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Physics 2020 links
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Fun Links (including those suggested by students from our class - send me an email!)
A simple but addictive "construction" game/puzzler, which utilizes a physics engine that runs in a browser. This came from a 2020 student: "Have a go, so how far you can get until you get stuck. Then look up you tube videos of how to solve the puzzles. http://www.fantasticcontraption.net/"
Youtube video (about 6 min long) with a lot of nice "physics of music", but what is most relevant for this class (Tesla coil and chain mail Faraday cage suits!) starts around 4:29 to about 5:20. Very awesome :-)
This ~3 minute video is really amazing, I find it jaw dropping. It's about a high-power line worker who helicopters in, waits for the copter to reach an equipotential with the high voltage line (half a million volts, watch those sparks fly!), and then works on it without shutting off the power. (He works on it a metal suit - much like the previous video) Really worth watching! (He says a few things that your physics professor doesn't quite agree with terminology-wise, including saying "voltage flows" - but mostly he gets the physics right. The youtube title is in my opinion also not correct - it's spectacular, but I don't think it's "dangerous" any more than any other job that requires care and attention to detail!) As the speaker says, "it's not a job for hot dogs".
"Electrifying images" (from class)
Youtube sent by a student: Impressive real-life short circuit (it's a short video - of a short!)
Falling magnet through a conducting loop. This comes from MITs E&M visualization resources, many other cool sims and visualizations available there.
Here is the PHET sim on converging lenses I showed in class. I find it quite instructive, play with it while doing this week's CAPA!
- And, here is the other sim with diverging lenses (in class Monday Apr 20)
If your browser won't run the PhET sim, try downloading it, and then "control click" the downloaded .jar file, to force it to run. It's safe, but browsers these days are super cautious about running java!...)
- And, here is the other sim with diverging lenses (in class Monday Apr 20)
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And, here is the "wave superposition" sim I showed in class Fri Apr 24. More math-y, but nice to play with it, to get beats, standing waves, constructive and destructive waves, etc... I recommend "Example 3" in the left hand window. (Here again, you may have to modify your browser settings to allow it to run)
- And one more, the "slit interference pattern" sim I showed in class Monday Apr 27. I especially like this last one, it's simple and very helpful in helping visualize the 2-slit formula...