Physics Games and Simulations

Simulations and Games

These games were designed on a Mac; many have not been tested in Internet Explorer

FORCES & THE LAWS OF MOTION
EVIDENCE	FAIR DICE OR FOUL? Collect data and see if you can determine whether a die is fair or not.
	ONLINE BATTLESHIP (beta) I programmed the computer with what I think are the most efficient search patterns, but it's a work in progress, so be prepared for the occasional error .
	CLASS ATTENTION SIMULATOR Annoyed that teachers have to repeat themselves for students who don't listen? It may not be the students' fault. Of course, we all admit that no one (not even teachers) could possibly pay attention 100% of a 48 minute period. But that automatically means that at any given time, there is a chance that someone is not paying attention.
	PILOT THE ROCKET GAME (Beginner) [1st & 2nd Laws.] Fire your rockets to navigate in space. Runs slow in Netscape
	PILOT THE ROCKET GAME (Advanced) [1st & 2nd Laws.] Set up your own obstacle course in space and then fire your rockets to navigate. Runs slow in Netscape
	DOCK THE ROCKET GAME [1st & 2nd Laws.] Safely dock your capsule (initially at rest) with the International Space Station. WARNING: you must stop your ship at the end; you can't just run into the space station. Runs slow in Netscape
	DOCK THE MOVING ROCKET GAME [1st & 2nd Laws.] Safely dock your capsule (already moving at the start) with the International Space Station. A good taste of the 1st Law of Motion in action. WARNING: you must stop your ship at the end; you can't just run into the space station. Runs slow in Netscape
	2nd LAW ROCKET LAUNCH [2nd Law.] Figure out the relationship between force, mass and acceleration.
	MASS VS WEIGHT [2nd Law.] Figuring out how weight and mass are connected on Earth and some other places. Doesn't work in Firefox
	PLAYING CATCH IN SPACE [2nd & 3rd Laws.] Two astronauts decide to play catch with a medicine ball while on a space walk. How long will this game last?
FORCES & KINEMATICS	LUNAR LANDER GAME Safely land on the Moon's surface, and avoid the razor-sharp rocks. It's not as easy as it sounds.
	BRAKING DISTANCE SIMULATOR Slow down, folks! Your reaction time can add many feet more of distance to stop --- and that's even before you hit the brakes. Firefox doesn't always display all the numbers.
	CAR EQUATION CHALLENGE (beta) Try to set the position equation so that the car parks before the wall, but doesn't hit it. A work in progress.
2-D MOTION	RIVER CROSSING Swim across the river, but watch out for the current.
	ESCAPE FROM UM! You must vector your way from deep inside UM to get out the front door where your ride is waiting, all the while avoiding the roving sentinels. Once you get the hang of it, try the more advanced version. WARNING: This is just a computer game. I do not recommend actually skipping school in real life. Make sure your browser allows pop-ups. Doesn't work in Netscape.
	COMPONENT CALCULATOR Type in the hypotenuse and angle and get the components in a jiffy.
PROJECTILE MOTION	EVEL KNIEVEL'S DEATH JUMP Use all of your knowledge about horizontal shots to help Evel Knievel and his motorcycle make it over a row of trucks. Runs slow in Netscape.
	TARGET PRACTICE Learn how to aim on Earth, the Moon, or even Jupiter.
	THE HUMAN CANNONBALL GAME Launch a human cannonball (hopefully) into a soft pad by correctly setting the launch speed and launch angle!
	PROJECTILE MOTION SIMULATOR You can set the launch speed and angle and watch a little cannonball go!
	3-D PROJECTILE MOTION SIMULATOR A three dimensional projectile launch simulator. You can set launch speed, azimuth, and angle of elevation.
	3-D GOLF GAME A three dimensional driving range based on the 3-D projectile motion simulator.
CIRCULAR MOTION	AROUND THE CORNER: TURNING FORCES SIMULATOR Can you re-create the formula for the force required to turn something? Collect data and see if you can.
	ANGULAR & CENTRIPETAL SIMULATOR Just a calculator for finding out tangential velocity, centripetal acceleration and centripetal force from radius, angular velocity and mass.
	SPINNY RIDE g CALCULATOR Just a calculator for finding out how many g's you experience on a spinny ride.
GRAVITY	UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION SIMULATION See if you can re-create the formula for the force of gravity by collecting data in this simulation.
NUCLEAR	NUCLEAR DECAY SIMULATOR Set the half-life and watch 200 unstable atoms decay and become stable. See how half-life relates to how long a sample will remain radioactive. Also note that the longer the half-life is, the cooler the sample. Doesn't display correctly in Firefox.
MOMENTUM, IMPULSE, & ENERGY	CAR CRASH TEST SIMULATOR This is a crash test simulation where you are an engineer trying to design a car that's safe. You set the speed and mass of the vehicle, and then try to design the stiffness of the passenger compartment and front end so that the passengers don't experience too great a deceleration, but you must also make sure that the passengers do not get crushed!
	2 CAR COLLISION SIMULATOR This is a collision simulation which will allow you to set initial velocities, masses, and coefficients of restitution for two colliding vehicles.
	2 CAR OFFSET COLLISION SIMULATOR This is a collision simulation which will allow you to set initial velocities, masses, and offset for two colliding vehicles.
COLOR	COLOR ADDITION SIMULATOR Color mixer for light. You can select the percentage of red, green, and blue in three overlapping squares to see how the colors add. You can also click on the mixture to put a border around it, to avoid having the eye fooled by the colors around it.
	COLOR SUBTRACTION SIMULATOR Color mixer for inks, paints and dyes. You can select the percentage of cyan, magenta, and yellow in three overlapping squares to see how the colors subtract. You can also click on the mixture to put a border around it, to avoid having the eye fooled by the colors around it.
	WINDOWS 16 CHALLENGE Windows originally only had 16 colors - try to create them with the right amounts of Red Green and Blue. There's a pattern to it!
	ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES & COLOR Neatly shows what happens when you adjust the amplitude & frequency of an electromagnetic wave.
TRAFFIC DYNAMICS	TRAFFIC INTERSECTION SIMULATOR Change the lights manually to keep traffic moving. Yes, I know that the cars appear to collide at times, but I was more concerned about modelling their behavior before the light. Runs slow in Netscape
	TRAFFIC INTERSECTION SIMULATOR WITH AVG SPEED TRACKER If you'd like to keep score, try this version which keeps track of the average speed of the cars. (Unfortunately, this makes it run a bit slower than version 1.) Runs extremely slow in Netscape
	PARKING LOT SIMULATION - DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACES? You set the average number of cars arriving, and their average length of stay. Plug in the size of the parking lot and the simulation will keep track of maximum usage and the number of cars that could not park (rejections).