PHYSics appLETS (PHYSLETS)

PHYSLETS were developed at Davidson University by Wolfgang Christian. They are java applets that can be called from some javascript code in a web page. The links below contain physlets written or adapted for use at LTU by Dr. Scott Schneider.

CORRECT version of JAVA NEEDED! The Java developers often do security updates, the scamps, and this sometimes breaks the java applets on this page.  Currently (Fall 2014) I'm running jre-6u43-windows-i586 (it means I had to uninstall Java 7 to do this).  When I run the applet the first time, I get a "warning" that prompts me to upgrade - depending on your browser, there should be an option to ignore and "remember" that you want to run the applets with this security level - it is a minor pain, but I think the physlets are worth it.  (But, if this is too much of a hassle, I suggest you look at Open Source Physics and/or PHET - they have some great resources also!)

Looking for Exploration Day subset ... http://vnatsci.ltu.edu/s_schneider/physlets/main/explore.shtml

Introduction to using Physlets

• Animation Primer - introduce controls to start, pause, step through, and reset an animation. (startup)
• Measuring Quantities in a physlet (startup2)

Physics 1 Applets

Kinematics - One Dimensional Motion

• Constant Linear Velocity - measure velocity from X information (constvel1)
• Constant Linear Acceleration - measure acceleration from V information (constaccel1d)
• Introduction to motion vectors in Kinematics (kinvec0)
• Connecting graphs to motion (kinem01)
• Police Car tries to catch a Speeder - Part 1 (onscreen capture) (police1)
• Police Car / Speeder - Part 1a (onscreen) (Connect to Displacement Graphs) (police1a)
• Police Car tries to catch a Speeder - Part 2 (offscreen capture!) (police2)
• Police Car / Speeder - Part 2a (offscreen) (Connect to Displacement Graphs) (police2a)
• Police Car / Speeder - Part 3 - We can change the parameters! (police3)
• Vertical Motion - Throw a Hammer in the air (proj1d01)

Kinematics - Two/Three Dimensional Motion

• 2D Projectile Motion - Minimum velocites during 2D flight (proj2d00)
• 2D Projectile Motion - Comparing different starting conditions (proj2d01)
• Boat on a river - Let's go for IceCream! (boatriver1)
• Boat on a river - Part 2 - we control the velocities! (boatriver2)    the physics behind it
• Boat on a river - Part 3 - [authored by Dr. Dan - includes vectors] (boatriver1D3)

General Forces (2D)

• Force(s) on a sled [frictionless ground] (force_sled1)
• Mass hanging from two angled cables (hanging_mass1)
• Bee on an inclined plane (applied force - no friction) (incline1)
• Spring force (spring)

Frictional Forces

• Sled with unrevealed friction (force_sled2)
• Sled with adjustable friction (force_sled3)
• Mass on top of other mass being pulled (fric1)
• Mass sliding into friction patch (fricpatch1)

Center of Mass

• Two-dimensional Center of Mass - point masses (centermass)

Momentum - explosions/collisions

• Linear momentum - two masses - explosion to separate (momenta1)
• Linear momentum - two masses - Choose intial KE from explosion to separate (momenta2e)
• Elastic linear collisions (momenta3)
• Inelastic linear collisions (momenta3c)
• Center of Mass technique for Elastic/inelastic 2-body collisions (momenta4)

Rotational Kinematics and Dynamics

• Spinning flywheel (rotkindyn1)
• Rolling race (rot_race)
• Masses hanging from a Pulley (pulley1)

Torques and CounterTorques

• Simple Diving Board (divingboard)
• Hanging Sign (hangsign1)
• Lean on me ... or rather, Lean a Ladder against a wall (ladder)

Gravity, sweet sweet Gravity

• Circular near-Earth orbits (gravity_earthorbit)
• Elliptical orbits around the Earth (gravity_Ellipse)
• Launching from the Earth's surface (gravity_launch)
• Launching from another Planet (gravity_launch2)
• Falling through a hole in the Earth? (gravity_shm)

Physics 2 Applets

Optics

• Index of Refraction (total internal reflection) [refraction.shtml]
• Lens/Mirror Optics Bench (add/remove elements) [opticsbench.shtml]   [Bigger Bench]
• Optics Puzzle #1 [optics_p01.shtml]
• Optics Puzzle #2 [optics_p02.shtml]
• Optics Puzzle #3 [optics_p03.shtml]
• Telescope Model [telescope.shtml]
• Microscope Model [microscope.shtml]
• Spyglass Model [spyglass.shtml]
• Nearsighted Vision model [nearsighted.shtml]
• Farsighted Vision model [farsighted.shtml]
• Thin Film Interference [thinfilm.shtml]
• Double slit interference ("real" double vs two sources) [doubleslitintensity.shtml]
• Force table diffraction spectrometer (overlapping orders of Helium spectra) [diff_grating.shtml]

