Check out a career in one of the most fascinating disciplines known
-- Physics! Congratulations to Cal
State Fullerton's Physics Department on its recent approval for offering
a Master's Degree. Check out their Virtual
Physics Tutorial while you're at it!Go to Physics Software/Freeware section
of this page.Gravitation Ltd. 5.0 is a two dimensional graphical gravity/orbital simulation for the Macintosh. Both fun and educational! Build solar systems, gravity slingshots, or create your own asteroid belt! Lots of sample solar systems are included or you can create your own with the built in point and click editor.
Version 5.0 includes cool color graphics, an improved editor, 25 planet capacity (up from 10), the ability to simulate tiny moons and asteroids, System 7 help balloons and more. Documentation is built in. Shareware.
Nominated for the Best Shareware award by the Boston Computer Society.
The program simulates gravitational interaction between up to 25 bodies, has many scenarios and an editor to set up new scenarios. One of my favorite features is instant replay: when an unexpected slingshot occurs, you can back up and see where it came from. The program should be useful for introductory physics or general science high-school students. It is available for download from Info-Mac at:
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html
Abstract can be downloaded from:
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Abstracts/sci/gravitation-ltd-50.hqx.abs
Chamber Works
- particle physicsThis is a particle physics simulation COMMERCIAL software program.
However, you can try it risk-free for 60 days and get your money back if not fully satisfied.Chamber Works, a Macintosh program for high school and college students, simulates a particle-detection chamber, the device used by researchers into the fundamental properties of matter at high-energy accelerator facilities such as Fermilab. According to the Computers in Physics judges that selected Chamber Works a winner in the magazine's annual software contest, Chamber Works "provides a unique opportunity for students to learn the underlying principles of current particle-physics experimental research."
Chamber Works is aimed at teachers wanting to bring more modern physics into their classrooms and at anyone interested in knowing how particle research is done. The innovative program is accessible to students at various levels, as no advanced mathematics is needed to use it.
The heart of the Chamber Works environment is the simulated particle chamber, which appears on the computer screen in three-dimensional perspective. At the user's choice, particle decay events, randomly generated in accordance with the true physics, appear in the chamber as charged-particle tracks, curved by the chamber's simulated magnetic field. Color is used to distinguish the tracks of different particles. The user can rotate the chamber to view the tracks from different perspectives and can replay the event, thus obtaining a vivid picture of the event in both space and time.
The kinetic energy of the particle to be injected into the chamber, the size of the chamber, and the strength of its magnetic field are all under the user's control. Analytical tools, including projection views and an electronic tape measure, allow the user to make quantitative analyses of the events, determining particle masses and lifetimes through the use of physics formulas that can be displayed in separate "Reminder" windows. Trackmaker, a thoroughly interactive, dynamic simulation of the motion of a charged particle in a user-controlled magnetic field, is integrated into the Chamber Works package.
Interesting events may be saved to disk for later analysis, and both chamber views and projections of events can be printed. The ability to save events allows teachers to test students' understanding of the physics by giving them events to analyze with the Chamber Works tools.
Chamber Works is physicist-designed; it has its roots in the InSIGHT project of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop computer simulations for introducing quantum physics to high school students.
REQUIREMENTS:Chamber Works runs on any Macintosh computer with at least a 68020 processor (LC and up, basically), running System 7.0 or greater. This includes Power Macintoshes. A color monitor is recommended, but not required. A memory partition of 1.4 megabytes is needed. A version of the program that utilizes a math coprocessor (fpu) is included along with a non-fpu version on the Chamber Works disk. Particle-event files created by either version can be opened for analysis and display in the simulated chamber by either version.
Attention, users of "small-screen" Macs (PowerBooks, Color Classic, LC 14", etc.): all of the screen shots in these web pages were made with the big-screen version of Chamber Works, so they may be bigger than your monitor area. The actual program, however, tests to see what your screen size is and adjusts accordingly.
Chamber Works comes with a User's Guide, which includes a brief introduction to the physics of high-energy research, and an Instructor's Guide. Every order includes these manuals in Adobe Acrobat form for on-screen viewing or easy printing. Hard-copy manuals are optional at additional cost.
The single-user price for Chamber Works is $84 (or $99 with hard-copy manuals), and a ten-computer site-license is only $324 (or $349 with your choice of four hard-copy manuals). The software is available directly from OnScreen Science, Inc. or you can order online.
