Physics: Cinema Classics A: Mechanics (I), (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
Physics: Cinema Classics B: Mechanics (II) & Heat, (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
Physics: Cinema Classics C: Waves (I), (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
Physics: Cinema Classics D: Waves (II) & Electricity and Magnetism, (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
Physics: Cinema Classics E: Conservation Laws, (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
Physics: Cinema Classics F: Angular Momentum and Modern Physics, (American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, Maryland) (E)
The three sets of physics single-concept films below, most of which were originally published in the 1960s and 1970s as silent 8mm film loops, have been converted to DVD format and a soundtrack added. A Teacher’s Guide is also provided, with information that was originally printed on the boxes that held the film loops. Over my 40-plus years of University teaching, I have found many of these loops to be both convenient and helpful, and am very happy to see them re-issued in this more convenient and modern format.
Physics Single-concept Films: Collection 1, Robert G. Fuller, Editor (AAPT Instructional Materials Center, 1993). This set includes Unit 1: Motion (9 loops), Unit II: Motion in the Heavens and Modern Physics (7 loops), Unit III: Momentum and Energy and Waves (10 loops), and Unit IV: Collisions (9 loops). These films were originally produced in 1968 by the National Film Board of Canada with U.S. National Science Foundation Support. (E)
Physics Single-concept Films: Collection 2, Robert G. Fuller, Editor (AAPT Instructional Materials Center, 1993). This set includes Unit I: Mechanics (12 loops), Unit II: Collisions and Periodic Motion (10 loops), Unit III: Behavior of Gases (8 loops), and Unit IV: Light and Electricity and Magnetism (8 loops). These films were originally produced commercially and known as Ealing film loops. (E)
Physics Single-concept Films: The Miller Collection, Robert G. Fuller, Editor (AAPT Instructional Materials Center, 1993). This set includes Unit I: Mechanics (7 loops), Unit II: Waves (7 loops), and Unit III: Molecular, Atomic, and Nuclear Physics (7 loops). These films were originally included in a series produced by Franklin Miller, Jr. of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, at the Ohio State University with a grant from the National Science Foundation. (E)
Twin Views of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse, This DVD provides two video segments documenting the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge: (1) the 3’20” segment from the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse silent 8mm film loop by Franklin Miller, and (2) the 7’40” segment taken from the videodisc The Puzzle of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse by Fuller, Zollman, and Campbell, that includes an audio track with comments by one of the bridge engineers and a reporter for the local paper who lost his dog and his car in the carnage. (The original interactive videodisc included this video and a lesson on how the collapse occurred. However, the explanation presented is incorrect, so I would not suggest using the videodisc even if it were still available.) These are both very riveting videos, and, in combination with the User’s Guide containing background information, make an excellent product. (E)
Frames of Reference, J.N. Patterson Hume and Donald Glenn Ivey (PSSC Physics Films, 1960). This classic film has been converted to DVD format, and is now available from the AAPT with a Barcode and Chapter Guide for use with pre-college students. Although the original black-and-white video is dated, and might be viewed as “quaint” by today’s standards, it is a thoroughly captivating experience to see and hear the two original experts present really interesting material in their unique way. Viewing this movie is an excellent use of 28 minutes of a physics class. (E)
Frames of Reference, J.N. Patterson Hume and Donald Glenn Ivey (PSSC Physics Films, 1960, distributed in videodisc format by Central Scientific Company, Franklin Park, Illinois, Copyright EDC, Inc., 1960). This is the videodisc format that is still available from CENCO. (E)
Photons/Interference of Photons, John G. King (PSSC Physics Films, 1959, distributed in videodisc format by Central Scientific Company, Franklin Park, Illinois, Copyright EDC, Inc., 1959). These two films form a nice set, narrated by the original researcher. It is instructional to see how Professor king describes his apparatus and explains the physics involved. I have found it helpful to combine this video with the actual demonstration in classes on quantum physics. (E,I)
