Introduction to Physlets

 

Be sure the simulation has finished loading before you begin. Please note that I know this does not work...

Instructions

Many of your pre-lab activities will require a simulation which will be done using a physlet. You may come across some physlets on my wesbsites. Physlets are applications with phyics content that run in a webpage. Some upgrades have caused my physlets not to work any more - and you will see something like the box at the top of this page - but there are published physlets that we will use instead. Please note that even with the published physlets, because of upgrades in browser security, they run better in some browsers than others, and you may need to change the security settings in your browser to run them.

http://www.compadre.org/Physlets/mechanics/

For a prelab, you may be given a link to a physlet and there will usually be a question that you then need to answer about the simulation. You may start and stop the simulations using the buttons on the bottom of the animation. You can interact with the simulations in various ways: click and drag inside the animation to read the coordinates. Click on the link above for an introduction to physlets: Under "Chapter 1: Introduction to Physlets, click on any of the links and make sure that you understand how a physlet runs (and you might check to see if it runs on your computer).

Department of Physics

Randolph College