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Simple, Portable Physics Simulations
ttsiod writes "I want to 'lure' my nephews/nieces towards Science and Engineering (to whatever extent that's possible, in the age of consoles). To that end, I have coded simple physics simulations, like falling snow, exploding fireworks, and 1D/2D wave simulations. My efforts are here, in the form of portable SDL mini-programs (GPL code, compilable under Windows, Linux, Free/Net/OpenBSD, Mac OS/X and basically every OS with GCC and SDL). Try them out, and do offer any suggestions on other programs that can trigger scientific interest in young minds. Myself, I am teaching them Python, so that they can code 'fireworks' on their own."
I seriously have to ask : what does a 1-Dimensional wave look like????
"DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
OK, so it doesn't have "teh s3xy" of Java, Python, or Ruby -- but BASIC is very easy to pick up, and with modern dialects like FreeBASIC, you can write good, modular, maintainable programs. It's also a lot of fun, which seems to be especially important; you can write a quick simulation of whatever you're interested in, without a lot of work.
...Oh, and did I mention that both FreeBASIC and FBIDE are free?
This isn't your father's BASIC; it has support for lots of memory, 32-bit graphics, user data types, functions and subroutines (including passing by reference or value), and even multithreading including mutexes. Or you could use it to run older QBasic programs from the Dark Ages, complete with line numbers, LET statements, GOTOs, and all that.
Pick up FBIDE while you're there, too.
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
It is not programming, but Phun is a good 2-D physics simulator for kids.
Another that takes a bit more work is Google's Sketchup with the SketchyPhysics plugin.
A much larger and cooler collection of physics applets can be found at http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html
...real fireworks for them instead. The real thing beats just about everything and eyebrows grow back, you know. :)
Now the world has gone to bed, Darkness won't engulf my head, I can see by infra-red, How I hate the night.
Since you have a strong interest in visualizations of physics phenomena, and you're already teaching your nieces and nephews how to write Python, I'd like to suggest that you check out VPython, which is a series of 3D extensions to Python. In particular I think you'll be intrigued by these examples which visualize everything from wave superposition, to magnetic fields, to concepts from relativity. For immediate gratification, the author of that examples page also has Wiimote integration, so you can bridge interest that your relatives might have in video games into an interactive experience in your physics environment.
Good luck!
Simulations that are useful for learning must be grounded in reality. They must give the learner a chance to extrapolate principles from their own personal hands-on observations to the simulation.
Without original personal observation of physical phenonema, simulations are little more than 'das blinken lights' to the learner.
Don't get me wrong, the stuff offered by the OP is good. And if the kids in question already have an interest in the subject, its great.
But to spark an original interest takes hands-on, thought provoking experiments that the learner may manipulate in any way they wish (some of which you probably never thought of).
Example. Electromagnetism. My 8th grade grandson (yup I'm an old geezer who cut my teeth on vacuum toobs and RTL) learned a lot about the interplay between electric and magnetics fields just today. I suspended a magnet on a string, over an aluminum plate, and just left it there for him to find, and play around with. After he had done so, he asked why when the plate was present the pendulum swiftly assumed a stable position, whereas when the plate was absent the pendulum assumed a rather chaotic motion... even though the magnet was obviously not attracted to aluminum.
After explaining it to him and allowing him to further explore the physics with magnet wire and batteries, he came away with a firmer grasp on electromagnetism, a grasp I highly doubt he would have gotten from a canned simulation. Now that he has made a connection in his mind between the seen (magnetic damping of the pendulum motion) and the unseen (electrical currents in the aluminum plate, and the ensuing magnetic field), a simulation would allow him to further explore the subject without requiring expensive laboratory equipment.
So, Kudos for the work, but you have to get out there and actively, physically engage them with hands-on experiments. After, that is really what science is about!
No, no, no.
To get kids interested in Physics - or anyone for that matter, a physical real world demonstration is the way to go. The most popular physics professor at MIT is known for his lecture theatrics.
Shooting metal balls across the room and having them derive an equation will teach them something.
Computer simualtions are boring! It's worse than watching TV and they will learn nothing. No. Have them create experiments, duplicate classic ones - some of the classic E&M experiments are a hoot and they're easy to build and best of all, they're not a computer simulation. They are REAL LIFE.
The University of Colorado has something called Physics 2000 that has a bunch of applets. Click on "Applet Thumbnails" in the top-left frame. One of my favorites is "Satellite orbits" (click on "Upcoming Applets"). You can try to find stable orbits around the Earth. You can try to find stable orbits around the Moon (although I don't think there are any). You can try launching some objects clockwise and some counter-clockwise and see if it is easier to get things in a stable orbit one way or the other. You can launch a bunch of objects in random directions with random velocities and watch most of them die an early death and a few stick around much longer. Sometimes you can see Orbital resonance. The simulation extends beyond the visible portion of the screen so you can even get objects in orbits with very long periods that are only visible for a very short portion of their orbit as they dip close to the Earth and then sail away again.