Charles and Ray Eames: Pioneers of Visual Ideas, Visual Pathfinders, Catalog #31537 (Ray Eames and Laserdisc Corporation of America, 1988). This videodisc includes the original “Powers of Ten” video, with its outstanding narration by Philip Morrison, which I strongly prefer over the version published later with a different narrator. Another video on this disc is “Tops,” showing a number of tops of indigenous American people; I showed this one as people came into the lecture hall for our public Physics is Phun program on rotational physics, “Going in Circles with Physics.” I have not found a current source for the materials on this videodisc, but hope that they will be re-issued. Note that “Powers of Ten” can also be found in several versions on YouTube. (E)
http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/services/avmats/avmats.htm, University of Maryland, Physics Lecture-Demonstration Facility, AUDIO-VISUAL LIST. Beginning in the 1960s, the University of Maryland Physics lecture-Demonstration Facility collected a very large number of physics films from a variety of sources. This web page lists these films by physics topic, and includes over 600 titles. We obtained these films from a variety of sources, including purchase and the now defunct Commission on College Physics. It is included solely to provide information on the breadth of physics films that have been produced over the last fifty years. (E)
Physics computer simulations
An enormous number of physics simulations have been developed during recent years, many of which are readily available on both University and commercial web sites. The earliest programs were written for the Apple Macintosh in JAVA language, and were called “Applets.” At this point, simulations are readily found in JAVA, Shock, and Flash (“Flashlets”). Professor Wolfgang Christian holds the copyright on the term “Physlet®,” so the copyright symbol should be attached to that term. Terms such as simulation, animation, Applet, and model, as well as Physlet® apply to these programs. This document provides links to information on the web and in books based on two primary criteria: (1) a significant number of quality simulations are available from the source, and (2) these simulations must for the most part be original, not simply a listing of those written by another source.
Physlet Physics: Interactive Illustrations, Explorations and Problems for Introductory Physics, Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 2004). This CD-ROM contains over 800 Physlet® exercises. (E)
Physlet® Quantum Physics: An Interactive Introduction, Mario Belloni, Wolfgang Christian, and Anne Cox (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 2005). This CD-ROM contains over 200 Physlet exercises. (E)
Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material, Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni (Addison-Wesley, Reading Massachusetts, 2001). Contains lots of information on how to use the Davidson Physlets. Contains information on using the Physlets as an instructor’s supplement to the set of about 13 books written by Douglas C. Giancoli. (E)
Physlets:Web-Based Interactive Physics Problems: A CD to accompany the book Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material, Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni. (Physics Department, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina) (E)
Virtual Physics Labs, Kinetic Books (Kinetic Books Company, 2001-2010). These labs are designed to accompany the Kinetic Books physics texts, and are written at three levels: Conceptual Physics, Principles of Physics (Physics AP/B exam level), and Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Physics AP/C exam level). They have a very informative web site: http://www.kineticbooks.com/index.php that describes both their electronic textbooks and their virtual physics laboratories, and allows visitors to surf through some of the lessons and labs. They claim that their materials are good for use in high schools and colleges as well as home schooling, and on their web site have included a list of over 100 colleges and universities that have purchased their products, including a few non-American English speaking schools. This book is currently available from the AAPT. (E)
http://webphysics.davidson.edu/applets/applets.html, Physlets®: The Physlets resource page, with links to important pages and references (Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College, 2005-present). (E)
http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/bu_semester1/index.html, Physlet Simulations and Animations for First-Semester Physics (Physics Department, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina). Topics covered are Mechanics, Sound and Waves, Fluids, and Thermodynamics. Includes nearly 100 physlets. (E)
http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/bu_semester2/index.html, Physlet Simulations and Animations for Second-Semester Physics (Physics Department, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina). Topics covered are Electricity, Magnetism, and Physical Optics. Includes about 100 physlets. (E)
