Interactive Simulations and Animations for Teaching Physics, Chemistry, and Physical Science

[John Santiago]

If and when technical subjects like physics or engineering are to be taught online interactive simulations and experiments must be available to reinforce important concepts.

Here, is one resource that provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET(Physics Education Technology) project at the University of Colorado. This is an ongoing project with over sixty simulations designed to teach physics, chemistry, and physical science. The best part that it is free to download.

The Phet Project was developed to encourage students to discover and understand real-world physical relationships.

My favorites that I have used in class to demo important electrical engineering concepts are given by the links shown below:

Faradays' Electronic Lab

Springs and Masses

Wave on a String

Electric Field Hockey

Energy Skate Park


Radio Waves and Electromagnetic Fields

Fourier Making Waves

Circuit Construction Kit for AC and DC

Charges and Fields

Equation Graphing

Below is a quick 'n dirty videos I posted on YouTube about two years ago to experiment with these simulations. I plan to do more on the use of these simulations for electrical engineering students as time permits.

This one is a short and visual tutorial on the quadratic equation and formula.


Here is a short demo tutorial on how Fourier Coefficients are used to synthesize a square wave.


For more questions on these and other simulations, you can contact me at [e-mail].