Check it out at:
http://www.onscreen-sci.com
Circular Motion is the fifth volume of the Physics Series from Cross Educational Software. It has a sample problem, an animation, and the bouncy ball game. In the bouncy ball game you give a superball spin to get it past a barrier and into the target box.
The Physics Series is geared towards a first year college course in general physics. There are ten volumes in the Physics series. Each is $35. The demo can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For more info, visit the vendor's web page:
http://www.physics.wisc.edu/~cross/CrossEducationalSoftware.html
CompuRoc is a shareware model rocketry simulator, including altitude prediction, eject delay calculation, graphing capabilities, flight summaries, as well as a set of nice thrust curves for common real-world motors and complete documentation. Version 2.0.1 is a bug fix release, including one crash. This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
Cycle-Explorer is a handy program for exploring the dynamics of x -squared, and a good learning tool for those just learning about chaos. It draws an orbit diagram and does graphical analysis. Easy to use interface. Requires System 7. This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory. Contact the author for more info:
James C Burgess <75050.164@compuserve.com>
This is a collection of programs used in the first-year Physics class at Dalhousie University. They are all freeware. The archive is organized into four individual folders which include instructional software in the areas of mechanics, waves and labwork.
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory
Enquiries can be made to Forest Fyfe (fyfe@fizz.phys.dal.ca)
and technical queries to Paul Chapman (pchapman@fizz).
Diffraction 2.02 Calculates optical diffraction patterns. You specify
the amplitude and phase of each part of the aperture by drawing it like in a paint program. The program draws the resulting diffraction pattern in gray scale.
You can then filter the diffraction pattern and transform it back.
Diffraction now politely quits if color is not available. This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For more information, contact: jafl@alice.wonderland.caltech.edu
Digital Oscilloscope enables you to use your Macintosh as an oscilloscope and a frequency meter. All you need for this application to work is a sound input device, and a sound source connected to your Mac. Systems software 7.0 or later is required. Digital Oscilloscope 2.1 should replace any previous version.
What Is New?
- supports two-channel and 16-bit sound input
- includes a frequency meter
- enhanced control of the traces
- color traces
- additional output options
Contents
- Oscilloscope 2.1 (application program)
- Documentation (Word document)
- Oscillograms (Word document)
- Read Me (Simple Text document)
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For more information read the enclosed Word document. This application is freeware. Please send me a note about your use of the oscilloscope. If you have any comments, questions, send your mail to:
Hansruedi Baer
Institute of Cartography
ETH Hoenggerberg
CH-8093 Zurich
E-Mail: hbaer@geod.ethz.ch
Dr. Beam is a direct manipulation beam analysis environment. It differs from many other beam analysis programs in that it was designed primarily for simulating and visualizing behavior as opposed to simply performing analyses. Once you have learned to use Dr. Beam (5 - 15 minutes) analyzing a beam becomes as simple as applying loads and supports and watching what happens.
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
This short quicktime set of movies show the kinks in the electric field of an accelerating charge [see the paper by Tessman and Finnell, Am.J.Phys. 35, pp523-527 (1967)].
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory. For more information, contact:
Edoardo Milotti, Dipartimento di Fisica,
Universita' di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, I-34127 Trieste
email: MILOTTI@DFISTS.TS.INFN.IT
With Engineering Assistant, you will never need to grab for your calculator to make quick conversions or even pull out your manuals to find a material property, constant or formula. Engineering Assistant provides an easy and convenient method for storing and retrieving all this important information for you. All three utilities feature simple, yet powerful editing capabilities so that you can add, delete, or modify its contents. With Engineering Assistant you can have an unlimited number of conversions, frequently used constants, and formulas easily accessible.
Engineering Assistant - three powerful utilities in one application.
Engineering Assistant is System 7 compatible. It provides balloon help, AppleEvent support, and runs on both 68k Macs and Power PC based Macs. The files which hold the conversion, constant, and function data may be placed on a network server and aliases placed on individual's hard disks. This way a common set of data may be accessed by a working group. Of course Engineering Assistant is also compatible with all 6.0+ versions of the System software. Engineering Assistant makes a versatile System 7 "Apple Menu Item" addition. When Engineering Assistant is in the "background" under System 7 or MultiFinder, it can display a small moveable icon/window (see the Preferences menu.) By holding the option key down and click/dragging on the small background window, it may be moved to a convenient spot on your desktop.