http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/classroom.html, Physics Simulations, Andrew Duffy (Boston University). This web site contains a large number of physics simulations, covering virtually every area of the general physics course, based on a similar set of simulations developed at Davidson College. The author is currently writing a set of simulations that he calls iPhone applications. (E)
http://www.physicscurriculum.com/software.htm, Physics Curriculum & Instruction, Physics and Astronomy Educational Software. This page links to an enormous number of commercially produced simulations and interactive software titles for physics and astronomy. Lots of new and revised materials are available. All standard topics in physics are represented at various levels, with additional materials on sports, amusement park rides, and an astronomy observatory. (E,I)
http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html, Physics Applets, by Paul Falstad. These are excellent simulations, overall some of the best that I have encountered in ease of operation, in beauty of graphics, and in simplicity of data required. I found several useful in my teaching, and strongly recommend their consideration. (E)
http://www.lon-capa.org/~mmp/applist/applets.htm, The Applet Collection, Wolfgang Bauer (LON-KAPPA, 1999). Professor Bauer has written a set of more than 60 applets, excellent both in terms of ease of use and clarity of presentation. I have long used the color mixing applets both in elementary physics courses and in public programs where inexperienced people are able, with a minimum of guidance, to use the software to investigate color mixing. I only recently became aware of the complete set on LON-CAPA, The Free Open-Source Distributed Learning Content Management and Assessment System: http://www.lon-capa.org/, and strongly recommend them. (E)
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl, Physics 2000: A University of Colorado at Boulder Website (University of Colorado, 2000). Most of these are easy to operate and visually clear; I have used some in an honors seminar on nuclear physics for the general student population that I taught for many years. (I,E)
http://phet.colorado.edu/, PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado at Boulder, developed with the PhET project at the University of Colorado. This site contains over 80 simulations, including interdisciplinary topics such as the effect of temperature and snowfall on a glacier. (E)
http://phys23p.sl.psu.edu/phys_anim/Phys_anim.htm, Animations for Physics and Astronomy, Michael R. Gallis, Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill. This site includes a very large number of simulations, perhaps a bit more rigid in terms of interaction of the student with the animation. It includes links to its own You-Tube channel and to a blog discussion of the creation of the animations, and includes a way to provide feedback regarding the animations to the author. (E,I)
http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/index.html, Java Applets on Physics, by Walter Fendt (Walter Fendt, 2010). This is a helpful set of over 50 applets, with emphasis on Mechanics, Oscillations and Waves, Electrodynamics, and Optics. Among other topics, he has a nice simulation of standard equipment for the photoelectric effect. (E)
http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos.html, Acoustics and Vibration Animations, by Dan Russell (Kettering University, 2010). This site includes over 50 animations, mostly in two units: Airborne Sound Waves and Sources, and Vibration and Structural Waves, with a few others under the heading Other Wave Phenomena (not acoustics, but still waves). Included are several advanced topics as well as detailed simulations of several very interesting sources often studied in a basic physics of sound class. Many could be useful in advanced mechanics or vibration studies. (E,I)
http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/Flash/, Flash Animations for Physics, by David M. Harrison (University of Toronto, 2002-2004). This collection contains over 100 animations using Flash. Some of them are more sophisticated than other simulations in this list. They are clear and straightforward to operate. (E,I)
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/, Physics Applets (The University of Oregon). This is a small but interesting site, including some interesting applets on topics in Energy and the Environment, as well as a very nice “graphing” applet. You should take a look. (E)
http://pdukes.phys.utb.edu/PhysApplets/appmenu.htm, Java Applets for Physics Education, Phillip R. Dukes (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, 2001-2009). This site has four sections: 1. Animations (9 applets), 2. Presentations (19 applets), 3. Simulations (6 applets), and 4. Virtual Experiments (9 applets); most topics in physics are represented. A couple of the applet presentations include an applet-graded post-test. (E)
