Virtual Physics Labs
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Please find below a collection of links to selected interactive virtual physics labs found on the web, thanks to the hard work and generosity of a number of "friends" of physics. These virtual labs are great for use before labs and also as a review of some of the general concepts learnt in class and in the lab.  Virtual Physics labs are now readily available for sale as supplements to textbook to provide a visual and interactive component. One such package can be obtained at www.geocities.com/VirtualDynamicsSoft. Please make full use of these valuable resources. Additional labs will be added as I come across good ones on the web. Have fun!

Mechanics

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The Micrometer :This is a virtual micrometer that allows you to learn and practice using  a micrometer

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The Vernier Caliper :This is a virtual vernier caliper for learning and practicing the use of the vernier caliper

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Vector addition: This applet is a simulation of the Vector Addition lab at CCSU

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Vector addition: this site has a feature for adding up vectors and other advanced vector operations

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Projectile motion: This is great for both lab and class

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Projectile motion: This is another very nice simulation from PhET. Excellent for both class and lab

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Conservation of Linear Momentum: you can experiment with linear momentum conservation here (elastic and inelastic collisions)

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Buoyant forces (Archimedes Principle): experiment with forces acting on a body  partially or completely submerged in a fluid. You can vary liquid density etc.

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Sine and Cosine Transformation: Another nice applet from Ron Blond, author of the micrometer caliper above. The applet shows how various parameters in the sine or cosine function changes the graph of the  function. This is useful for discussing SHM and related topics.

Electricity & Magnetism, Light
 
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Electric Fields: This is a nice interactive site that allows you to simulate electric field lines, equipotential lines etc for various charge distributions.

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Charges and Fields (PhET): interactive charges, fields, potentials etc

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Balloons and Electrostatics (PhET): simulation of and example of the electrostatic charging process.

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Circuits (PhET): Circuit building applet - Ohm's Law, Kirchoff's rules etc

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Capacitors: This applet is for addition of capacitors in series and in parallel

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Potentiometer: This applet simulates the potentiometer, great for both lab and class

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Wheatstone bridge: A nice applet, may be used in both class and lab

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Magnetic field of a bar magnet: interactive animation of magnetic fields of a bar magnet using a compass.

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Magnetic field of a straight current carrying wire: interactive animation of the magnetic fields due to a straight current carrying wire.

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D.C. motor: a simulation of a DC motor.

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Faraday's law: A simulation of lab demo

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Faraday's Law (PhET): Comprehensive simulations of Faraday's law

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Virtual Oscilloscope: This is a very nice simulation of an oscilloscope. Double clicking on any part gives detailed descriptions functions.

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LRC Circuit: This from a collection of applets by C. K. Ng

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 A.C. Circuits: interactive animation of AC circuits of a resistor, capacitor and an inductor.

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Electromagnetic Spectrum A pictorial view of EM spectrum from MicroWorlds

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Refraction of light: A nice interactive simulation that shows refraction of light from one medium to another

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Fiber optics: simulation of total internal reflection in

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Lenses and mirrors: This site has a nice interactive lenses and mirrors simulations with numerical values for image/object positions as well as magnification.

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Lenses: This is a PhET simulation of lenses

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Young's double slit: another nice applet from Walter Fendt's collection. It is an interactive simulation of the double slit experiment.

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Dispersion of light : Applet showing dispersion of light through a prism

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Color mixing: This is a nice site on color mixing. It has interactive animation on how primary colors mix and more. Click here for another site that describes color mixing.

General use resources
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Units converter: This simulations allows you to convert all kinds of physical units. Please make sure you know how to convert units and then use this simulation for routine work

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Calculators: This is a link to www.calculator.com which has a number of online calculators.

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Quadratic equation solver: This site (www.math.com) has a quadratic equation solver plus more math tools.

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Quadratic function: Applet shows how the various parameters affect the quadratic function 

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Densities of common substances