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Updated 08/16/2023 - 214 simulations of mine plus 5 others

Beyond physics

• at the Statue of Liberty

Climate Change

• Vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide
• Historical energy use in USA
• USA electricity generation map, by Dan Schroeder

Vector Addition

• Vector Addition
• Vector-Addition Patterns

Motion in 1 dimension

• Motion Diagrams
• Constant Velocity vs. Constant Acceleration
• Graph matching (position + velocity graphs)
• 1-D motion: graphs
• Constant Acceleration, Same Physics
• Landing a rocket
• Ranking task - rank by acceleration
• Galileo's ramp (with sound)
• Relative velocity: race on a moving sidewalk

Motion in 2 dimensions

• Race between a dropped ball and one launched horizontally
• A ballistics cart
• Projectile Motion (set speed and angle)
• Projectile Motion (set initial velocity components)
• Projectile Motion (with motion diagram, velocity components, and graphs)
• Projectile Motion (with motion diagram and velocity components)
• Projectile Motion (changing the launch angle)
• Whole vectors
• The monkey and the hunter
• Motion with Constant Acceleration

Forces

• Force and motion in 1D
• The normal force
• Static friction
• Elevator physics
• Atwood's machine
• Force and motion in 1D, with friction
• Friction on an incline
• Ranking task - rank by net force

Circular motion

• Circular motion
• A ball on a string
• A disk on a turntable
• Gravitron (carnival ride model)
• Car on a banked turn

Momentum and Energy

• Momentum and Impulse
• Collisions in 1-Dimension
• Collisions in 1-Dimension, with bar graphs
• Puzzle - 1-D collision with interactive bar graphs
• Center of Mass
• Motion of the center of mass
• Motion with no net external force
• Kinetic energy and work
• Ball on a ramp
• Comparing ramps
• Energy graphs - object sliding down a ramp
• Energy graphs - object sliding down a ramp (with spring)
• Energy graphs for landing a rocket
• Energy bar graphs for a pendulum
• A ballistic pendulum

Gravitation

• Gravitational interactions
• Gravitational interactions - time evolution
• A binary system
• The Earth and the Sun
• The Earth and the Sun - multiple Earths
• Orbits and Energy
• The inner solar system
• Closest planet to Earth (on average)
• Gravitational assist (slingshot)

Rotation

• Comparing rotational kinematics and 1-D motion
• Rotation of a revolving door
• Static equilibrium - a balanced beam
• Static equilibrium - three ways to calculate torque
• Static equilibrium - a hinged rod
• A block and a pulley
• A block and a pulley, with energy bar graphs
• Atwood's machine, re-visited
• Atwood's machine, with energy bar graphs
• Rolling - four views
• How a front-wheel-drive car works
• Rolling - the bowling ball problem
• Jumping on a merry-go-round
• An accelerating cylinder
• Rolling down a ramp

Harmonic Motion

• Connecting simple harmonic motion and uniform circular motion
• A ball on a spring
• A ball on a spring - energy graphs
• A ball on a spring - with damping (friction)
• A spring wave (similar to pendulum wave)
• A Simple pendulum
• A simple pendulum, with damping

Fluids

• The buoyant force
• Apparent weight (and the buoyant force)
• Pressure in a static fluid
• Continuity - fluid in a pipe
• There's a hole in my bucket
• Ball dropping in a viscous fluid

Heat and Thermodynamics

• Thermometer
• Thermal expansion
• Add heat to water
• Mix ice and water
• Ideal gas
• Ideal gas (no histogram)
• A circular version of the previous simulation
• Diffusion
• Brownian motion
• Newton's law of cooling
• P-V diagram
• Isothermal, isobaric, and isochoric processes
• Comparing isothermal and adiabatic processes
• Comparing isothermal and adiabatic processes - Chemistry version
• A sample thermodynamic cycle
• Why an adiabatic process changes temperature
• Energy flow in a heat engine
• Energy flow in an air conditioner or fridge

Waves

• A transverse wave
• A longitudinal wave
• A longitudinal wave on a spring
• A wave movie and a graph
• Measuring speed of sound
• The Doppler effect
• The Doppler effect, with graphs
• Constructive and destructive interference
• Constructive and destructive interference - Waves (by Blake Unger Dvorchik)
• Interference of pulses
• Beats
• Reflections
• Standing waves on a string
• Standing waves in a pipe
• Photocopying a wave (rolling shutter)
• Photocopying a fidget spinner (rolling shutter)