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/academic_programs/courses/applets.shtml, Physics JAVA Applets (Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 2011). This site contains nearly 50 applets covering the areas of Electricity and Magnetism, Gravitation, Liquids and Gases, Mechanics, Nuclear, and Waves. A number of these are attributed to the Walter Fendt collection. (E)
http://surendranath.tripod.com/Applets.html, General Physics Java Applets, Developed by B.Surendranath Reddy (B.Surendranath Reddy, 2004). Surendranath has developed a large number of helpful simulations; they are clear and relatively easy to operate. These applets are available on line or on a CD. Links to the on-line versions as well as instructions for purchasing the CD and You Tube links are given on the home page. (E)
http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/applets/Intro_physics/kisalev/, Interactive Physics and Math with Java, Sergey Kiselev and Tanya Yanovsky-Kiselev (University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1997). (E)
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/more_stuff/flashlets/home.htm, Physics Flashlets, Michael Fowler, Jacquie Hui Wan Ching, Heather Welch, Michael Timmins and Aris Stylianopoulos (Michael Fowler mf1i@virginia.edu, 2003). These “Flashlets” use Flash rather than Java; the link to the Adobe home page to obtain free Flash player is given on the page. Nice animations with thoughtful explanatory materials and links to the physics class lectures where Professor Fowler uses them. (E,I)
http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/~teb/java/ntnujava/index.html, Virtual Physics Laboratory, Fu-Kwun Hwang (Physics Department, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1997). This is the English version of a Chinese language web site at the NTNU. It includes about 40 simulations which are not fancy, but they are nicely done. Try designing a “one-way street that consists of several lanes along which rush-hour traffic flows.” (E)
http://www.phy.hk/wiki/index.htm, PHY is Phun – Learn Physics Using Java: Physics Java Applets by C. K. Ng. Over 40 applets covering mechanics, Light & Wave, and E & M. (E)
http://www.edinformatics.com/il/il_physics.htm, The Interactive Library: EDinformatics.com. This site includes a list of about 200 physics Applets plus several groups of related simulations in fields such as molecules, chemistry and earth science. Many of these are links to simulations on other web sites. (E)
http://physics.gmu.edu/~cups/, Consortium for Upper Level Physics Software (CUPS), Maria Dworzecka, Robert Ehrlich, William M. MacDonald, Directors (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995, 1999). This includes nine book and software packages, written by a group of 27 international physics educators and software experts (listed in detail on the web site), under the general guidance of the three directors listed above, over a period of four years. Topics for the nine volumes include: classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, astrophysics, modern physics, nuclear and particle physics, quantum mechanics, solid state physics, thermal physics, and waves and optics. The original programming was written for the IBM DOS in PASCAL language, but software patches are available so that they can be used with modern operating systems. This material was the first such large scale project, and quickly became very popular. Many topics covering most areas of physics listed will be found in these materials. CUPS is probably worth investigating if you need supplementary material and have not found satisfactory software in the more standard sources. Some details regarding the Waves and Optics materials can be found at the Davidson College web site:
Information on how to run CUPS software under a Linux OS will be found on Daniel Cordier’s Professional Web Page: http://astro.ensc-rennes.fr/index.php?pw=cupslinux
These materials remain available from Amazon. (I)
http://www.bme.hu/ptee2000/papers/cups.pdf, C.U.P.S. Software in Undergraduate Physics Courses, Bruestlova Jitka, and Dobis Pavel. This article describes experiences of the authors in using CUPS software with their classes in several Czech Republic University physics departments. (E)
http://www.webassign.net/pas/index.html, Physics Academic Software (Physics Academic Software Publishing Organization, 2004). From the web site: “Physics Academic Software publishes education software for the physics teaching community in cooperation with the American Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers.” Materials available from PAS have been written by a large number of physicists, and represent a number of diverse topics and educational approaches. See the web site for details. (E)
