Sunday, October 21, 2007

A new orbital mechanics lab

Yes, we're making up for an extended absence here at The Blog of Phyz. Today's third post is a link to a newly developed lab involving circular motion and gravity.

I always hoped to do a lab during our Uniform Circular Motion and Gravity unit. But gravity labs are hard to orchestrate. Tough to create and unleash stars and planets in the classroom.

That's where simulators come to the rescue.

The good people at The University of Colorado's Physics Educational Technology (PhET) group create and distribute a library of high-quality, interactive physics simulators. You should get all the PhET Sims for yourself. They're free!

I wrote an activity for the "My Solar System" simulator.

Check out Worlds of Wonder.

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