Frank Potter's Science Gems
Physical Science II

PHYSICAL SCIENCE SUBCATEGORIES

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X. Electricity and Magnetism

"MINIMUM" Level: Kindergarten

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 3rd Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• IPPEX Interactive Physics Modules (requires free Shockwave plugin)- IPPEX Development Team Energy, Matter, Electricity & Magnetism, and Fusion modules which include interactive simulations, activities to do at home, and self-checks.
  
  
• The Virtual lightbulb Simulator (Java Applet) - U. of Oregon "Discover OHMS law by using different combinations of Voltage and Resistance and constructing a circuit that activates the Virtual lightbulb."
  
  
• Electromagnetic Radiation (Java) - Physics 2000, U. of Colorado Sequential exploration with interactive opportunities, including CAT scan principles.
  
  
• CAT Scans (Java) - Physics 2000, U. of Colorado [** Select CAT Scans] Learn how x-rays are used.
  
  
• Charged Particles in a Box (Java)- Dept of Physics, Simon Fraser University Put positive and negatively charged particles in a box and watch them move.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• ANALOG ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT - T. Veijok [*Not always available!*] Simulations and analysis modes of transistors plus.
  
  
• Interactive Physics and Math with Java (Java Applets) - S. Kiselev & T. Yanovsky-Kiselev Resistor Circuits; Kirchhoff's Rules; Charged Particles in a Magnetic Field
  
  
• RC Circuit (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy RC Circuit simulation. (Instructions in Italian.)
  
  
• Electric Generator (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy Generator simulation. Shows magnetic field, rotating coil, voltage vs time.
  
  
• Semiconductor Education Applets (JAVASCRIPT) - C.R. Wie, University of Buffalo Numerous simulations include: Fabrication Steps of a pair of a Bipolar Transistor and a Field Effect Transistor on a single silicon chip; Haynes-Shockley Experiment; n-channel MOSFET output characteristics, Fermi level and Carrier Concentrations, Energy Bands and Charge Carriers, etc.
  
  
• Hysteresis and Avalanches in VideoTape Heads - J. Sethna, Cornell "The magnetization of the tape lags behind the field from the tape head - so when the field drops to zero, the tape stays magnetized, storing the music." See a Java script hysteresis animation
  
  
• Virtual Lab (Java Applets) - University of Oregon Planck Radiation Formula; Flux meter for Galactic light intensity; Inverse Square Law for light; Newton's Second Law; Thermal Equilibrium via diffusion; Ideal Gas Law and the piston; Maxwellian Speed Distribution in a ballooon; Energies associated with a cannon shot; Ohm's Law in the Virtual Lightbulb; Virtual Telescope.
  
  
• Superconductivity Virtual Lab (Java Applets) - Oxford University Theory, Synthesis, Meissner Effect - with video.
  
  
• Charged Particles in a Box (Java)- Dept of Physics, Simon Fraser University Put positive and negatively charged particles in a box and watch them move.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• College Physics for Students of Biology and Chemistry - K.R. Koehler, University of Cincinnati "This is a hypertextbook written for first-year undergraduate physics students. It assumes that you have a working knowledge of algebra, that you are currently taking or have taken a college level course in Biology and one in Chemistry, and that you are interested in biology, chemistry or one of the health-related fields. It does not try to be encyclopedic, but neither does it assume that you have to be spoon-fed: you are expected to be a serious student and a careful reader. This means that you are expected to work out all of the examples for yourself, and do all of the problems."
  
  
• Computational Science Education Project - Oak Ridge National Lab An introduction to High Performance Computing issues as a preparation for research and studies in computational science and computational engineering. The intended audience are students in science and engineering at the advanced undergraduate level and higher. Computer architecture and numerical methods applied to Ocean Models, Bioelectric Field Problems, Monte Carlo methods for surface particle transport, Chaos, Seismic Wave Propagation, and issues in Computational Astrophysics.
  
