Physlets (physics applet animations)

 

Basic Physics

Multimedia Physics Studios – Mechanics, Optics, and Relativity
Spectacular animation resource for listed by specific topics
Quick-time movies – selected items (e.g., roller-coaster) in different format

Introductory physics – Java 1.4 (Walter Fendt at Paul-Klee-Gymnasium, Germany) (in Java 1.1)
Sophisticated power, but clear and simple – in English! Truly incredible
Typical sample: Composite centripetal force on a circular swing carousel
change period to 3 sec, press enter key, click box “Carousel with forces”

Virtual Physics Laboratory (Fu-Kwun Hwang, National Taiwan Normal University)
Fantastic selection of applets in English
Typical sample: Formation of standing waves by two colliding waves
right click on image, type in f1=5 and f2=5, then press enter key
(note: right click to pause and resume)

Introductory physics interactive applets (Wolfgang Christianson, Davidson College)
Nice selection from mechanics, waves, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, modern

Fear of Physics
Videos of simple kinematics & dynamics demos that require students to vote on expected behavior before the video runs

Learning Physics through Playing Java
Many applets in basic physics (mechanics, waves and light, E&M and electronics)

Lectures Online Applets – simple animations of intro physics

Mechanics, waves and thermodynamics (Southern Utah University)
 Electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetism (Southern Utah University)
 Optics Lab – set up a system by clicking and adding elements (Southern Utah University)
 Fluids (Southern Utah University) – But only the Problems (and Explorations 14.1 & 14.3) seem to work without error

College physics Applets (University of Oregon) – college level, but some good astronomy ones

Algebra-based physics (Giancoli, 5th edition, Prentice Hall) – chose chapter, click “Online Destinations” on left-hand window bar when chapter loads.
Algebra-based physics (Giancoli, 6th edition, Prentice Hall) – similar to above, but a richer selection of physlets and explanatory material. Chapters are accessed by number across top (but, alas, not titled), then click on “Demonstrations” in left-hand bar. Nice

Roller Coaster (from Funderstanding) – many adjustable parameters and questions.

Edinfomatics – Physics -- incredible listing of animations

More Advanced Topics in Physics (popular to college level)

Physics 2000 (University of Colorado) – Stunning animations dealing with many aspects of:

Quantum Physics Online – very nice applets showing properties of wavefunctions, eigenstates, and quantization (college level). This site is winner of the MERLOT 2003 Classics Award for Physics. If the URL seems broken, try again later for their server at the Ecole Polytechnique in France does not always connect well.

Physicsweb interactive experiments (Institute of Physics)
Another incredible listing with detailed description of each link before you click. Many advanced topics, e.g.,

PIRA Webring (Paul Falstad) – sophisticated applets from acoustics to time-dependent quantum systems