| Bright Yellow indicates the demos appropriate for this week. |
| Coulomb's law |
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This should be pretty easy. Test yourself to be sure. |
| Unknown charge |
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This is harder. Try it. |
| Force on charges |
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Determine the sign of the unknown charges. Hint: move some of the charges away from the others to simplify the problem. You are working with a square-law force. |
| Charge in a field |
good |
See the motion of a
particle in a combined electric and magnetric field. You control
all the conditions. (Turn the magnetic field off, at least at first. A good combination to start with is: y=50, Vx=15, Ez=10 and all other quantities zero. You should be able to predict the shape of the trajectory before you try it.) |
| E-field plotter 1 |
good |
Plots field lines and equipotentials for an arbitrary charge distribution of your choice. You can also let your system evolve with time. Start with only "electric field lines" selected. Then add equipotentials when you're ready. |
| E-field plotter 2 |
|
Hit the "Start SimPhysics" button to get going. This one has many, many extra features, but I like the one above better. One nice addition is a cursor that shows the E-field direction and magnitude at any point. You might want to start by selecting each charge, then use the "particle info" entry under the "particle" menu to increase the charge to 2. |
| Field lines and equipotentials |
|
Change the sign of the
charge on the right. Understand? Change the ratio of the charges. Understand? This is important! |
| Potential |
good |
Click on the appropriate
link to select Simulation A, B or C, then hit "play".
A is pretty tame but make sure you understand it. You should be able to answer these questions: All sims: Are there charges present? Where? Sim A: Which way is the electric field pointing? Sim C: Note the motion of the charge when the simulation started. Replay it if needed. Now place the charge near C. Will it move toward or away from C? Sim B: Same as above. The potential lines are a little off near the charges so I put this one last. The simulation is good enough, though. |
| Lightbulb test |
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A simple test of your understanding of series and parallel resistors and power. |
| Kirchhoff's Rules 1 2 3 4 |
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Four examples of the
use of Kirchhoff's Rules. This is from the Virtual
Labs & Simulations Electricity site. |
| Circuit builder |
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You can build and test any kind of circuit discussed in class using this. Here is an example that uses the circuit builder to illustrate RC circuits. |
| RC Circuits |
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Practice with a virtual circuit. |
| RC Circuits |
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Shows where the current and energy go in an RC circuit with a switch. |
| Digital circuit simulator |
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Java Logic Circuit Simulator Applet. We don't cover digital electronics, but here is something you can play with if you know a little about logic circuits. All of the basic gate types are available. |
| Charges in a magnetic field |
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Make sure you can control/predict whether the particle goes clockwise or counter clockwise. |
| Charge in combined E and B fields |
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Rotate the coordinate system with your mouse so you can see the 3-D motion. |
| Deduce the current |
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Use a compass to deduce the current direction through two wires. If you can do this, you understand magnetic field generation by a straight wire. Important! |
| Biot-Savart Law |
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Practice with the elements that make up the Biot & Savart Law. |
| Drag the wire |
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Faraday induction in action. |
| RLC circuit |
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A key example involving the three basic linear circuit elements: resistor, capacitor, inductor. |
| Spring & mass |
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Control your own spring and block. Set k=10 and start the block in motion by dragging it and releasing. A test: can you identify the meaning of the red arrow without reading through the description? |
| Spring
& mass and Pendulum |
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Gives you control over all parameters and allows you to monitor the position, velocity, acceleration, energy, etc. |
| Transverse and Longitudinal Wave |
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Make sure to read the directions below the demo. |
| Longitudinal Wave | good | Longitudinal waves are harder to visualize. This demo helps connect particle motion (displacement, velocity, acceleration) to the wave motion. It's simple enough. Just make sure you understand the graphs you see. |
| Various Kinds of Waves |
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Make sure to look at the longitudinal wave. Try and focus on an individual particle in the wave. Compare it's motion to that of the wave. They're related, but they're different. |
| Superposition Using Pulses |
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I think it's easier to understand superposition when pulses are used, but is this simulation correct? Try this: Invert one of the pulses by left clicking below it. Watch. There will be a moment when the superposed wave (shown in black) is completely flat. Is energy conserved? |
| Superposition Principle for Waves |
good |
Superpose two arbitrary sinusoidal waves to get a standing wave. MAKE SURE TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Is this method of getting a standing wave at all related to the class demo showing a standing wave using a rope tied at one end? |
| Superposition Principle for Waves II | ok | Allows you to superpose two waves with full control over amplitude, direction, phase, etc. You can use this to demonstrate beats, standing waves and all other major phenomena discussed. The phase control is a little buggy, unfortunately. |
| Beats |
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Change the frequency and phase difference between two waves. |
| Various Kinds of Interference |
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The basic categories of wave interference discussed and illustrated! |
| Sonic boom | good | First, run the simulation
and observe the Doppler effect. From its point of view, the wave
emitter is running at a single frequency, but what to observers
think that are: (a) behind, (b) ahead, (c) below the emitter.