  
• Logic Gates (Java Applets) - N. Hendrich, Arbeitsbereich Technische Grundlagen der Informatik, Universitt Hamburg Tutorials. Very Extensive. Examples of Java Applet Tutorials include: Java KV diagram and logic minimization demonstration (English); Java CMOS gate demonstration (English); Java CMOS Gatter Demonstration (Deutsch).
  
  
• Semiconductor Dynamics: Energy Bands, Fermi Level, Carrier Concentrations, Diode Bias, Fabrication (12 JAVA APPLETS) - C.R. Wie, University of Buffalo ***Very effective interactive simulations!!*** One example: the interactive visualization of excess minority carriers in a semiconductor after a blast from a laser. Another: current flow in a forward biased P-N junction.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• To be added when verified.
  
  

XI. Light and Optics

"MINIMUM" Level: Kindergarten

• NANOWORLD Image Gallery - D. Waddell @ Univ. of Queensland, Australia Electron microscope images in abundance: select Image Gallery to see insects, blood cell, cement, polyp skeleton, crystals, bread mold, rat hair, egg shell, pollen, etc. Also a wonderful section on scale size examples from the atomic & molecular to the cellular and macromolecular. [If you have a slow connection, turn off auto-images and select later.]
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 3rd Grade

• Counter-rotating Spirals and other Illusions (Java) - M. Newbold Plenty of movement!!
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• Light and Optics - WW2010, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, U. of Illinois, Urbana-Chamaign "Rainbows, sunsets and halos; a spectacular display of colors and visuals in the sky called Atmospheric Optics...This module investigates these particle-light interactions and the assortment of optical effects they produce."
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• LIGHT and WAVES from the Learn Physics Today tutorial - Students at Collegio Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lima, Peru Definitions, graphs, examples, and problems on Waves, Sound, and Light.
  
  
• Optics, Electromagnetic Spectrum - Science Hypermedia, Inc. [Select "OPTICS"] Mirrors, prisms, lenses, polarizers, lamps, interferometers, photomultiplier tubes,charge-coupled detectors.
  
  
• Solar Sailing - ECOLE DE VOILE SOLAIRE (Java Applet) - A. Perret, G. Pignolet, A Peck, O. Boisard, Ecole Centrale de Lille Interactive light power sailing through the Solar System (in French).
  
  
• DEPTH OF FIELD ON-LINE PLOTTER - N.V. Sushkin, Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute "In our calculation a typical SLR camera is represented by an optical system containing two elements, a lens and an image screen."
  
  
• Virtual Lab (Java Applets) - University of Oregon Planck Radiation Formula; Flux meter for Galactic light intensity; Inverse Square Law for light; Newton's Second Law; Thermal Equilibrium via diffusion; Ideal Gas Law and the piston; Maxwellian Speed Distribution in a ballooon; Energies associated with a cannon shot; Ohm's Law in the Virtual Lightbulb; Virtual Telescope.
  
  
• Rays Optics: Lenses and Mirror (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy Three light rays shows effects. Change the focal length, etc.
  
  
• Convex Lens (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy Multiple light rays shows effects. Change source position.
  
  
• Diverging Lens (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy Multiple light rays shows effects. Change source position.
  
  
• Diverging Mirror (Java) - IFMSA WebLab in Italy Multiple light rays shows effects. Change source position.
  
  
• Interactive Physics and Math with Java (Java Applets) - S. Kiselev & T. Yanovsky-Kiselev Single Slit Diffraction; Interaction of Radiation with an Atom; The Laser; Converging and Diverging Lenses;Light Dispersion through Prism;
  
  
• Laser Simulation (Java) - S. Kiselev & T. Yanovsky-Kiselev Shows population inversion and stimulated emission and absorption.
  
  
• Two Slit Interference(Java) - S. Vtorov Vary the wavelength, the slit spacing, and screen distance.
  
