3D physics simulations
Rotate the apparatus, move equipment and explore spatial relationships in our 3D physics labs. Use the on-stage handles or the keyboard-accessible setup controls to test a prediction.
Vernier caliper
How do two scales produce a precise measurement?
Lenses & image formation · 3D
Where must you place the screen to form a sharp image of the candle?
Forces & friction · 3D
How much force starts a wooden block sliding?
Momentum & collisions · 3D
What stays the same when carts collide and stick?
Hooke’s law & spring energy · 3D
How can a load–extension graph reveal spring stiffness?
Pendulum & oscillations · 3D
When does the small-angle period stop being a good approximation?
DC circuits & Ohm’s law · 3D
How does current change when resistors are moved from series to parallel?
Waves & interference · 3D
How do water ripples and string waves travel, interfere and form patterns?
Refraction & total internal reflection · 3D
Why is there a critical angle from glass into air, but not from air into glass?
Gravity & orbits · 3D
Where in an elliptical orbit does a planet move fastest?
Charges & electric fields · 3D
Can two nonzero charges produce a zero electric field?
Magnetic fields & compass · 3D
How does reversing current change the magnetic field?
Calorimetry & heat transfer · 3D
Why do equal masses of different metals warm the same water by different amounts?
Density & buoyancy · 3D
Does a floating object displace its own volume or its own weight of water?
Doppler effect · 3D
Why does a moving sound source change the frequency heard by a stationary listener?
Gas laws & piston · 3D
Why does doubling temperature only double volume when temperature is measured in kelvin?
Photoelectric effect · 3D
Can brighter red light eject electrons when dimmer red light cannot?
Levers & torque · 3D
Can a smaller load balance a larger load?
Double-slit diffraction · 3D
How do slit separation and slit width affect different parts of the screen pattern?
Projectile motion · 3D
Which launch angle gives the greatest range?
DC electric motor · 3D
Why does a motor draw less current as it speeds up?
AC generator · 3D
How does turning the shaft faster change the voltage waveform?
Micrometer screw gauge · 3D
How do you obtain a corrected diameter from the two micrometer scales?
Faraday’s law · 3D
Does a strong magnetic flux necessarily produce an emf?
Sound interference · 3D
Where can two loudspeakers produce less sound pressure than one?
Vector addition · 3D
Does moving a vector’s starting point change the resultant?
Diffusion & Brownian motion · 3D
Why do smaller particles mix faster in the same fluid?
Coulomb’s law · 3D
How can you show that electric force follows an inverse-square law?
Colour vision & light mixing · 3D
Why can a red light make a cyan surface look dark?
Resistance of a wire · 3D
Why does doubling wire diameter reduce resistance by a factor of four?
Transformer · 3D
Why does stepping voltage up reduce the current available at the same power?
Capacitor charging · 3D
How long does it take the capacitor to reach 63% of the supply voltage?
Resonance tube · 3D
Why are successive resonant air lengths separated by half a wavelength?
Energy on a track · 3D
Why is the rolling ball slower than a frictionless sliding particle at the bottom?
Hydraulic press · 3D
Can a hydraulic press multiply work as well as force?
Polarisation · 3D
Why can adding a third filter make crossed polarizers transmit light?
Angular momentum · 3D
Where does the extra rotational energy come from when the masses move inward?
Compound microscope · 3D
How do magnification, field of view and focus change together?
AC resonance · 3D
How do impedance and phase change as the source crosses resonance?
X-ray tube · 3D
Why does increasing current leave the shortest wavelength unchanged?
Young modulus of a wire · 3D
How can the gradient of a force–extension graph reveal a material’s Young modulus?
EMF & internal resistance · 3D
How can a voltage–current graph reveal the emf and internal resistance of a cell?
Sensor potential divider · 3D
How can a sensor turn light or temperature into a changing output voltage?
Electron beam & specific charge · 3D
How can an electron’s charge-to-mass ratio be measured from a circular beam?
Electron diffraction · 3D
Why do electron diffraction rings shrink when accelerating voltage increases?
Radioactivity counting bench · 3D
How do distance, shielding and counting time affect the evidence from a radioactive source?
Rutherford scattering · 3D
Why did rare large-angle deflections reveal a tiny, dense atomic nucleus?
Diffraction grating spectrometer · 3D
How can angular measurements reveal the wavelength of an unknown spectral line?
Specific latent heat of fusion · 3D
Why can energy keep entering ice while its temperature stays at 0°C?
Ultrasound pulse echo · 3D
How can a returning pulse reveal the depth of a hidden boundary?