Electricity and Magnetism Flash Animations

josh — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:39:09 +0000

Several physics animations, including the following...

Coulomb's Law
A simulation of an experiment to determine the dependence of the electrostatic force on distance.

Comparing a DC circuit to the flow of water.
A simple DC circuit has a DC voltage source lighting a light bulb. Also shown is a hydraulic system in which water drives a turbine. The two systems are shown to be similar.

A Light Switch
A simple animation of how a common light Switch works.

Field Lines
Illustrating representing an electric field with field lines.

A Simple Buzzer
A simple buzzer consisting of a battery, a flexibile metal strip, a piece of iron, and some wire.

Electric Field of an Oscillating Charge
An electric charge is executing simple harmonic motion, and the animation shows the electric field lines around it.

Electric and Magnetic Fields of an Oscillating Charge
A 3 dimensional animation of the "far" fields of an oscillating charge.

Circular Polarisation
Circular polarisation generated from a linearly polarised electromagnetic wave by a quarter-wave plate.

Spinning Charges and an Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field 1
A spinning charged object passes through an inhomogeneous magnetic field. This animation is also used in a discussion of the Stern-Gerlach experiment.

Spinning Charges and an Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field 2
A spinning charged object passes through an array of 3 magnets each producing an inhomogeneous magnetic field. This animation is also used in a discussion of the Stern-Gerlach experiment.

Classical Mechanics Animations

josh — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:03:21 +0000

Displacement and Distance

A simple animation showing the difference between the distance and the displacement. Requires Flash 5; file size is 5k. View

Constant Acceleration

1-dimensional kinematics of a body undergoing constant acceleration. Includes visually integrating the acceleration and velocity graphs, and visually differentiating the position and velocity graphs. View

Motion Animation

A car with a non-zero initial speed has a constant acceleration whose value can be controlled by the user. View

Dropping Two Balls Near the Earth's Surface

Two balls falling near the Earth's surface under the influence of gravity. The initial horizontal speed of one of the balls may be varied. View

Galilean Relativity

Illustrating Galilean relativity using his example of dropping a ball from the top of the mast of a sailboat. View

Foucault Pendulum

A simple snimation viewing a Foulcault Pendulum at the North Pole from an inertial frame above the Earth. See also the Foucault Pendulum animation in the Relativity section. View

Projectile Motion

Firing a projectile when air resistance is negligible. The initial height and angle may be adjusted. View

Kinematics of Projectile Motion

A visualisation exploration of the kinematics of projectile motion. View

The Monkey and the Hunter

An animation of the classic lecture demonstration. The actual demonstration is preferable if possible; then this animation can be given to the students for later review. View

Racing Balls

Two balls roll down two different low-friction tracks near the Earth's surface. The user is invited to predict which ball will reach the end of the track first. This problem is difficult for many beginning Physics students. View

Racing Skiers

The "Racing Balls" animation which is accessed via the above line sometimes triggers cognitive dissonance and rejection in beginning students. For some of these, changing the balls to skiers helps to clarify the situation, and that is what this animation does. The "Racing Balls" one should be used with students first. View

Air Track Collisions

Elastic and inelastic collisions on an air track, with different masses for the target cart. View

Newton's Cradle

A small animation of Newton's Cradle, sometimes known as Newton's Balls. View

Hooke's Law

A simple animation illustrating Hooke's Law. View

Coordinate System for Circular Motion

An unusual coordinate system for describing circular motion. View

Vertical Circular Motion

A mass is in circular motion in the vertical plane. We show the weight and force exerted by the tension in the string. View

Forces on a Pendulum

The weight, force due to tension, and total force exerted on the bob of a pendulum are shown. View

Rolling Disc

A simple animation that traces the motion of a point on a rolling disc. View

Right-Hand Screw Rule

The direction of the angular velocity vector given by a right-hand screw rule. View

Direction of the Angular Velocity Vector

A simple animation of the direction of the angular velocity vector. View

Curling

Curling rocks and tori sliding across surfaces. View

How Does a Cat Land on its Feet?

The saying is that cats always land on their feet. This animation explains how they do this. View

Precession of a Spinning Top

A simple animaiton of a spinning top which precesses. View

Simple Harmonic Motion I

Demonstrating that one component of uniform circular motion is simple harmonic motion. View

Simple Harmonic Motion II

Illustrating and comparing Simple Harmonic Motion for a spring-mass system and for a oscillating hollow cylinder. View

Damped Simple Harmonic Motion

The damping factor may be controlled with a slider. The maximum available damping factor of 100 corresponds to critical damping. View

Driven Simple Harmonic Motion

A harmonic oscillator driven by a harmonic force. The frequency and damping factor of the oscillator may be varied. View

Coupled Harmonic Oscillators

Two simple pendulums connected by a spring. The mass of one of the pendulums may be varied. Within mathematical rounding errors, the resolution on the screen of one pixel, and a frame rate of 12 frames per second the animation is correct, not an approximation. View

Scientific mind map software (free)

josh — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:24:45 +0000

It's time for me to come clean: I'm a total mindmap junkie. Someone turned me on to the phenomenon a few years ago and it didn't quite click but in the last year, I've been unstoppable. I find it to be the easiest way to visaulize a topic from top to bottom and helps me to construct a complete picture of any topic. You can use them like a to-do like or you can plan out an entire master's thesis.