  
• Analytical Instrumentation - Brian Tissue, Chemistry Hypermedia Project Variety of analytical techniques under "Analytical Instrumentation".
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• Photovoltaics Tutorial - U.S. Department of Energy "...Here, we describe the PV effect that allows various materials to produce electricity from sunlight; show how PV cells, modules, and arrays are made; explain why PV is the most logical power choice in many different cases; and provide real examples of how this science is improving the lives of people all over the world! ..."
  
  
• Interactive Focusing and Astigmatism - P. Fraundorf, University of Missouri at St. Louis "...practice focusing with power spectrum information available to better see what is happening.."
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• Free Electron Lasers - FEL, UC Santa Barbara The devices and support systems present and future.
  
  
• The Single Atom Laser - K. An & M.S. Field, Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, MIT "The single atom laser, or microlaser, is a new type of laser in which one or a few atoms interact with a single mode of an optical resonator. The microlaser gain medium consists of a beam of optically-pumped barium atoms which traverse a cavity consisting of two high-finesse mirrors. By sufficiently reducing the density of the atomic beam, it is possible to achieve laser oscillation with on average less than one atom inside the resonator."
  
  
• Microoptical devices integrated in silicon - Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory, Delft University of Technology Mpegs of light propagation.
  
  
• National Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Brasil (In Portuguese) - National Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Campinas, So Paolo, Brasil Characteristics of the light source.
  
  

XII. Special Theory of Relativity

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• Relativity Q & A - Relativity Newsgroup Includes: speed of light; twin paradox; superluminal scissors; many more! Look about halfway down the page.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• Special Relativity - P. Fraundorf, University of Missouri -St. Louis Introductions, derivations, and examples with graphs, etc. You may wish to try the kinematics calculator at the bottom of the page!!
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• To be added when verified.
  
  

XIII. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• Visual Quantum Mechanics - D. Zollman, W. Axmann, B. Grabhorn, C. Regehr, P. Donovan at Kansas State Univ. Hypertext course on wavefunctions in many environments: potentials, boundaries, etc.
  
  
• Quantum Mechanical Scattering (Java Applet) - J. Richardson, Silicon Graphics Integrates the Schrödinger wave equation and shows the animation at various barrier types.
  
  
• SPECTROSCOPY OF LIGHT - ABSORPTION, EMISSION, AND FLUORESCENCE - B.M. Tissue, SciMedia Index Select "Analytical Spectroscopy".
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• Quantum Physics I - MIT Multimedia Course, Tutorials, Lectures etc. (Text, Images & MPEG's). Bohr atom, double slit, tunneling, wave packets.
  
  
• Time Development of Quantum Mechanical Systems - G. Mark, University of Budapest This document presents the results of the solution of the time dependent Schrodinger equation for one- and two dimensional one particle systems. Simulation results for different V(r) potentials are displayed as images and animation. The program to calculate the images is also available.
  
  
• Brief Review of Elementary Quantum Chemistry - C.D. Sherrill, Chemistry, UC Berkeley Schrdinger Equation; Mathematical Operators; Particle in a Box; Molecular Orbitals; Many-electron Wavefunctions
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• 369j-symbol Calculator - Plasma Lab, Weizmann Institute of Science Angular momentum addition.
  
  

XIV. Atomic Physics

"MINIMUM" Level: Kindergarten

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 3rd Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• Periodic Table of the Elements (Java) - R. Bock for IFMSA WebLab in Italy Click on an element and watch its electrons in simulated motion!
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• DIFFRACTION (electron, neutron, x-ray); IMAGING (electron microscopy, light microscopy); CHROMATOGRAPHY; SPECTROSCOPY OF ALL KINDS!; THERMAL ANALYSIS - Brian Tissue, Department of Chemistry, SciMedia Index Multimedia Course (Text, Images & MPEG's). [Select "Encyclopedia of Instrumentation Techniques" for the above.] Additional available tutorials: Basic Review of Spectroscopy; Review of Quantum Mechanics; Some Optics; Lasers; Atomic Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Spectroscopy and Nonlinear Spectroscopy.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• College Physics for Students of Biology and Chemistry - K.R. Koehler, University of Cincinnati "This is a hypertextbook written for first-year undergraduate physics students. It assumes that you have a working knowledge of algebra, that you are currently taking or have taken a college level course in Biology and one in Chemistry, and that you are interested in biology, chemistry or one of the health-related fields. It does not try to be encyclopedic, but neither does it assume that you have to be spoon-fed: you are expected to be a serious student and a careful reader. This means that you are expected to work out all of the examples for yourself, and do all of the problems."
  