Electric charge and electric field

• An electroscope
• An electroscope and a charged rod
• Coulomb's Law
• Coulomb's Law, plotting vs various functions of r
• Coulomb's Law - interactions between charged particles
• Coulomb's Law - interactions between charged particles - time evolution
• Electric field near two charges
• Potential energy for two charges
• Force and Potential energy for two charges
• Electric field and electric potential in 1-D
• Connecting Force and Energy; Field and Potential
• A charge in an electric field
• A charge on a string in an electric field
• Puzzle - determine the charge value
• Puzzle - determine the two charge values
• Puzzle - determine the two charge values from the graphs
• Puzzle - rank the three charges based on their magnitude

Electric circuits

• A basic circuit
• Ohm's law
• Ohm's law - current vs. voltage graph
• Ohm's law - current vs. resistance graph
• Power boxes - an introduction
• Power boxes - parallel circuit
• Power boxes - series circuit
• Power boxes - combination circuit
• Ranking task - rank by resistance
• Resistor-Capacitor (RC) circuit
• Power boxes - RC series circuit

Magnetism

• The force on a charged particle in a magnetic field
• The trail behind a charged particle moving in a magnetic field
• A charged particle moving in three dimensions
• Mass spectrometer
• A cyclotron
• The magnetic field near two current-carrying wires
• The magnetic field in 1-dimension
• The force between current-carrying wires
• A direct-current motor
• Puzzle - rank the three currents based on their magnitude

Electromagnetic induction

• Animation of a magnet and a loop
• Move a magnet near a loop
• Moving a loop through a magnetic field
• Motional emf
• Electromagnetic railgun
• An electric generator

AC Circuits

• The impedance triangle
• RLC Circuit

Electromagnetic waves

• 3-D visualization of an EM wave
• Visualization of the visible spectrum
• Solar sail (radiation pressure)
• Doppler effect for EM waves
• One polarizer (polarized incident light)
• Three polarizers (unpolarized incident light)
• Three polarizers - what's behind the curtain?
• Optical activity

Geometrical Optics - Reflection and mirrors

• Color mixing (additive + subtractive)
• Reflection from a plane mirror, by Steven Sahyun
• Reflection and the role of time
• Reflection, the role of time, and the law of reflection
• How tall does a mirror have to be for you to see your whole self?
• Ray diagram for a converging, diverging, or plane mirror
• Test yourself - what's behind the curtain? (Mirrors)
• Test yourself - find the focal length
• Mirrors and time (the role of time in image formation)
• Mirrors and time (the role of time in image formation) - draggable
• Mirrors and time (the role of time in image formation) - graph
• Puzzle - find the focal length of the object behind the curtain (I)
• Puzzle - find the focal length of the object behind the curtain (II)
• Puzzle - where can you put your eye to see the ENTIRE image?

Geometrical Optics - Refraction and lenses

• Ray diagram for a converging or diverging lens
• Nice variation of the previous simulation by John Welch, showing the lens changing shape
• Test yourself - what's behind the curtain? (Lenses)
• Puzzle - find the focal length of the lens (I)
• Puzzle - find the focal length of the lens (II)
• Puzzle - find the focal length of the lens (III)
• Puzzle - where can you put your eye to see the ENTIRE image? (I)
• Puzzle - where can you put your eye to see the ENTIRE image? (II)
• Marching band model for refraction
• Refraction and the role of time
• Refraction, the role of time, and Snell's law
• Refraction
• Refraction in a rectangular block
• Refraction in three layers
• Total internal reflection (a model of an optical fiber)
• A prism
• Making a rainbow

Interference and Diffraction

• Interference in 2D
• Interference in 2D: exploring path-length difference
• Diffraction from a single-slit
• Single-slit diffraction and double-slit interference pattern
• A diffraction grating
• Reflection and transmission
• Thin-film interference (from Logan Scheiner)
• Newton's rings

Quantum and Nuclear physics

• Blackbody radiation
• Atomic spectra
• Half life

Advanced (or other) topics

• Symmetry
• Diffusion-limited aggregation

External links

• Dan Schroeder's HTML5 workshop materials
• Wolfgang Bauer's HTML5 tutorial
• PhET HTML5 simulations
• Frank McCulley's HTML5 labs, etc.
• Astronomy Simulations from Foothill College (Geoff Mathews)
• HTML5 simulations on ComPADRE, created with Easy JavaScript Simulations
• HTML5 simulations from The Physics Classroom
• Thin-film interference (from Logan Scheiner)

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