mechanics
Optics
Special Relativity
Quantum Mechanics
General Modern Physics
Miscellaneous
Major Sources
Other Resources

Ratings System
Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
not much minimal minimal
some interactive moderate
a lot creative detailed


Multiple Topics Sites

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
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
Goethe Java Applets from Goethe High School, partly in German, mostly English, topics includes optics and crystallography general
Interactive Physics and Math with Java from the University of Hawaii topics include mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics high school
IPPEX Interactive Physics Modules from the Internet Plasma Physics Education eXperience, requires Shockwave, topics include matter, electricity and magnetism, energy, and fusion general
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
Mathematical Ideas in Science by Seven Stones Multimedia requires Shockwave, topics include mechanics, waves, astronomy, relativity, and quantum mechanics high school
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
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
Physics Experiments Online by James Gareth topics include mechanics and optics. Note: Experiments may not run properly on certain browsers general
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
The Physics Classroomn topics include mechanics, energy and waves high school
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
Xing Min Wang's Physics Applets a Java developer for the company Jamcracker, topics include mechanics, waves, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics high school

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Mechanics

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
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
Billiard Ball Simulation at Marshall University simulates a pool ball hitting a rail, no explanation of underlying physics general
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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Gravity

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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
Kepler's Second Law - A Java Interactive Tutorial at Syracuse University Kepler's second law illustrated through text and Java applet
high school
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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Electricity and Magnetism

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
Electric Charges in Java by Sebastián Rodríguez interactive simulation of many bodied systems of electric charges
high school
Hysteresis-Loop by Tim a physics graduate student at the University of Kaiserslautern, illustrates the energy density of a ferromagnetic particle
college

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Statistical Mechanics

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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
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
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
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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Optics

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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
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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Special Relativity

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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
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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Quantum Mechanics

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
Quantum Mechanics Applet from Ohio State University applet demonstrating the time evolution of a quantum particle in a box
college

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General Modern Physics

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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
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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Miscellaneous

Website and Notes Accessibility Level Playfulness Interactivity Explanation
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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Major Sources

These three sites contain extensive lists of links to interactive physics sites. Many of the above links were selected from these sites.

Earthweb.com Listing of Physics Java Applets
Jars.com Listing of Physics Java Applets
The Virtual Laboratory

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Other Resources

Eric Weisstein's Treasure Trove of Physics
an excellent, cross-referenced encyclopedia of physics
Physics Instruction on the World Wide Web
a document written by some one who had done extensive research about the availability of physics instruction on the world wide web
Physlets
a site encouraging and assisting in the production of physics applets for teaching purposes

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