  
• X-ray Physics Cornucopia - University of Uppsala, Sweden [*SELECT*] The Henke X-ray Scattering Factors and then select the element to see the graphs. X-rays emission lines. Also COREX database for atomic and molecular core edge excitation oscillator strengths.
  
  
• X-RAY Transition Energies - P. Bandyopadhyay X-ray properties of the elements: Edge energies, edge jumps, and the x-ray cross section for your value of the energy.
  
  
• ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPIC DATABASE - A. Musgrove, G. R. Dalton, W. C. Martin, E. B. Saloman (NIST); and C. Stern Grant and G. Eichhorn (Harvard-Smithsonian Center f or Astrophysics), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Multimedia. "This database provides access and search capability to critically evaluated atomic spectroscopic data on energy levels, wavelengths, and transition probabilities that are reasonably up-to-date".
  
  
• Atomic Spectra Database - NIST Spectral lines and energy levels.
  
  
• ELASTIC PHOTON-ATOM SCATTERING - L. Kissel & P. M. Bergstrom, Jr., Lawrence Livermore National Laborabory (LLNL) "Elastic photon scattering is an important tool for obtaining information about the structural properties of matter."
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• Bose-Einstein Condensation - NIST and U. of Colorado "Physicists in Boulder, Colo., have achieved a temperature far lower than has ever been produced before and created an entirely new state of matter predicted decades ago by Albert Einstein and Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Cooling rubidium atoms to less than 170 billionths of a degree above absolute zero caused the individual atoms to condense into a "superatom" behaving as a single entity..."
  
  
• The Single Atom Laser - K. An & M.S. Field, Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, MIT "The single atom laser, or microlaser, is a new type of laser in which one or a few atoms interact with a single mode of an optical resonator. The microlaser gain medium consists of a beam of optically-pumped barium atoms which traverse a cavity consisting of two high-finesse mirrors. By sufficiently reducing the density of the atomic beam, it is possible to achieve laser oscillation with on average less than one atom inside the resonator."
  
  
• Atomic Transition Probability Bibliographic Database - J.R. Fuhr and H.R. Felrice at NIST Can select by element, isoelectronic sequence, and stage of ionization.
  
  
• COREX DATABASE - X-Ray WWW Server, Department of Physics, Uppsala University, Sweden Multimedia Hypertext. "A database of atomic and molecular core edge excitation oscillator strengths, as described by A.P. Hitchcock and D.C. Mancini, in Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, Vol. 67, No.1 (1994).
  
  

XV. Molecules, Fluids, and Solids

"MINIMUM" Level: Kindergarten

• SMITHSONIAN GEM & MINERAL COLLECTION - Smithsonian photos by D.A. Penland About 100 marvelous pictures.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 3rd Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

• To be added when verified.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• Variety of Searchable Chemistry Indexes for Chemical Compounds - University of Berlin Searchable databases using appreviations.
  
  
• Fluid Mechanics Software Technology - Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt Movies and images of High Speed Civil Transport, F5 Wing Configuration, Turbulence, and other visualization animations.
  
  
• Material Science - J.P. Sethna at Cornell Univ. Graphs and images of crack growth in crystals, first-order transitions, glass, charge-density waves, superconductors.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• Crystal Structures - CIME @ Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Research center in electron microscopy where you can select the electron microscopy image center, submit a crystal name, and see the crystal structure from different views (some parts still under construction).
  