I use Mind Node for Mac but tried this out and saw the potential for folks in the research world. Give it a try and comment below if you found it useful for your studies, writing, or otherwise.

Search and upload theses and dissertations

josh — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:51:13 +0000

OpenThesis is a place to upload your thesis for everyone else to read and use. Looks like a great resource for students who need a little help getting through the hardest part of a grad degree. From the site:

OpenThesis is a free repository of theses, dissertations, and other academic documents, coupled with powerful search, organization, and collaboration tools.

What is theoretical physics?

christoff — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:29:15 +0000

This is a great advanced intro to theoretical physics and where it all comes from. Everything here has its end goal set towards explaining string theory so it can get pretty heavy.

Ehrenfest calculation and animations

josh — Thu, 19 May 2011 16:02:49 +0000

Great page explaining the Ehrenfest Theorem which included both equations and animations. There is a bit of explanation but the main calculations are explained using the code one would need to solve the equation. It's quite technical with the code included but still goes a long way towards explaining what is happening.

From the site:

We first develop a procedure which propagates a one-dimensional wavepacket in space and time. Then we demonstrate the validity of the theorems, which determine the time evolution of position and momentum expectation values. This allows one to investigate the semi-classical limit in which the position and momentum average values satisfy Hamilton's equations of motion.

Solution for Ehrenfest's Theorem from Cornell

josh — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:58:12 +0000

Ehrenfest’s Theorem PDF from OSU

josh — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:56:16 +0000

This PDF is from a Physics 6210 class at Ohio State University. It includes a walk-through of the theorem, including derivation, and a few exercises. From the PDF:

The formal correspondence with quantum mechanics is made via [see linked PDF for equation] where the observables are represented by functions on phase space on the left and operators on the right. This formal correspondence implies that expectation values will, in a suitable approximation, follow classical trajectories, a result known as Ehrenfest's theorem.

Great intro to the search for the Higgs Boson

christoff — Mon, 16 May 2011 07:06:14 +0000

It is basically a video explaining what physicists are searching for at large colliders such as CERN.

The Particle Adventure : The standard model

mjrtom — Sat, 14 May 2011 02:41:05 +0000

This "adventure" makes learning about the standard model fun and interesting. It is written in a way that most college students should be able to understand. Overall a good intro.

Michelson Interferometer actual demonstration

christoff — Wed, 11 May 2011 02:22:59 +0000

Cool demonstration of the Michelson Interferometer.

Michelson Interferometer : setting a michelson interferometer with a He-Ne Laser beam and a Lens of focal Length of +5mm for beam dispersion . A basic explan......

Wave on a string lab

josh — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:37:40 +0000

In this lab, we will be using a vibrator that is capable of producing frequencies of 60 Hz in the longitudinal (upright) mode and 120 Hz in the transverse (horizontal) mode to produce the vibration to the string. Attached to the vibrator is a piece of string connected to the pulley, and from which we place the mass hanger to use as weights to produce a specific tension in the string. The length of the string and the mass of the string is measured to provide the linear density, µ, to find the wave speed and relate the frequency. As the vibrator generates a standing wave on the taut string, we will use a meter stick to measure the wavelength, as well as the total distance between the vibrator and the pulley.

Publishing your research 101

christoff — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:49:18 +0000

This is a great video on the process of having your research published. This is great for undergraduates and graduate students who are starting with their own research.

Best advice: Make writing a part of the research and start early.

When should you begin to think about writing up your research for publication?
How do your students handle your approach of writing while you research?
How do new technologies help scientists communicate their work?
How many drafts does each paper undergo? Do you have your papers undergo an internal review?
Do authors need to be thinking of marketing their articles?
How concerned should I be about the title and abstract of my papers?

Torque Direction

christoff — Mon, 09 May 2011 04:57:06 +0000

This is a short and sweet desrctiption of the right hand rule applied to torque. It is basically a flashcard.

Kinematics

user — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:20:42 +0000

This is a text intensive tutorial on kinematics that is more geared for biophycisists. It contains all the relevant equations and some good descriptions.

Electric forces

user — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:02:14 +0000

Three short flashcards on the theory of Coulomb's law as well as some practical examples. The last flashcard goes over the units of the Coulomb constant.

Recent posts for Physics