http://www.design-simulation.com/IP/index.php, Interactive Physics, (Design Simulation Technologies, Inc., 2007-2011). This package includes a library of more than 150 simulations, with 58 “interactive exercises” covering “Newton's laws, friction, weight, mass, gravity, highway safety, springs, energy, temperature, heat transfer, waves, and sound, some of which are recent additions. An instructor workbook and other amenities are also included. A homework edition is available in about a dozen languages. (E)
http://www.physics.orst.edu/~rubin/nacphy/CPapplets/, Computational Physics Applets, Depart of Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 2008). This is a joint bi-lingual effort between Oregon State University and the University of Medellin, Columbia. Several nice Applets are available, including several in the area of chaos and fractals. A unique feature for this site is their models of particle accelerators (linear accelerator, traveling wave accelerator, cyclotron, and synchrotron). The Applets will also be found at the web site http://fisica.udea.edu.co/~mpaez/Index.html. (E)
http://www.compadre.org/osp/, Open Source Physics. This is one part of The ComPADRE Digital Library, http://www.compadre.org/, a free collection of physics resources available to any student or teacher. Interesting physics simulations and models are included in the library. (I)
http://www.bqlearning.org/, BQLearning: Better Questioning for Learning. This page has a number of open source animations and physlets, as well as animations from other sciences. It is sponsored and developed by faculty of Davidson College, Erskine College, and Eckerd College. You must sign up and receive a password to use this web site. (E,I)
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/topics.html, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project. Go to any of eleven major project topics. Select “Physics” and go to any of thirteen topics, each of which includes multiple 20-item pages of mathematica models and simulations. Topics include: High School Physics, Acoustics, Astrophysics, College Physics, Electromagnetism, Fluid Mechanics, Gravitation Theory, Mechanics, Optics, Particle Physics, Quantum Physics, Statistical Mechanics, and Waves. This is a huge source containing 7020(!) demonstrations, very professionally set up, easy to operate, and free. In order to interact fully with the simulations, you will need to download, the free CDF (Computable Document Format) player. (E,I)
http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm/ip.html, Interactive Physics Simulations, A. John Mallinckrodt. This is a very helpful site, with informative interactive simulations and worksheets to guide student activities. Lamentably, it was developed for the Macintosh Classic environment, and may not be fully usable in the Windows environment. It does illustrate some materials that are very appropriate for current teaching. (E)
http://www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators3A.html, Martindale’s Calculators On-Line Center: Physics Center. Contains links to a large number of interesting physics courses, including many upper-level specialty courses, including handbooks and manuals. Also included are links to a number of simulations, animations, and videos that are appropriate for introductory level physics classes. (E,I,A)
http://www.physicslessons.com/iphysics.htm, PhysicsLessons.com iPhysics – Interactive Simulations of Physics and Physical Science. This site contains 69 interactive lessons covering the following topics: Measurement, Mechanics, Fluids & Heat, Waves and Sound, Light, Electricity & Magnetism, Modern and Atomic Physics, and Physics & Technology, with Drill and Practice lessons on Scientific Notation and Significant Figures. Lots of nice simulations in context of lessons and labs. (E)
http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/index.html, MIT Physics 8.2 Electricity and Magnetism: Technology Enabled Active Learning Main Page. Lots of very nice Java and Shockwave animations covering areas of vector fields, electrostatics, magnetostatics, Faraday’s law, and light. This is part of the curriculum for the MIT Studio Physics project in electricity and magnetism. (I)
http://condon.colorado.edu/~chg/Physics3220/Animations.html, Physics 3220 Quantum Animations (Stephanie Staley and Chris H. Greene, 1995). These are Mathematica Notebooks (.ma), part of a course in Quantum Mechanics taught by Professor Chris Green at the University of Colorado. Nice animations for advanced classes. (I,A)
http://web.phys.ksu.edu/vqm/, Visual Quantum Mechanics, Kansas State University Physics Education Research, 2011. Several collections of nice quantum mechanics simulations with links to other simulations created by the KSU PER Group. (E,I)