  
• Interactive Physics and Math with Java (Java Applets) - S. Kiselev & T. Yanovsky-Kiselev Oscillating 3D Crystal; Toda Lattice Solitons; Anharmonic Local Modes
  
  
• X-ray Crystallography Research - Pai X-ray Lab, U. of Toronto Manuals of equipment operation and sequence searches for biochemicals.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• Bose-Einstein Condensation - NIST and U. of Colorado "Physicists in Boulder, Colo., have achieved a temperature far lower than has ever been produced before and created an entirely new state of matter predicted decades ago by Albert Einstein and Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Cooling rubidium atoms to less than 170 billionths of a degree above absolute zero caused the individual atoms to condense into a "superatom" behaving as a single entity..."
  
  
• Databases for Atomic and Plasma Physics - Plasma Lab, Weizmann Institute of Science Astrophysics and plasma physics databases.
  
  
• Fluid Dynamics Research - Gas Dynamics Lab, Princeton University High Reynolds number, Taylor-Couette, combustion, compressible turbulence, and transition to supersonic flows.
  
  

XVI. Nuclear Structure

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

• ISOTOPE PATTERN CALCULATOR - Mark Winter, University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England Allows you to enter a chemical formula and will calculate the molecular weights of all the possible isotopes.
  
  
• CONTROL THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (Java Applet) - H. Eriksson, Linkping University, Linkping, Sweden "The control-room operators of the Krnobyl nuclear power plant are telecommuting and are running the plant through the Web. However, the mean time between failure for the components of Krnobyl is not great. Try to keep the reactor stable when component failures occur!"
  
  
• Nuclear Wallet Card - J. Tuli at the Nuclear Data Center Listing of isotope properties.
  
  
• The Quick Virtual Nuclear Power Plant Tour - Nuclear Energy Information Centre Reasons, comparisons, environmental effects, radiation safety, operation, etc.
  
  
• DIFFRACTION (electron, neutron, x-ray); IMAGING (electron microscopy, light microscopy); CHROMATOGRAPHY; SPECTROSCOPY OF ALL KINDS!; THERMAL ANALYSIS - Brian Tissue, SciMedia Index Multimedia Course (Text, Images & MPEG's). [Select "Encyclopedia of Instrumentation Techniques" for the above.] Additional available tutorials: Basic Review of Spectroscopy; Review of Quantum Mechanics; Some Optics; Lasers; Atomic Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Spectroscopy and Nonlinear Spectroscopy.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: university

• PHYSICS 77 (Senior Physics Lab) - Physics Department, Caltech Examples: Introduction; Radiation Safety, Exp. 1 Pulse Transmission and the Fast Oscillosope, Exp. 2 The Geiger Counter and Counting Statistics, Exp. 5 (NMR), Exp. 6 Exectron Spin Resonance (ESR), Exp 12 Gamma-Ray and X-Ray Spectroscopy, Exp. 13 Plastic Scintillators and Fast Pulse Techniques, Exp 16 Neutron Experiments.
  
  
• College Physics for Students of Biology and Chemistry - K.R. Koehler, University of Cincinnati "This is a hypertextbook written for first-year undergraduate physics students. It assumes that you have a working knowledge of algebra, that you are currently taking or have taken a college level course in Biology and one in Chemistry, and that you are interested in biology, chemistry or one of the health-related fields. It does not try to be encyclopedic, but neither does it assume that you have to be spoon-fed: you are expected to be a serious student and a careful reader. This means that you are expected to work out all of the examples for yourself, and do all of the problems."
  
  
• Fusion Research - UC Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering Includes Magnetic Confinement and Inertial Confinement summaries and a tutorial on inertial fusion energy.
  
  
• ALMR - Advanced Light Metal Reactor - D. Bleuel, J. Scott, L. Sevigny, UC Berkeley Details of the light metal nuclear reactor system.
  
  

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

• To be added when verified.