Physlets

developed by Wolfgang Christian, Mario Belloni, Anne Cox, and Melissa Dancy

Physlets are physics applets that are free for non-commercial use and were created by the same team as the Open Source Physics Project. Since their creation at Davidson College in 1998, over 2,000 individual exercises have been created using Physlets for the teaching and learning of astronomy and physics on a variety of levels and a variety of settings. Physlets have also been used in a number of textbooks, and have been translated into a number of languages including: Spanish, Slovenian, German, Hebrew, and Portuguese.

The original Physlet-based interactive materials relied on Java applets. With the 2014 release of the new HTML5 standards, browsers gradually ceased supporting plug-ins, such as Java. In 2018-2019, Physlet Java Applets were ported to JavaScript/HTML5 in collaboration with Robert Hanson (St. Olaf College) using the java2script-SwingJS platform, which allows Physlet-based materials to run on any platform (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone) using any recent JavaScript-enabled browser.

Materials

Physlet Physics 3E is an online interactive text with links to the over 800 ready-to-run interactive exercises on ComPADRE for the teaching of the introductory physics sequence (kinematics through optics). It is also available for free in EPub format on Apple iBooks and the Google Play store.

Physlet Quantum Physics 3E is an online interactive text with links to the over 200 ready-to-run interactive exercises on ComPADRE for the teaching of quantum physics (from special relativity through quantum-mechanical applications).  It is also for free available in EPub format on Apple iBooks and the Google Play store.

Physlet Physics EPubs and Instructor's Guide

Physlet Physics 3E is an interactive text with over 800 ready-to-run interactive exercises for the teaching of the introductory physics sequence (kinematics through optics). This material uses a standard easy-to-understand interface designed with a sound use of pedagogy in mind. The aim of Physlet Physics 3E is to provide a resource for the teaching of introductory physics that enhances student learning through interactive engagement and visualization.

Physlet Physics 3E is a resource flexible enough to be adapted to a variety of pedagogical strategies and local environments, covers a wide variety of topics, and is informed by current educational research.  As described in the Instructor's Guide, every chapter of Physlet Physics 3E contains three quite different Physlet-based exercises: Illustrations, Explorations, and Problems.

  • Download the Physlet Physics Instructor's Guide: pp3E_instructor_manual.pdf (Verification requiredVerification Required)
    The Physlet Physics Instructor's Guide by Melissa Dancy and Anne J. Cox discusses Physlet-based pedagogy and provides solutions to problems in Physlet Physics book. The Physlet Physics Instructor's Guide is available to verified instructors.
  • Physlet Physics EPubs
    The Physlet Physics EPubs can be read using ebook readers, such as the Apple iBooks reader, that support Math ML.  Links within the EPub will open a web browser to display the simulation.
  • Download the Physlet Physics Volume 1 EPub:
    Physlet Physics was written by Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni.
  • Download the Physlet Physics Volume II EPub:
    Physlet Physics was written by Wolfgang Christian and Mario Belloni.

Physlet Quantum Physics EPub and Instructor's Guide

Physlet Quantum Physics 3E is an interactive text with over 200 ready-to-run interactive exercises for the teaching of quantum physics (from special relativity through quantum-mechanical applications).  This material uses a standard easy-to-understand interface designed with a sound use of pedagogy in mind. The aim of Physlet Quantum Physics 3E is to provide a resource for the teaching of quantum physics that enhances student learning through interactive engagement and visualization.

Physlet Quantum Physics 3E is a resource flexible enough to be adapted to a variety of pedagogical strategies and local environments, covers a wide variety of topics, and is informed by current educational, experimental, and theoretical research.

  • Download the Physlet Quantum Physics Instructor's Guide: pqp3E_instructor_manual.pdf (Verification requiredVerification Required)
    The Physlet Quantum Physics Instructor's Guide by Anne J. Cox and Mario Belloni gives objectives, activities, and solutions to problems in the Physlet Quantum Physics book. The Physlet Quantum Physics Instructor's Guide is available to verified instructors.
  • Physlet Quantum Physics EPub
    The Physlet Quantum Physics EPub can be read using ebook readers, such as the Apple iBooks reader, that support Math ML.  Links within the EPub will open a web browser to display the simulation.
  • Download the Physlet Quantum Physics EPub:
    Physlet Quantum Physics was written by Mario Belloni, Wolfgang Christian and Anne Cox.

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