PhET Simulations

A collection of simulations from PhET.

curated by Charles LaPierre

Resources 15

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Ballons and Static Electricity. Sweater with number of + / - balls representing protons and electrons on the shirt. Ballon with a few + / - balls on it, and a wall with a large number of + / - balls.

    Grab a balloon to explore concepts of static electricity such as charge transfer, attraction, repulsion, and induced charge.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Capacitor Lab: Basics. Adjustable voltage for a batery connected to two plates where you can adjust the separation of the plates in mm and the Plate Area. Output shows the Capacitance in pF. Various options for the view, plate charges, Bar graphs, electric field, current and a volte meter.

    An early exploration (2015) into how to make a sim accessible has taken place for Capacitor Lab Basics. The sim is keyboard navigable with some auditory descriptions when using 'Forms' mode with a screen reader. We are working on updating the content and the interactions, so that the simulation can be accessed by a screen reader in any mode. This prototype has been tested with NVDA and Firefox.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Coulomb's Law

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Coulombs's Law. Options for Macro Scale or Atomic Scale.

    Observe changes to electrostatic force as you play with the distance between charges and charge amounts at both macro and atomic scales.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Forces and Motion: Basics. Cart on wheels full of items with two ropes connecting to either side. Below is two teams of people to pull on the ropes a red and blue team made up of different size people.

    An early exploration (2015) into how to make a sim accessible has taken place for Forces and Motion Basics. It has working keyboard navigation and auditory descriptions for the 'Net Force' screen when the screen reader is in 'Forms' mode. We are working on updating the content so that it can be read by the screen reader in any mode. Notes for the main interaction: Press 'Enter' or 'Spacebar' to enter a group of pullers. Once in the group, use 'Arrow' keys to choose which puller you wish to select. Press 'Enter' or 'Spacebar' to select puller and move to knot selection. Use 'Arrow' keys to choose between different knots. Press 'Escape' to leave a group of pullers or knots, 'Tab' to leave group and go to next element. This prototype has been tested with NVDA and Firefox.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Friction

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Friction. Chemistry and Physics textbooks with a blowup of where these books touch eachother and how the atoms interact with eachother as you move the books side to side.

    Grab the Chemistry to play and explore concepts related to friction. Note when using the VoiceOver screen reader with this simulation it is easy to activate VoiceOver's Quick Nav mode while moving the Chemistry book. For the best experience, however, we recommend keeping Quick Nav off.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Gravity Force Lab

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Gravity Force Lab. Two human shaped figures pulling on a large ball where you can adjust the masses in hundereds of kilograms and see the resulting force applied.

    Visualize the gravitational force that two mass spheres exert on each other. Move spheres in meters, change mass in kilograms, and observe changes to the gravitational forces that m1 and m2 exert on each other.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Gravity Force Lab Basics. Two human shaped figures pulling on a large ball where you can adjust the masses in billions of Kilograms and see the resulting force applied.

    Visualize the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other. Discover the factors that affect gravitational attraction, and determine how adjusting these factors will change the gravitational force.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • John Travoltage

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - John Travoltage. Animated character representation of John Travolta on a rug near a metal doorknob, with boxes around his hand and leg/foot.

    Play with John’s foot and arm to explore when he gets a zap!

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Molarity

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Molarity. Slide adjusters for Solute amount, Solution Volumne, with a large beaker of liquid and a indicator of the Solution Concentration.

    What is concentration? Explore the relationships between moles, liters, and molarity by adjusting the solute amount, solution volume, and changing solutes to compare different chemical compounds in water.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Molecules and Light

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Molecules and Light. Various options of Microwave, Infrared, Visible and ultra violet light sources. Options to choose Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Water Nitrogen or Ozone, with buttons to start pause the simulation and to show the light spectrum.

    Turn light source on to explore. Observe what happens in the observation window as you set up different combinations of light source and molecule. Note this simulation is the first to support our zoom and magnification feature, so zoom in for a closer look, if you need to.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Ohm's Law

    • Simulation
    Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Ohm's Law. V= IR, with a simple circuit of three 1.5 volt batteries connected to a resistor where we can see the amount of current produced in mA. Adjustable sliders for Voltage V and Resistance R. Initial values 4.5 V 500 Ohms. with a current of 0.9 mA. Current travelling from + side of battery through the resistor and back to the negative side of the batteries.

    Play with voltage and resistance sliders and observe changes to the equation and circuit.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Plinko Probability. Two options for Intro or Lab with a triangle of evenly spaced pegs with a various balls dropping in random patterns down the triangle.

    Drop balls to begin observations. Note this sim does not yet have a Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, and simple descriptions are in progress.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Reactants, Products and Leftovers. Button of: Sandwiches, Molecules and Games.

    Build sandwiches, then investigate molecules to explore reactants products and leftovers. Note this sim does not yet have a Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, and simple descriptions are in progress.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Resistance in a Wire. R= pL divided by A. Sliders to adjust resistivity p, length L and A area.

    Observe changes to the equation and wire as you play with the resistivity, length, and area sliders.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)

  • Screenshot: Phet Simulation - Rutherford Scattering. Button of Rutherford Atom (large gray and red ball made up of very small red and grey balls). Button of Plumb Pudding Atom (irregular red shapped puddle made up of extreamly tiny gray dots.)

    Stream alpha particles to begin observations in Rutherford’s experiment. Note this sim does not yet have a Keyboard Shortcuts dialog.

    (Source: PhET Interactive Simulations)