Interesting Physics Applets

The Applet Collection These applets enable you to study simple physical systems in a playful way. They are idealizations of realistic scenarios, which follow the proper equations that also govern the real experimental systems. Here is also a handy calculator (will open in a separate window):

Kinematics
Significant Figures Try some exercises with significant figures on your own.	GraphLab Playing around with the parameters (x0, v0, and a) of the simple kinematic equations for motion in 1D with constant acceleration.	Vector Addition Practice with the concepts of graphical vector addition and subtraction.
Projectile Simulation Shoot a cannon after selecting the initial speed and angle of the projectile.
Dynamics
Net Force See how the components of three forces add up to the net force.	Simple Incline Plane Box on an incline - one of the basic physics problems solved.	Inclined Plane Experimentally solve a very complicated inclined plane problem with friction.
Atwood Machine Two masses, a rope, and a pulley.	Force and Work Work you have to do against the forces of gravity and/or friction.	Virtual Billiards Two dimensional collision between two objects of equal mass.
Virtual Air Track Totally elastic or totally inelastic collisions or anything in between.	Billiards Play the (almost) real game. Momentum conservation at work.
Rotational Motion, Statics
Atwood Machine with Rotation Another look at the problem of two masses and a rope, but this time the pulley gets to rotate.	Statics - Beam A beam hangs from a wall and is supported by a rope and a hinge. In turn it supports a mass you can move around ...	Stacking Blocks How far over the edge can you move the books?
Orbit Put your very own satellite into orbit.	Diver A game that illustrates the ideal gas law and Archimeded' Principle.
Oscillations
Mass on a Spring Study the classical oscillator.	Pendulum The other classical oscillator.	Coupled Oscillators Transfer energy between two coupled oscillators.
Damped Oscillator Mass on a spring with friction present.
Thermal Physics
Kinetic Theory Change the temperature and volume of a gas and watch the number of collisions with the wall.	Phase Transition Temperatures Change the temperature and watch all elements in the periodic table melt and boil.	Ideal Gas Explore the equatiuon pV=nRT.
Wave Phenomena
Interference Move two circular wave patterns and watch the patterns.	Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction Shows the three main wave phenomena ...	Polarizers Put 1, 2, or 3 linear polarizers onto an optical bench and let a beam of unpolarized light pass through them.
Two-Slit Interference Vary the slit separation and the wavelength of the light and then watch the interference pattern.	Diffraction Generates a single-slit diffraction pattern.	Two-Slit with Diffraction Combines the effects of interference and diffraction.
Doppler Effect Visualization of the Doppler effect and Mach cones.	Spectrum Explore the electromagnetic spectrum.	Beats Vary two frequencies and see the corresponding beat pattern emerge.
Piano Play the piano and see the frequencies.
Electrostatics
Deflection of Charges Change the voltage on the deflector plates and see the deflection of the electron beam.	Field Lines Drag two variable charges and watch the field lines.	Electrostatic Potential Place charges and watch the resulting electrostatic potential distribution.
Capacitors Solves all kinds of capacitor network problems.	Resistors Same thing for resistors.	Oscilloscope Sometimes it's just fun to play with pretty patterns.
Lorentz Force Observe the deflection of a beam of charged particles in a magnetic field.	Coulomb Put an electron into orbit around a proton.
Electrodynamics
Charging a Capacitor After closing the switch, you can observe the time evolution of the charging of the capacitor.	Resonance Circuit Impedance for a very basic RLC circuit with an external source of alternating current.	Induction Be Michael Faraday for a while.
Optics
Shadows Understand how shadows are formed.	Snell's Law Deflection of a light beam going from one medium to another.	Lenses Change the focal length of a lens combination.
Color Mixing: CYM Mix Colors additively.	Color Mixing: RGB Mix Colors subtractively.
Quantum Physics
Photo Effect Study the photo-electric effect with three different materials and variable light.	Electron Configurations Experience how electrons are added to the atomic shells.	Bohr Atom Visualize the transitions in the hydrogen atom.
Blackbody See the three main radiation laws in graphic action.
Nuclear Physics
Radioactive Decay Watch the nuclei decay away and discover the exponential decay law.	Nuclear Chain Reaction Put a neutron into a reactor and watch it explode.	Nuclear Isotope Half-lifes Find out the half-lifes of all known isotopes.
Quarks Put the right combination of quarks and antiquarks together and see the resulting hadron.
Other
Scalar Product Visualize the dot product when moving two vectors around in the plane.	Vector Product A cross B in 3D.	Seasons Find out why we have summers and winters.