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Topic: Introductory Physics

Change grade range

Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
AC / DC: What's the Difference? This animated essay from the American Experience Web site explains the difference between alternating and direct electric current and offers in-depth explanations about the role played by a battery, light bulb, wire, and generator.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Aerodynamics: What Causes Lift? How does an airplane stay aloft when upside down? This media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site offers an explanation based on Newton's third law of motion.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Atoms: The Space Between This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey takes a look at the scale of the atom and the tremendous amount of space between the electrons and the nucleus. If all this empty space exists in matter, how can any substance be solid?	6-12	QuickTime Video
The Beginnings of the Telescope This animated essay from the NOVA Web site examines the design of Galileo's refracting telescope and Sir Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope.	6-12	HTML Document
Chernobyl: What Really Happened? This text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site examines the causes of the Chernobyl accident.	6-12	HTML Document
Circular Motion In this interactive activity featuring videos adapted from the Rutgers PAER Group, observe examples of circular motion. Can you find a common reason why the objects and people presented move in a circle?	6-12	Flash Interactive
Diamonds: The Science Behind the Sparkle This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explains why the atomic structure of a diamond slows down light and produces a sparkle more brilliant than from any other colorless substance.	6-12	HTML Document
Einstein: How Smart Was He? This essay from the NOVA Web site explores the impact Einstein made on physics and most everything we know about the cosmos.	6-12	HTML Document
Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity What happens when you approach the speed of light? This video segment adapted from NOVA follows one of Albert Einstein's thought experiments and his quest to find the answer.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Energy Transfer in a Trebuchet On NOVA, a team of carpenters, timber framers, engineers, and historians recreate a medieval throwing machine called a trebuchet. This adapted video segment explores how understanding energy transfer informs their design.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Free-Falling and "Weightlessness" Discover the difference between free-falling and weightlessness in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Galileo: His Experiments This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Galileo on the Moon Watch Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott perform Galileo's falling objects experiment on the Moon in this video segment from NASA.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Galileo's Inclined Plane How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Galileo's Telescope The invention of the telescope helped change our understanding of the universe. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's contribution to this technology.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Galileo's Thought Experiment How can Earth move through space without our feeling its motion? This video segment adapted from NOVA answers this question by dramatizing one of Galileo's thought experiments.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Galileo: Timeline of His Life This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site turns back the clock to the late 1500's to relive the dramatic life of one of the world's most renowned scientists.	6-12	HTML Document
Geometric Optics This interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project illustrates how lenses refract light to form images. Manipulate the object, screen, lens, and focal length and observe how the image adjusts.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Getting Airborne and Wing Design What makes an airplane fly? Discover the connection between Newton's third law of motion and flight in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Glass Breaking with Sound In this video adapted from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, learn how a glass beaker vibrates at a specific frequency and how resonance can force it to shatter.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Hoover Dam and Hydroelectric Power How does a dam generate electricity and what are the environmental impacts of operating these mammoth structures? Find out in this video segment adapted from Building Big.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Imaging with Radar This interactive activity from NOVA features synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which uses radio waves to create high-quality images. Examine SAR images of Washington, D.C., and learn about this technology's unique advantages.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Infrared: More Than Your Eyes Can See In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Michelle Thaller introduces the world of infrared light and demonstrates how infrared cameras allow us to see more than what the naked eye can perceive.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Laser Waterfall In this video from the Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations, observe how a laser beam is trapped in a water jet because the light reflects against the surface of the water.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Lightning! This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the mysterious force of lightning.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Lightning Hunters Find out how scientists and engineers use rockets to attract lightning in this video segment adapted from NOVA.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Masses and Springs In this interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project, hang various masses from different springs and see the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy of each spring system. You can even slow time or move your demonstration to another planet.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Momentum In this interactive activity adapted from Wake Forest University, observe the effect of mass on velocity and momentum in elastic and inelastic collisions.	8-12	Flash Interactive
Newton's Third Law of Motion: Astronauts in Outer Space In this video segment adapted from NOVA, NASA learns hard lessons from the first American attempt to do work while "walking" in space. The video also explores Newton's third law of motion.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Nuclear Reaction: Fission This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at nuclear fission as an energy source that can be used to generate electricity.	6-12	QuickTime Video
$Observing Refraction of Light$ Observing Refraction of Light This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science illustrates how light changes speed, and thus direction, in a process known as refraction.	5-12	QuickTime Video
Primary Colors of Light and Pigments In this interactive activity adapted from Shedding Light on Science, discover the difference between the primary colors of light and the primary colors of pigment—and the connection between the two.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Projectile Motion In this interactive simulation adapted from University of Colorado’s Physics Education Technology project, learn about projectile motion by firing various objects from a virtual cannon into the air. Experiment with the settings and try to hit a target.	6-12	Flash Interactive
Quantum Mechanics Are electrons particles or waves? This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the intense debate surrounding the understanding of electron configuration.	9-12	QuickTime Video
Radio Waves & Electromagnetic Fields In this interactive simulation adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project, explore how a radio transmitter broadcasts electromagnetic radiation.	6-12	Java Web Start Interactive
$Refraction of Light Demonstration$ Refraction of Light Demonstration In this interactive activity featuring videos adapted from the Rutgers PAER Group, observe how light bends when it travels through a convex lens, a concave lens, and glass.	5-12	Flash Interactive
Relativity and the Cosmos This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site introduces the basic concepts of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and what we know about cosmology as a result.	6-12	HTML Document
Sound This interactive simulation, adapted from the University of Colorado's Physics Education Technology project, illustrates sound waves. Adjust the frequency and amplitude to see and hear how the waves change.	6-12	Java Web Start Interactive
Sound Waves Underwater: True or False This interactive quiz from the NOVA Web site features an array of interesting facts about the nature of sound underwater.	3-12	HTML Interactive
Speed of Light This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science uses historical illustrations and everyday examples to show that light has a speed and does not travel instantaneously.	5-12	QuickTime Video
Speed of Light: Time Traveler This interactive game from the NOVA Web site explores what happens to time as a traveler approaches the speed of light.	6-12	Shockwave Interactive
Steam Machine Explore NOVA Online's interactive steam engine and discover how this machine can convert heat to mechanical energy.	3-12	Shockwave Interactive
String Theory: A New Picture of Gravity This video segment from NOVA describes the general theory of relativity and the theory of electromagnetism.	6-12	QuickTime Video
String Theory: Gravity - The Odd Man Out This video segment from NOVA describes the discovery in the 1930s of two forces in addition to electromagnetism: the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force.	9-12	QuickTime Video
String Theory: Newton's Embarrassing Secret This video segment from NOVA chronicles Newton's theory of gravity and Einstein's discovery that contradicted it.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Torque In this interactive activity adapted from Wake Forest University, observe how rotational force, or torque, is related to the distance between the pivot and the point of the applied force.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Tour the Electromagnetic Spectrum Take NOVA's interactive tour of the electromagnetic spectrum and find out why your eyes are like antennae for a narrow band of electromagnetic radiation.	6-12	HTML Interactive
Vibration Patterns on a Chladni Plate In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Southern California, investigate how sound vibrations cause patterns to form in sand on a metal plate.	9-12	Flash Interactive
Virtual Car: Velocity and Acceleration Take control of a virtual car and learn how vectors are used to represent velocity and acceleration in this interactive activity developed for Teachers' Domain.	6-12	Flash Interactive
What Is a Wave? This interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab provides an overview of the characteristics and properties of various types of waves, including light waves, sound waves, and water waves.	6-12	Flash Interactive