[Part (c) is the trickiest case.] Second, note that initially the source speed is slower than the wave speed. Think of the source as a jet plane now. Increase the source speed by dragging its arrow until it matches the wave speed. Something important changes. Why do people talk about shock waves for this situation? Now, how can that explain a sonic boom? This is tricky. For an answer, try the next demo... |
| The location of a supersonic airplane |
|
Generating a sonic
boom. You'll have to think a little on this one. Read the instructions at the bottom so you under the controls first. Start with subsonic flight (ratio = 0.5). Make sure you understand the numbers that show up. Right-click to stop and restart the demo so you can see what is going on. At each point in its path (the white dots) the jet emits a spherical wave that expands in all directions. Think of the jet as a moving point source. The green and yellow lines just show the part of the wave emitted from a given white dot that is going in the right direction to reach the observer. Parts of the wave going in some other direction won't be heard and don't concern us here. Now, switch to supersonic flight (ratio = 4.0).Note the change in the numbers that show up at the top. Waves emitted later reach the observer first! Does the black line in this demo correspond to anything in the previous demo? Why do the green and yellow lines come together in the funny way that they do? The volume is related to the number of lines reaching the observer. Try other ratios. |
| Decibels |
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Uses your computer's audio system to illustrate the effect of changing the sound level by 3,6,10 and 20 dB. |
| Propogation of Electromagnetic Waves |
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Very simple, but helps with picturing how E, B, and the direction fit together. Picturing EM waves is trickier than you might think. Question: the graphs of E and B descibe how the fields change in time, but where? That is, fields are being plotted for what region of space: on the x-axis only, or off of it or some other axis? |
| Wave
propagation, reflection/refraction using Huygen's Principle |
|
Pause and continue the demo so you can follow everything that happens. Yes, it's true. Simple reflection and refraction is a more complicated process than you might at first think. |
| Wave propagation using Huygen's Principle II | very good |
Another one, but more in the style of a tutorial. Hit "Start Simulation" to start the demo. After each simulation, hit "Next Step". |
| Ripple Tank | excellent | This is one of the best of this type that I've seen. Two windows will come up. One contains the applet and the other contains directions. It's amazing what you can do. Note that if you click in the tank, you set off ripples as if you had dropped a pebble in it. |
| Reflection and Refraction |
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Sends a beam through an interface under your control. Illustrates reflection, refraction, total internal reflection. |
| A fish's view |
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Fish have rights too, I suppose. Try making the object very wide and placing directly over the fish. |
| Physics of rainbows |
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Also illustrates the idea of dispersion: different colors have different indices of refraction.Can a single raindrop produce a rainbow, even if very weak, for an observer on the ground? |
| Color | ok | So what is the difference between mixing light and mixing paint? |
| Thin Lens |
|
Try this! Automatic ray tracing, using a bundle of rays or the three special rays, as you adjust the object. Place the object on the focal plane and to either side of it. |
| Thin Lens II | good | The previous one is better, but here's another that provides automatic ray tracing using the three special rays we've discussed in class as you adjust the object. |
| Lens
Problem #1 Lens Problem #2 |
|
Use these to test your
understanding of lenses. See if you can find a position for the
lenses that makes the answer to the question obvious. If you can't solve these, see me! Don't forget to hit "Start" at the bottom of the page. |
| Two-Slit Interference - Young's Experiment |
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Shows the wave train from each slit and how the interferences changes across the viewing screen. (Requires a flash player.) |
| Single
Slit Diffraction and Double Slit Diffraction |
|
If you're just starting
to learn the subject, this illustrates the basic phenomena. If the exam is near, you're in trouble if you can't predict what the result of adjusting the controls will be! |
| Interference of waves from two point sources | good | Place the two point sources on top of each other and look at the result. Then move one of them sideways in small steps and observe the change. You should be able to explain what you see. What happens when the two sources are 1/2 a wavelength apart? How about a full wavelength? |
| Interference of waves from two point sources II |
|
Similar to the above. You can use this to explain what you saw in the previous one. However, it's harder to interpret until you get the hang of it. Here the essential point: if you see a black line on top of a white line, there's desctructive interference. If you see two lines intersection that have the same color, there's constructive interference. Also, try using "No pattern" at first. |
| The following demos cover aspects of modern
physics: Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. They're, perhaps necessarily, a little harder to understand but worth the effort. |
||
| Michelson-Morley Experiment |
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Illustrates what is expected from the experiment if light actually travels in a medium. |
| Space-Time Lab |
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Shows you moving rods, clocks and more from the point of view of an outside observer and observer moving with the rod or clock. Make sure to set the velocity slider at the top. Also, try out the JAVA TA if you'd like a discussion. |
| Young's Experiment With Electrons | good | A simulation of what