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
Flight Dynamics is a flight simulator depicting dynamic motions of the Cessna 172. This is an engineering simulation solving 6 degree of freedom aircraft motion. Data recording abilities of the simulator allow users to output flight data for plotting or analysis.
Flight Dynamics 1.0 replaces Cessna Simulation 0.3b2. This release includes the following features:
Works in PowerPC native mode with "fat binary" code.
More control in setting arbitrary initial conditions.
Recorder permits text output of more states.
Online help.
Works with > 256 colors on monitor.
Users should have a Mac with 68020 or better CPU, an FPU,
and 4 MB memory.
This shareware program can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
Fundamental Physics- Thermodynamics is one section of the Fundamental Physics-from seeing to understanding CD-ROM.
This demo requires HyperCard 2.3 (full package, or player) and Quicktime 2.1 If you do not have HyperCard 2.3 you can get the large demo (980K instead of 570K) at:
ftp://aci.mta.ca//Internet/Hello/ServerRoot/Fundamental/Demo/FundamentalPhysicsFull.sit
Mount Allison University has announced its educational multimedia CD-ROM, Fundamental Physics-from seeing to understanding is now available for Macintosh and Power Macintosh. Authored in HyperCard by Cameron Bales, Paul Cant, Robert Hawkes and Stewart Walker, the CD contains 500 screens covering a wide variety of introductory Physics topics for high school or introductory university students.
The CD-ROM also includes a printable version for use as lecture or study notes for those who do not always have ready access to computer hardware.
The CD-ROM was funded through a grant from TeleEducation New Brunswick, with the aim of providing the university experience to students unable to attend Mount Allison.
Mindful of its market, Mount Allison has kept system requirements to a minimum-a double-speed CD-ROM drive, a 9" colour or greyscale monitor (with a range of 256 colours or greys), and 4 megabytes of RAM under System 7.0.1 or newer.
This shareware demo can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For more information contact:
Cameron Bales
Email: physicsCDinfo@mta.ca
Web: http://aci.mta.ca/fundamental
Fundamentals Home: http://aci.mta.ca/fundamental/
GesSpectre, (a nuclear MCA emulator) visualizes and analyses spectra obtained from nuclear particle detectors. It emulates the display of a multi channel analyser (MCA). The acquisition is made by in an external ADC connected to the Macintosh through a serial RS422 line or with a direct connection to an ADC via a PIA interface. Data can also be read from text files. It is specially oriented to PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) spectra.
This new version 7 (March 95) works with all Macs (and PowerMac), corrects some bugs and has an improved menu scheme. New ADC drivers have been added.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For more information, contact:
Henri-Pierre GARNIR, University of Liege (BELGIUM).
Tel:(32)41 663764 (office); (32)41 657325 (home) ; Fax:(32)41 662884
E-mail: garnir@gw.unipc.ulg.ac.be (139.165.96.10) & U214501@vm1.ulg.ac.be
Server: http://www.pne.ulg.ac.be
(c)1993 by NASA Space Grant
Requires system 7.0 or greater
This is the final release of Glider Design! at version 1.2.1. The only improvement over version 1.2 is better plans output.
It should be noted that the author (me, Michael Kamprath) has finally graduated from school with his M.S.E in aerospace engineering. Since he wrote Glider Design! for a job while at school (at the University of Michigan), he techinically has no control over the code and the program as of 1 January, 1994. Therefore, he is releasing this version into the internet for its dispersion.
He can be reach via e-mail at <kamprath@aol.com>, drop him a line, say hi, ask for help, but remember he does not officially support Glider Design! anymore (he'll be busy with his 4 year commitment to the Air Force). Official support (requesting copies of manual, program, lessons, etc.) can be reached via:
Glider Design Support
c/o NASA Space Grant
Aerospace Engineering Department
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Attn: Prof. Joe Eisley
Please only contact Prof. Joe Eisley directly (that is, phone) if it is an
emergency (AND I DOUBT THERE EVER WILL BE AN EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO GLIDER DESIGN - UNDERSTAND?).
Copy Right Notice: Although Glider Design! is free, NASA Space Grant retains exclusive rights. You shall not charge for giving a copy of Glider Design (except for media), nor should you pay to get a copy (except media and postage).
FAQ: "Will there be a port to the IBM?" - NOT!
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
-"Joint" is a new computer program for position analysis (kinematics) of
spatial mechanisms.
