Interactive physics simulations, virtual labs, physics worksheets, graphs, and standards-aligned practice for students and teachers.
Explore one-dimensional motion through an interactive real-time physics simulation. Change initial position, velocity, and acceleration, observe the moving object, and analyze position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs.
Investigate constant velocity, acceleration, direction of motion, stopping, reversing direction, and the motion of two moving objects.
The PHYSIMS interactive kinematics simulation allows students to investigate one-dimensional motion by changing initial position, initial velocity, and acceleration. Students can observe the physical motion while simultaneously analyzing position-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs.
Students can change the main parameters of motion and immediately observe how each parameter affects the behavior of the moving object. The simulation can be used to investigate initial position, initial velocity, acceleration, and direction of motion.
The position-time graph provides a visual representation of how position changes with time. Students can investigate constant position, constant velocity, positive velocity, negative velocity, changing velocity, and changing slope. The slope of a position-time graph can be connected directly to the velocity of the moving object.
The velocity-time graph allows students to investigate how velocity changes with time. By changing acceleration, students can observe how the slope of the velocity-time graph changes. Students can explore positive and negative acceleration, positive and negative velocity, speeding up, slowing down, stopping, and reversing direction.
Students can compare positive and negative velocity with positive and negative acceleration. This helps students understand that positive acceleration does not necessarily mean that an object is speeding up.
The simulation can also be used to investigate the motion of two objects with different initial positions, velocities, and accelerations. Students can investigate meeting points, catch-up problems, overtaking, relative motion, and graph comparisons.
Students can predict whether two objects will meet, run the simulation, and compare their predictions with the physical animation and graphs. They can determine when and where the objects meet and analyze the intersection of their position-time graphs.
Move a negatively charged rod near a conducting sphere and observe electric charge redistribution and electrostatic induction.
Investigate how a positively charged rod affects the distribution of electric charge in a conducting sphere.
Bring a negatively charged rod close to a grounded conducting sphere and observe changes in charge distribution and net charge.
Observe how a positively charged rod changes charge distribution and net charge when the conducting sphere is connected to ground.
Observe charge separation in conducting spheres when a negatively charged rod is brought nearby.
Explore how a positively charged rod causes charge separation and redistribution in conducting spheres.
Investigate charging two conducting spheres in contact with the ground using a negatively charged rod.
Explore charge distribution and charging by induction using two conducting spheres and a positively charged rod.
Investigate the relationship between electric charge density and the radius of curvature of conducting bodies.
Observe how the shape of a conductor affects electric charge distribution.
PHYSIMS interactive electrostatics simulations allow students to investigate electric charge, charge redistribution, conducting spheres, electrostatic induction, grounding, polarization, and charge distribution. Students can interact with charged objects and observe how electric charges redistribute themselves.
Students can investigate how electric charge is distributed on conducting objects and explore attraction, repulsion, charge separation, polarization, and net electric charge.
Bring a positively or negatively charged rod near a conducting sphere and observe how charges redistribute. Students can compare the initial state with the charge distribution during and after the interaction.
Students can investigate what happens when a charged rod is brought near a grounded conducting sphere. The activity provides a visual way to explore charge transfer, grounding, and charging by induction.
Students can compare positive and negative charged rods and investigate how the direction of charge separation changes in conducting objects.
The conducting-body simulations can be used to investigate the relationship between the shape of a conductor, radius of curvature, and electric charge distribution.
Work interactively with an electroscope by bringing a negatively charged rod near the electroscope and then making contact. Observe charge redistribution and the movement of the electroscope leaves.
An electroscope provides a visual way to investigate electrostatic induction, charge separation, charge transfer, and charging by contact.
Start with a neutral electroscope and bring a charged object near it. Observe the movement of the leaves and explain the result using electric charge redistribution.
Students can compare bringing a charged object near the electroscope with touching the electroscope using the charged object. This allows students to distinguish induction from charging by contact.
How is electric charge exchanged between objects? What is the source of electric charge in materials? How are charged particles arranged in atoms?
Build simple DC circuits, measure voltage and current, and investigate Ohm's law through hands-on exploration using a PhET interactive simulation.
PHYSIMS provides interactive electric circuit activities using PhET simulations. Students can build simple DC circuits, measure voltage and current, change resistance, and investigate the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Students can build a circuit, add a battery and resistor or light bulb, measure voltage and current, change resistance, and observe the resulting changes.
Students can keep one variable constant while changing another variable and use experimental observations to investigate Ohm's law. This approach connects circuit measurements with the mathematical relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Density activities help students connect mass and volume with the physical properties of different materials. Interactive activities can be combined with measurements, calculations, tables, and physics practice questions.
Students can investigate how changing mass or volume affects density and compare different materials. Density activities can also be connected to real-world questions involving floating, sinking, liquids, and material identification.
Explore how forces do work and how energy changes forms through interactive and visual simulations. Students investigate kinetic, potential, thermal, and other forms of energy.
PHYSIMS provides activities for exploring work and energy through interactive and visual physics simulations. Students can investigate force, displacement, work, kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy, energy transfer, and conservation of energy.
Students can investigate how force and displacement affect the work done on an object and connect the physical situation with mathematical relationships.
Interactive simulations help students observe how energy changes from one form to another and how energy can be transferred between objects or systems.
Explore magnetic fields, electromagnets, generators, and electromagnetic phenomena through structured middle school physics activities and PhET simulations.
Guide students through the basics of electric charge using interactive simulations and structured questions.
PHYSIMS uses structured activities with PhET Interactive Simulations as virtual laboratories. Students can explore physics concepts, perform virtual experiments, collect evidence, and answer guided questions.
A useful approach is to begin with a prediction, interact with the simulation, change one variable at a time, observe the result, record measurements, and explain the physical behavior.
This method can be applied to electric circuits, Ohm's law, magnetism, work and energy, electric charge, and other physics topics.
PHYSIMS activities can be combined with standards-aligned physics questions covering conceptual understanding, graphical analysis, calculations, experimentation, and real-world applications.
Students can also practice problems involving density, mass, volume, force, displacement, work, kinetic energy, potential energy, energy transfer, and conservation of energy.
The purpose of an interactive physics simulation is not simply to watch an animation. Students should actively manipulate the model and investigate cause-and-effect relationships.
Before running the simulation, students should predict what will happen when a parameter is changed.
Changing one variable while keeping the others constant makes it easier to identify cause-and-effect relationships.
Students should compare the original and modified situations and identify what changed.
Graphs provide a bridge between the physical animation and the mathematical description of the phenomenon.
Students should explain the observed behavior using physics concepts, equations, graphs, and evidence from the simulation.
PHYSIMS interactive physics simulations can be used in classrooms, virtual labs, homework assignments, guided investigations, review activities, and standards-aligned physics practice.
I am Iman Arbabi, a high school physics teacher who began teaching physics in 2000. Because of my interest in computer programming, I create interactive physics simulations and use them in my classes, sharing them through the web with other physics teachers and students.
Interactive physics simulation software can help students visualize concepts that are difficult to understand through static diagrams or equations alone. PHYSIMS is designed to make physics more visual, interactive, and connected to experimentation.
PHYSICS KINEMATICS ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION MOTION GRAPHS ELECTRIC CHARGE ELECTROSTATICS CHARGE INDUCTION ELECTROSCOPE ELECTRIC CIRCUITS OHM'S LAW DENSITY WORK AND ENERGY PHET SIMULATIONS PHYSICS WORKSHEETS VIRTUAL LABS