Phys 4011 Useful Links

Generally Useful Links. This will evolve as this semester goes on, I'll put things here that are interesting or which I turn up as the class gets built. To start, randomly useful things plus links from Phys 2015, which was E&M at the really basic level.

• The textbook's webpage, and the author's webpage (which has errata).

• Kirk McDonald's webpage, which our author recommends in his preface.

• Astronomy Picture of the Day.

• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics online.

• How the radiation pressure light mill really works.

• Walter Lewin's lectures, from MIT

• An interview with superstar engineer Elon Musk about learning physics (in two parts)

• A nice video on Van de Graaff generators

• A good online integral table

• Simulations of stuff, mostly from another textbook's website:

  • A simulation of the electric field of a point charge

  • A simulation showing charges reaching electrostatic equilibrium and concentrating on the pointy bits.

  • Electric field lines and equipotential surfaces for one or two charges

  • Electric potential and work on a line integral

  • Series and parallel circuits

  • Light Bulb circuit

  • Multi-loop circuit

  • RC circuit

  • Motion of a charge in a magnetic field

  • Magnetic field from a current loop

  • Magnetic field from a long straight wire

  • Magnetic field from a solenoid.

  • Faraday's induction experiments.

  • Electromagnetic induction.

  • Electromagnetic Waves.

  • Refraction and total internal reflection.

  • Mirrors and Lenses.

  • Interference of Light.

• Ballooning spiders powered by electrostatics

• Variations on compass headings (aimed at pilots)

• Compute your geomagnetic variation

• An interactive map of the magnetic north pole

• The electromagnetic spectrum.

• Radiation pressure from cell phones and radar guns.

• The “corner mirror” on the moon, allowing laser rangefinding

• A java virtual experiment to show the Doppler effect.

• A bunch more virtual experiments, including how a DC motor and a generator work.

• An animation of how refraction works, and another.

• Total internal reflection. Applications to optical fiber, diamonds.

• Superposition of waves, one animation and another, and a nice slow motion one.

• Diffraction stuff around some differently shaped edges.

• http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/about/stuff about how it works.

• An online interactive periodic table of the elements.

• MIT video of light moving at a trillion fps.