-"Joint" supports various types of joints.
-"Joint" features a graphical user interface (easy to use and powerful).
-"Joint" is a FREEWARE for research, engineers and students.
-"Joint" has been designed at the "Department of Mechanics" at the
University of Technology in Graz (Austria). It has been used extensively in
research at our institute and it proved to be a powerful, flexible and
reliable tool for analyzing simple as well as very complex mechanisms.
This package contains:
1.) Application "Joint", an improved version 1.0.2 (the actual program).
2.) Short manual (Simple text).
3.) Introduction Movie (Qick-Time movie).
4.) Full manual "pdf" format for the "Acrobat Reader")
5.) Examples
System requirements:
- Any Macintosh computer (Power Mac included).
- System software version 7.0.1 or later.
- The application itself requires at least 7MB of free random access memory
(RAM).
- At least 5 MB of disk space. Files produced by the Joint can be large
(sometimes a few MB) and there should be enough space left on the disk to
save them.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory
For more information visit the "Joint's Home Page" at:
http://fmechds01.tu-graz.ac.at/gregor/JointHomePage.html
Kinematic Land is a graphic simulation system of kinematic chains for Macintosh and accelerated for PowerMacintosh. It resolves the position, the speed and the acceleration of any point and any member. You can edit closed or opened chains, using blocked and movable points. Standard tools are available in a palette window to make easy editing. Every member or point could have independent time evolution.
You control any kinematic size through an unlimited number of control windows adjustable on your screen. More new features have to come in next releases.
Some examples are bundled, like the model of a rod & crank in internal combustion engines, the core mechanism of a textile machine, the principle of motion-picture projectors, a car suspension, an heavy machinery an others. Help system is integrated with an AppleGuide, though coaching isn't even available, because lack of coming AppleScript features in Kinematic Land.
What's new ?
Now it supports QuickDraw 3D, nice feature available only for PowerMacintosh users. A lot of examples have been added, please read above. The entire calculation engine has been programmed and calculations should be correct now.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
For complete information, navigate with your browser to:
http://www.kagi.com/authors/tencas/
Kinematic Land is a shareware program with $15 fee. Any suggestion appreciated.
tenuti@dei.unipd.it
tencas@kagi.com
Simplified data fitting programs with an easy user interface. LINEFIT will attempt a LINEAR least-squares fit to any set of two parameter data. The data can be saved, graphed, and printed. The graph can be printed. DATAFIT uses the same interface but can also attempt an EXPONENTIAL fit [log(y) vrs x], or a POWER LAW fit [log(y) vrs log(x)]. The fitting parameters with uncertainties are displayed (without corrections for significant figures). These programs are small enough to be run from floppies. The Mac version 'looks' good enough to run on mono- chrome machine and will run on the small screen units.
REQUIREMENTS: Mac-Version 6.03 or newer.
PHYSICS SOFTWARE PACKAGES, R.W.Tarara, Saint Mary's College
All programs are full working versions, free to download, try and use. 'Donations' will be accepted to 'help-the-cause' and will be rewarded with printed documenta- tions and automatic notice of updates--but are not necessary for continued use of the software.
Download from:
http://estel.uindy.edu/inaapt/rickt/software/mac/figprogs.sea.bin
http://estel.uindy.edu/inaapt/rickt/software/mac/figprogs.sea.hqx
LogicSim is an application that simulates digital circuits.
It has an easy-to-use graphical interface similar to standard drawing
programs. Circuits are built up from standard elements (gates, flip-flops, LEDs, switches, etc.) and can include more complicated modules created by compiling a previous circuit. LogicSim also has a "Signals window" providing an oscilloscope display of the signals at nodes in the circuit. LogicSim is now a discrete-time-event-simulator which makes it more accurate than LogicSim and most shareware simulators which use a fixed delay for all gates.
LogicSim runs on a Macintosh LC or better and requires System 7 or greater (with System 7 you must have the Macintosh Drag-And-Drop in your Extensions Folder).
This program is PostcardWare. If you like it, you must send me a nice postcard. The shareware PowerPC version will be soon available.
Arnaud Masson (amasson@planete.net)
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
MacPhase is a 2D data analysis and visualization application for the
Macintosh. Data sets can be byte, integer, longint, or real and can be
as large as memory allows.
