Physics Simulations

Interactive Molecular Dynamics simulates up to 2500 interacting
particles in two dimensions, so you can explore phases of matter, emergent behavior,
irreversibility, and thermal effects at the nanoscale.

Fluid Dynamics simulates a two-dimensional fluid in a
wind-tunnel arrangement using the lattice-Boltzmann algorithm, demonstrating vortex shedding
and forces on barriers.

Ising Model simulates a magnet in two
dimensions using the Metropolis algorithm, with the ability to rescale the lattice at
any time.

Electric Potentials and Fields (by WSU
student Nathaniel Klemm) solves Laplace’s equation for the electrostatic potential around
an arbitrary arrangment of user-drawn conductors.

Wave Builder is a computer-aided exploration
of building arbitrary wave shapes out of sine waves or other simple basis functions.

Quantum wavefunction simulations showing time evolution in one dimension:
Sinusoidal Wave    
Square Well    
Harmonic Oscillator    
Wavepackets    
Barrier Scattering

Quantum Bound States in Two Dimensions
displays two-dimensional wavefunctions for a variety of user-adjustable potentials.

Entanglement in a Box displays the
entangled low-energy wavefunctions for two interacting particles in a one-dimensional box.

Quantum Scattering in Two Dimensions
simulates scattering of a wavepacket from a variety of two-dimensional barriers.

Colliding Wavepackets simulates a two-particle
quantum collision, showing how independent particles become entangled when they interact.

Spins Laboratory, a simulation of linked Stern-Gerlach devices:
Two-state (spin-1/2) version    
Three-state (spin-1) version

Two-Source Interference is a simple animation
of wave propagation from a pair of identical sources with variable separation.

Chaotic Pendulum is a simple simulation of
a damped, driven pendulum, with a phase space plot.

Newton’s Cannon animates Isaac
Newton’s famous thought experiment of firing projectiles horizontally from a high
mountaintop.

U.S. Power
Plants, 2014
is an interactive map that shows where our electricity comes from.