you would see. This is important. Each individual electron impacts
and registers as a single dot. Let it run for awhile. The problem
is the pattern formed after many electrons have hit..... Finally, notice how the graph isn't smooth. That "noise" is a fundamental part of how our world works. |
| Energy Well | good | Gives you practice working with energy wells, without having to worry about quantum mechanics. It uses a cart with a pair of magnets on it and allows you to place magnets outside the car. |
| Quantum States in a Potential Well | good | Drag the corners of the potential well and note how the states change. Both their position and number are important. Does a potential well have to have at least one bound state? Is it possible for one to have infinitely many states? |
| Quantum States in a Potential Well II | very good |
Similar to the previous one, but shows the wave function too. Select "show eigenstates" and "single well" to start off with. |
| Probability Illustrator | good | Draw an arbitrary wavefunction using the mouse and then see what probability distribution results. You can also measure the probability using the green arrow heads at the bottom. You should definitely know how to get a probability of 1 and what that means. If you don't, ask me. |
| Distance versus Displacement |
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Compare these concepts using a journey of your choice. |
| One-D Motion |
|
Study displacement, velocity, and acceleration and how they relate to each other. |
| Traffic Control |
|
Get a feel for constant acceleration. |
| Relative Motion |
|
Travel down a river from several points of view. |
| Vector Test |
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Practice with instant feedback. |
| Free-body force diagram |
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Practice making one. |
| Newton's Third Law |
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Poses conceptual questions. |
| Projectile Motion |
|
Study how v, a, and their components change. |
| Projectile Motion II |
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Classic test of your insight on free fall. |
| Projectile Motion III |
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Yes, this subject is important enough to merit a third demo. |
| Two Balls, a Table, and Some String |
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This is a standard problem for introductory physics classes studying centrepital acceleration. Make sure you understand it. |
| Pulleys |
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A lesson in mechanical advantage. Make sure you understand the value of the tension everywhere and the role it plays. |
| Blocks Stacked on a Table |
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This is a standard problem on the friction force. Make sure you understand this one too. |
| Bouncing Ball |
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This was written by a student taking a course like this one. He notes that the demo has some bugs in it which result in unphysical behavior. Can you identify what that behavior is? Hint: try some "special" cases where the answer should be especially simple. |
| Orbits and Falling |
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Do you really understand why they say astronauts in orbit are in free fall? (Incidentally, this demo uses the same approach that Newton took when he tried to understand orbits.) |
| A Sun and Planet |
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Shows how each orbits the center-of-mass. Make sure to select different perspectives and various masses. |
| Kepler's Orbits |
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More detail on what an orbit is. Beyond what we will cover in class, but interesting. |
| Center of Gravity |
|
Turn on all options so you can see the center-of-gravity of each component. |
| 1-D Collisions |
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See how momemtum is conserved independent of the oberver's (that is, your) inertial frame of reference. |
| 2-D Collisions |
|
Make sure to do all the things described, in order. |
| Rolling |
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Connects x,v,a with their angular equivalents. |
| In which direction will it roll? |
|
Test your intuition on angular momentum. |
| Fu-Kwun Hwang's Page | Another Virtual Laboratory, frequently expanded and updated. |
| Interactive Physics | Good circuit demos here. Also, some E&M including diffraction and optics. |
| Surendranath's Page | A number of his applets are in the 132 and 133 lists. |
| Fowler's Physics Applets | Small collection of applets used in a class sequence similar to our 131-2-3. |
| Physlets | Covers material in 132 and 133. This site has grown and become a good resourse. |
| M. Casco Assoc. | A digital textbook on mechanics. It ends with what might be an interesting discussion of how space can have structure. |
| Java Applets On Physics | Small but nice collection by Walter Fendt. |
| Quantum Physics Online | Good demos, although most are more appropriate for a class on quantum. |
| Visual Quantum Mechanics | From the PERG in Kansas. Includes some wave mechanics demos in the making waves section. |
| Online resources for physics teachers | Wide range of categories with many links, but no effort to describe the links. |
| Virtual Labs & Simulations | It's huge link list. |
| Paul Falstad's applets | Easily one of the best applet writers out there, in my opinion. |
| Contemporary College Physics Simulation Library | Mostly Hwang's work. |
| Electron Interference |
| conservation of energy |
| rainbow |
| gallery of electromagnetism |
| lenses |
| Rami Arieli: "The Laser Adventure" Java Applets List |
| Physics 2000 Applets from the University of Colorado (including applets on basic E&M as well as optical cooling and BEC) |
| Physics Web Resources |
| Stan Durkin's applet list for his 11x classes |
| Applets from Harry S. Truman college |
| Some applets including ones on quantum mechanics, chemistry, and laser cooling |
| The Continuity Equation Illustrated using a pipe with an adjustable constriction. |
| Falling Into A Black Hole This is advanced, but fun. |
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