MacPhase has an extensive collection of processing tools ranging from
simple math operators to fourier transforms. You can use simple tools
to filter in the frequency domain. There are 3x3 and 5x5 configurable
convolution filters and much more.
MacPhase can also display your data using raster, contour, 3D wireframe,
3D surface, 3D rendered surface, vector, 3D contour, 3D line, line, and
combination plots.
There is an easy to use color look up table editor. Use it to put the
colors where they best show your data.
MacPhase has a Data Tool palette which allows you to draw in the data
layer of your data window. MacPhase has also has a Draw Tool palette
which draws in an drawing layer of your data window. Use the draw tools
to annotate your data with text, simple shapes, placed pictures, color
look up table legends, and even sound objects.
Just about every function or operation can be called using a pascal-like
macro language. Macros are a great way to extend some of the already
great features in MacPhase.
You can also write external code modules, Add-ons, for MacPhase. These
Add-ons can be an excellent way to extend MacPhase's capabilities.
Add-ons will be made available to support the QuickCapture and SCION
frame grabbers, GPIB interface, serial ports, QuickTime, video
digitization (AV-vdig), Photoshop plug-ins, color channels, image
restoration, and more. Add-ons are callable from the macro language.
Add-ons can be used to add new file formats as well.
MacPhase has a large number of supported formats some of which are PICT,
TIFF, MatLab, HDF, FITS, binary, text, EPS, Mathematica, Photoshop,
polygon files, sound, color tables, and others.
MacPhase supports AppleEvents through the DoScript event and several
custom events. Use the DoScript event to send macro commands to
MacPhase. Use the custom events to pass data between applications.
This shareware demo can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory OR via the author's homepage: http://www.servtech.com/public/ottersol
OR ftp site: ftp://ftp.servtech.com//pub/users/ottersol
For additional information, including quantity and site license pricing,
CONTACT:
Otter Solution.
10 Limekiln Road
Whitesboro, NY 13492-2338 USA
Phone: (315) 768-3956
Fax: (315) 736-4371
http://www.servtech.com/public/ottersol
ftp://ftp.servtech.com//pub/users/ottersol
Internet: ottersol@servtech.com
American Online: OtterSol
AppleLink: ottersol
This FREEWARE HyperCard stack demonstrates Minkowski transformations in special relativity.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
ModRoc is a program to help you design safe, stable rockets. It does this
by removing much of the tedious and error prone calculation of the
stability factors. Designing a rocket with ModRoc is as easy as choosing
parts from a catalog and telling the program where they go. As parts are
added, ModRoc continuously displays up to date center of gravity, center of
pressure, and stability margin so you can see instantly how the rocket is
shaping up.
ModRoc is intended to be easy enough to use that grade school kids can use
it once they grasp the general idea of what makes a rocket stable and learn
which parts in the catalog fit together. I have used it to successfully
design high power rockets as well so its use is not limited to the kids!
$15 Shareware fee to the author : tomg@whacked.com (Thomas D. Gerardy)
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
MotoSfera simulates the motion of a ball over a 3D surface. You can choose between three different surfaces. The best one, I guess, is
sin (X^2+Y^2).
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
For more information, contact the author: Andrea Bonetti <rlyanbo@rly.abb.se>
MouseTracker 1.0 is a Freeware utility program that records the coordinates of the user's mouse clicks to a text file. Even when another application or process is in the foreground, all mouse clicks are recorded and the user can activate and deactivate MouseTracker at whim.
MouseTracker 1.0 was originally designed to enable measurements in certain mechanical physics experiments. The experimenter videotapes the experiment, loads the video sequence onto a Macintosh, and displays it on the screen. The experimenter then activates MouseRecorder and clicks on each point of interest in the experimental system. These click-measurements are made on every frame in the sequence. Thus the experimenter can measure the linear and
rotational positions, velocities and accelerations of rotating disks,
tumbling projectiles, complex pendulums, and other complicated
mechanical systems.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
PlastFEMPlastFEM is a finite element program that is easy to work with. Its main purpose is to learn the basics of the Finite Element Method, a method for the analysis of the effects of load systems acting on arbitrary formed bodys, among other problems.
There are no practical limits concerning the maximum problem size, so PlastFEM can be used in every-day work as well. It features a mesh generator, graphical user support and deals with two-dimensional, plane stress, triangular elements for solving elasto-plastic sheet problems. The manual is provided as Adobe Acrobat* (.pdf) document.
