In the Lasers simulation, students are challenged to make a working laser. In the Natural Selection simulation, students are challenged to add mutations, predators, and food to try to keep a population of bunnies stable. Many PhET simulations include implicit or explicit games and challenges to motivate students to explore. The Davisson-Germer: Electron Diffraction simulation addresses an observed student difficulty with interpreting this classic experiment from the diagrams commonly used in modern physics textbooks. The Reactants, Products and Leftovers simulation helps address known student difficulties understanding rate equations by having them practice building sandwiches and then applying what they know about sandwiches to molecules. For example, the Balloons and Static Electricity simulation helps students visualize changes in charge distribution when a balloon is rubbed against a sweater and sticks to a wall, and the John Travoltage simulation helps students visualize what happens when you rub your foot on the carpet and get a shock from a metal doorknob. Other simulations are more targeted and address a single specific physical phenomenon or concept. Some PhET simulations, such as Circuit Construction Kit and Gas Properties, are extremely open-ended, and can be used to explore an entire chapter's worth of science content in great detail with many different activities. ![]() Showing these expert models is particularly useful in advanced topics such as quantum mechanics, where there is a whole suite of simulations to help students visualize electrons, photons, atoms, wave interference, and other quantum phenomena that they cannot observe directly. ![]() For example, the Circuit Construction Kit simulation shows electrons moving through the wires so that students can visualize current flow, the Gas Properties simulation shows the microscopic behavior of molecules in a gas, and the Radio Waves and Electromagnetic Fields simulation shows the behavior of an electric field. ![]() In addition to simulating phenomena that are directly observable with real equipment and/or in the natural world, many PhET simulations reveal expert models of invisible phenomena. Other simulations that can replace real equipment include Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab, Pendulum Lab, Geometric Optics, Masses and Springs, Wave Interference, Wave on a String, and Photoelectric Effect. Some advantages over real equipment are that the simulation allows students to see a visual model for current flow (virtual electrons flow through the wire), the equipment never breaks or wears out, and students can play around without fear of breaking things. The simulation can be used to replace or supplement experiments with real equipment in lecture demos, labs, and tutorials. ![]() The Circuit Construction Kit simulation allows students to build circuits out of virtual batteries, wires, bulbs, resistors, switches, and (in the AC version) capacitors and inductors. The PhET team decided to keep the name because it is so widely recognized, but now it's just a name that doesn't stand for anything. The name "PhET" was originally an acronym for "Physics Education Technology." However, the PhET site now includes simulations about many other subjects besides physics, so the acronym is too limited.
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