[Tools for Teachers] 6 Great Tools to Teach Physics

Equipped with the latest technological devices namely laptops, iPad and tablets, educators now have great ways to engage their students and make them clear any difficult concepts. Especially subjects like Physical Science, Mathematical Science, Chemical Science, etc. need a much practical explanation and it’s a difficult thing for teachers to explain them to students, just by using a blackboard. Areas like Physics have many new evolutions daily, so teachers need to update their knowledge regularly.

In this article, we provide you with information on many apps, videos and online resources that help you teach Physics in a great way.

SimplePhysics:

We hope you are aware of Ansys, a mechanical simulation software which allows you to solve a wide range of engineering problems by analyzing the structural designs. SimplePhysics’s functionality is similar to Ansys but it’s not as difficult to access. SimplePhysics is an iPad app that enables you to design complex structures for everything from tree houses to ferris wheels and then simulates your design with a pioneer Physics engine.  Blueprints editor helps you create designs quickly and allows you to undo your move if you make any mistake, zoom in and out by pinching the screen and also pan the view using a two finger drag. While testing, it displays how the strain is distributed across your design. Areas that are under immense strain are colored bright red, while other areas are colored green. This allows you to find and fix problem areas in your design. It’s a very interactive app with diverse features. It also allows you to share your designs with your friends through email.

Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Requires: iOs 4.3 or later

Price: $ 1.99

Vernier Video Physics:

Kinematics, an exciting topic in Physics, is the study of the motion of objects using words, equations, graphs, diagrams and numbers.  Vernier Video Physics helps you learn Kinematics with ease. Take a video of an object in motion, mark its position frame by frame, and set up the scale using a known distance, then this app will draw its trajectory, position, and velocity graphs. This is a perfect app for Physics students and instructors to study interesting motions such as the motion of a basketball free throw shooting, a child’s swing, a roller coaster or a car. It also allows you to share these data with others.

Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Requires: iOs 6.0 or later

Price: $ 4.99

Particle Zoo:

The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.

– Henri Poincaré

Particle physics is the study of the nature of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter and radiation. This app helps students understand the basic concepts of particle physics. It represents particles with well designed and attractive symbols. Particle Zoo brings you a handy list of subatomic particles.

Compatible with: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Requires: iOs 6.0 or later

Price: Free

Gravity Lab:

GravityLab is a gravity simulator for iPad that enables users to design their own universe by creating dozens of particles with different masses and different initial velocities by simply tapping on the screen or drawing a velocity vector. The positions and velocities of all the particles are recalculated in real-time as this app works on the principle of Newton’s law of universal gravitation. With a lot of features and a simple user interface, this app will surely be a great tool for teachers and students to explore the laws of nature that govern everything in the universe.

Compatible with: iPad

Requires: iOs 3.2 or later

Price: $ 1.99

Electrons:

Electrons is a charged particle simulator for iPad with which users can create dozens of positively or negatively charged particles, either freely roaming in space, or contained within conducting bodies. It also lets users observe particle interactions, simulate a lightning rod, create a cathode ray tube, and better visualize all the hard-to-illustrate concepts. It includes many experiments that illustrate further insights into the world of electricity. With Electrons app, one can gain a deeper knowledge of the natural phenomena of electricity.

Compatible with: iPad

Requires: iOs 3.2 or later

Price: $ 1.99

Bobo Explores Light:

GameCollege has designed Bobo Explores Light that illustrates fundamental light concepts through easy-to-comprehend visualizations. Designed for children aged 8-12, this iPad book introduces kids to 21 light-related topicslike lasers, reflection, refraction, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, aurora borealis and the human eye. It also includes hands-on experimentation in each section to build a deeper understanding of science concepts.

Compatible with: iPad

Requires: iOs 4.3 or later

Price: $ 4.99

The above mentioned are the apps that educators can use to teach Physics effectively. We’d like to know more tools like these. If you know a few, please feel free to share with us in the comment box.

This article is written by taking an article as reference. The reference article originally appeared here.

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