Requirements:
PlastFEM runs on MacOS compatible computers with Color-QuickDraw and System 7 or newer. There are three versions:
PlastFEM for machines without coprocessor (68020 or higher),
PlastFEM 881 for machines with numerical coprocessor and
PlastFEM PPC for Power Macs and compatibles.
PlastFEM got 5 out of 5 apples by the Italian MacZine #13 and won a programmers contest of the German AUGE computer club (against lots of first-class competitors ;-)
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory.
It can also be found on the author's homepage: http://www.mech.mb.uni-dortmund.de/mech/Dirk/PlastFEMe.html
For more information, contact:
Dirk Froehling
Germany, Uni Dortmund
FB Maschinenblau, LS Mechanik
df@mech.mb.uni-dortmund.de
QuantumQT.sea is a collection of animated plots saved as quicktime movies. The plots represent time dependent probability densities encountered in introductory quantum mechanics.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
For more information, contact:
Larry Tankersley
USNA Physics Dept.
Annapolis, MD 21402
(410) 293-3687 or 1000
tank@n1.usna.navy.mil
The School Energy Doctor is a multimedia package designed to lead high school students through a water and energy audit of their school. It provides students with easy calculations to see how efficiency and renewable energy can save energy, water, and money as well as reduce pollution right at their own school.
This program is ideal for high school science educators looking for interactive learning tools with interdisciplinary and environmental aspects.
To learn more about the program, visit The School Energy Doctor Online: http://solstice.crest.org/efficiency/sed/
The School Energy Doctor is intended to compliment another CREST
production called The Sun's Joules, a multimedia encyclopedia on
renewable energy which is available on CD-ROM and online .
Visit the web site:
http://solstice.crest.org/renewables/SJ/
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
System requirements:
The School Energy Doctor is designed to be used on a color computer
running the MacOS system software 7.0 or later with 8 megabytes of RAM
(4 MB for system software and 4 MB for the School Energy Doctor) and 6
megabytes of hard disk space. To view and edit the supplementary file
called Calculation Spreadsheets, you will need Microsoft Excel 4.0 or
later or a program which can read Microsoft Excel 4.0 Workbooks.
There is also a Microsoft Windows version available.
Eric Woods, SED Project Manager
CREST - Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology
From our good friend at the Mug News Service comes this desk accessory which contains several hundred conversion formulas useful in scientific and everyday pursuits. Freeware.
Part of the June 1993 Home & School Mac Collection. This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
A series of experiment simulations that can be used either as an alternative way to collect data (for equipment poor programs), or as PRE and POST lab exercises for programs where the necessary equipment is available to conduct these experiments.
There are four main types of experiments.
Ballistics experiment: This is really an exercise in empirical data collection and analysis. This can be run in a competition mode with the computer keeping track of individual performance.
Newton's Maze: An arcade style game that requires a deft application of Newton's laws for best performance.
Air Track simulator: Four classic air track experiments can be performed in this section including the study of velocity, acceleration, Newton's Second Law, and elastic collisions.
Air Table simulator: One can view a variety of two dimensional collision and then analyze any chosen one in detail.
REQUIREMENTS: Mac-16 color graphics, hard disk, Version 6.03 or newer.
PHYSICS SOFTWARE PACKAGES, R.W.Tarara, Saint Mary's College
All programs are full working versions, free to download, try and use. 'Donations' will be accepted to 'help-the-cause' and will be rewarded with printed documenta- tions and automatic notice of updates--but are not necessary for continued use of the software.
Download from:
Spectra is a program for simlation of many kinds of spectra. The program is FREEWARE! You can use it freely without modifications. SciSoft(Scientific Software for the Macintosh) does not give any warranties. If you found a bug, please let the author know about. If you are going to use this program, I'll be greatful if you fill up following form and send it to my internet address:
dmitry@chemistry.chem.utah.edu
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
NOTE: It does NOT run on Mac Classics or SEs.
--------------------------------- TEST REPORT ----------------------------------
Macintosh model: _________________
Monitor: __________ Color: [_] B/W: [_] Resolution:______
System Software version: __________
I got an error message: ___________
Bomb dialog appears: Yes[_] No[_] (Say: [X])
Development of Spectra should be continued: Yes: [_] No: [_]
How would you rate Spectra?
[_] Excellent
[_] Good
[_] Fair
[_] Poor
--------------------------------- TEST REPORT ----------------------------------
Thank you.