"Simple" Harmonic Motion (with friction)

• Mass on a spring - motion determined by initial conditions [mass_spr_phase.shtml]
• Mass on a spring - with constant or velocity-dependent friction [mass_spr_vfric.shtml]
• Mass on a spring - underdamping/overdamping [mass_spr_friction.shtml]
• Simple Harmonic Motion with Energy and Friction - by Dr. Dan Mioduszewski

ElectroStatics

• Electroscope [electroscope]
• Coulomb's Law and multiple charges [coulomb]
• Force in X direction - two charges on axis, plus test charge [eforcex]
• TWO Charges walked onto an axis ... (Ex field only) [eforcex2_two]    THREE Charges
• Presenting ... your Electric Field! (vectors/lines) [efield]    Dr. Scott goes International!
• Torque on an electric dipole in an external E field [dipole_torque]
• Relative signs/sizes of movable charges (Electric fields shown)
• Relative signs/sizes of movable charges (Forces shown)
• Signs of fixed charges - watch a moving charge navigate past them
• Finite Line Segment and Infinite Line segment [eline]
• Electric field of a charged circular "arc" [efield_arc]
• Three Charges walked onto an axis - The Final Cut ... (Ex & V graphs) [eforcex3]
• Charged concentric rings (Gauss' Law)... [gauss_rings]
• Electric field/Potential from charged Rings [erings]
• Equipotentials from point charges [equipotentials]

DC circuits

• Series and Parallel RESISTORS [resistor1]
• Kirchoff's Loop Rule (looprule)
• Series and Parallel CAPACITORS [capacitor1]
• RC circuits (rc_circuits)

RLC circuits

• AC - RLC Series circuits - watching evolution of time series from phasors [rlc]
• AC - RLC2 - observing changes in voltage graphs based on changes in initial variables [rlc2]
• Resonance in AC - RLC Series circuits [rlc_resonance]
• Low-Pass Filter using AC - RC Series circuits [rlc_lowpass]
• High-Pass Filter using AC - RL Series circuits [rlc_highpass]

Magnetic Fields

• Velocity Selector - Crossed E and B fields [cross_EB]
• Magnetic fields and a Current Carrying wire - Force directions [bfieldwire]
• Magnetic fields and a Current Carrying Loop - Torque [bfield_torque]
• Magnetic fields and a Solenoid (several loops) [bsolenoid]
• Magnetic fields and a Co-axial cable [bcoax2]
• Magnetic fields and parallel wires (with compass to measure B field) [bcompass]

Phasor Diagrams

• Phasor diagrams (two vectors)
• Phasor method for Mulit-slit Interference (n vectors)

Traveling Wave

• Superposition of Traveling waves (waves_superposition)

Standing Waves

• Tube with both ends closed (or string with both ends fixed in place) (waves_bothendsclosed.shtml)
• Tube with both ends open (or string with both ends free) (waves_bothendsopen.shtml)
• Tube with one end open (or string with one end fixed in place) (waves_oneclosedend.shtml)
• Frequency Spectrum for Sound in tubes (open and closed ends) (tubes_fft.shtml)

Audio beats in Sound Waves

• Superposition of Sound waves.

Doppler Effect

• Doppler effect in classical waves [doppler.shtml]

Interference of two sources (Ripple tank)

• Ripple tank with two sources (in phase or out of phase) [rippletank.shtml]

Contemporary Applets

• Twin Paradox
• Infinite Square Well
• Finite Square Well
• UNEVEN Finite Square Well/Barrier (different heights to barriers on either side)
• Quantum Harmonic Oscillator
• Hydrogen Radial Probability functions - Part 1
• Hydrogen Radial Probability functions - Part 2

Theoretical Mechanics Applets

• Rolling Wheel
• Honey Bee - spiraling in toward Hive
• Damped and driven harmonic oscillator (osc_damped_driven)
• Damped and driven harmonic oscillator - Amplitude graph (osc_damped_driven_amp)
• Fourier series solution (partial square wave) for damped/driven oscillator (osc_fourier)
• Air Resistance (linear) on a projectile (air_resistance)
• 2D Isotropic/Nonisotropic oscillator (2D_oscillator)
• Lagrange Vector Field (Restricted 3-body problem) (lagrange_vector_field)
• Sliding Pendulum Support
• Coupled Oscillators (2 masses on 3 springs)

Of the 315 people to look at this page, you are the most recent!
Last Updated = Thursday, 16-Oct-2014 11:27:38 EDT
Return to Dr. Scott's Main Web Page

Physlets courtesy of :