Matt Jones' Random Acts of Verbiage

Last week while browsing through Hypercubed‘s Links of the Week (as any good minded geek should), I found myself at Physics Education Technology. These folks at the University of Colorado have created numerous interactive physics Java simulations. There program is downloadable so you don’t have to be online to use it (although Java is required as well). This is an awesome tool for teachers of high school, middle school, and even college level physics (or just physics enthusiasts in general - like me).

A few of the simulations that I particularily enjoy: Circuit construction (allowing you to choose voltages, resistances, wires, random objects),wave on a string (with different tensions, dampings, and ends - fixed, sliding, unattached), moving man (where you can see distance, velocity, and acceleration graphs and how they are related) and many, many more! Check out all the simulations!

Sally, I think you will really enjoy this resource (at the rate your kids are going, maybe sooner rather than later!) so I will bring you a copy (since it might take quite a while to download over dial-up) next time I see you. Erin’s graduation I suppose. Wow, that is soon! My little sister is growing up! heh.