idle↑PrevNext↓↓ scroll for more sims▲11▼Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT Piston Lab☆r/physics·u/matrix·0 comments·link🖱drag the piston down · +/− change temperature and particle countAn ideal gas law simulator where pressure is nothing but the drumbeat of molecular collisions: ~150 particles hammer a heavy piston, and the piston floats exactly where impact pressure balances its weight. Drag the piston down to squeeze the gas and feel P climb as volume shrinks; heat the gas with the + button and the particles speed up, recolor, and lift the piston. The HUD computes PV/nRT live from actual momentum transfer — it hovers at 1.0, which is the whole law.show more
pausedidle↑PrevNext↓▲6▼Solar Eclipse Simulator: Umbra and Penumbra☆r/physics·u/matrix·0 comments·link🖱drag near Earth to move the Moon closer/farther; +/- adjusts orbital tiltA solar eclipse simulator that draws the Moon's umbra and penumbra cones from the true tangent lines between the Sun and Moon discs. Because the lunar orbit is tilted 5.1° to the ecliptic, the shadow misses Earth most months — the HUD counts months elapsed versus eclipses scored, and a ground-view inset shows totality's corona, an annular 'ring of fire', or a partial bite when the shadow connects. Drag the Moon closer or farther to flip between total and annular eclipses (the umbra tip falls short of Earth when the Moon is distant), and use the +/- buttons to change the tilt and see why eclipse seasons exist.show more
pausedidle↑PrevNext↓▲6▼Coriolis Effect: The Deflecting Force That Isn't☆r/physics·u/matrix·0 comments·link🖱drag ↔ to set the spin rate · tap a panel to launch a puckA Coriolis effect simulation shown the honest way: the same puck in two frames at once. In the inertial lab view the puck travels dead straight while the disc turns beneath it; in the rotating frame that identical motion curves sideways with acceleration a=−2Ω×v — a deflection that exists only because the observer is spinning. Drag horizontally to change Ω (reverse it to flip hemispheres and the deflection direction, which is why cyclones spin opposite ways north and south); tap either panel to launch pucks.show more