If you have any suggestions or comments about Spectra, please, send also
them to me. Thanks.
This is an experimental 3d gravity simulator .
Features include:
-Up to 30 separate "objects"
-Differently colored objects, with an optional matching trail
-2 views, the X-Y and X-Z planes, independently or simultaneously viewable
-Perspective
-A built-in editor
-"Infinetly" adjustable speed, on even the slowest computers
-Ability to save&load objects, and quickly revert to the initial state
-Very low program size and memory requirement! (24K program, 384K min
mem.)
-Efficient, stripped-down gravitation algorithm... oooh!!
Requirements:
-FPU and a 68020 or better
IMPORTANT Note!! The requirements are only for the version I decided to
compile!
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
E-mail me for a non-FPU or 68000 version!
-adamw@holonet.net
This program is fairly technical in nature and is intended for anyone who is familiar with Stress theory, Mohr's circle, and Mechanical Engineering in general.
This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
Short quicktime movies that show how waves behave in non-dispersive and dispersive media. This shareware can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
Truss 5.2 is an application that explores the behavior of planar trusses under external loading. It analyzes and displays the internal forces in the members using color intensities to denote force values. The system requirements to run this application are: 32Bit Color QuickDraw (for system 6), and the QuickTime extension (1.5 or higher) to be able to produce movies of a car traveling over the truss.
Some of the features implemented cover:
* Create an arbitrary truss.
* Alter the geometry of an existing truss design interactively by moving the
joint locations or by adding or removing truss members, truss supports or
truss joints.
* Automatic check whether the truss is indeterminate or not.
* Apply loads on a truss, and then change their direction interactively.
* Produce free body diagrams of the entire truss or for selected pins.
* Produce a color (pattern) graphical display of the load distribution in
the individual
members with the color (pattern) of the members denoting tension or
compression.
* Implement Method of Sections and Method of Joints to isolate members or
nodes.
* Create QuickTime movies of a car traveling over the truss.
New features in version 5.2 include:
* Better implementaion of the console window where the user can scroll and
copy from that window thanks to SIOUX library in CodeWarriorô.
* Fat binary version. Will run native on either a 68k or a PowerPC machine.
This provides a vast performance increase when run on a PowerPC machine.
The demo version is fully operational for 4 node trusses, but cannot solve
trusses with higher number of joints, and can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
Full featured, graphical 'game' in which the player must balance the supply and demand for energy for the U.S. In this updated and expanded version of the Department of Energy's 'Environment and Energy Simulator' the player is put in charge of energy management for the United States. After choosing or designing a 'Scenario' where various adjustable parameters are set [remaining fossil fuel reserves, population growth, standard of living, efficiency, and the growth of 'New Technologies'], the player's task is to manage both supplies and demands for energy such that the country can survive to the time when the 'New Technologies' can power the entire system. The players are rated in terms of how closely they've held to the original scenario, how effectively they've maintained the balance of supply and demand, and how well they've protected the environment.
A text/graphical instruction set explains all aspects of play, text tutorials provide helpful background information on energy supply,energy demand, and game play, while animated tutorials provide more in depth information about electrical production, nuclear energy, and new energy technologies.
REQUIREMENTS: Mac-16 color graphics, hard disk, Version 6.03 or newer.
PHYSICS SOFTWARE PACKAGES, R.W.Tarara, Saint Mary's College
All programs are full working versions, free to download, try and use. 'Donations' will be accepted to 'help-the-cause' and will be rewarded with printed documentations and automatic notice of updates--but are not necessary for continued use of the software.
Download from:
http://estel.uindy.edu/inaapt/rickt/software/mac/usenergy.sea.hqx
http://estel.uindy.edu/inaapt/rickt/software/mac/usenergy.sea.bin
TYP Projectiles is a projectile motion simulator designed for physics teachers and students. To simulate a trajectory, the user chooses the initial velocity (magnitude and direction), the vertical displacement component and the gravitational acceleration. The software then draws the parabolic trajectory and writes its main characteristics: range, maximum height reached, etc. During the simulation, it is possible to display three vectors: acceleration, velocity and position, and three graphs: acceleration, velocity and position versus time. Many trajectories can be superposed in the same window, in the same scale. Trajectories, numerical datas and graphs may be printed or copied to be used in other software. Trajectories may be also saved as PICT files. l
The author, Yves Pelletier, states: ALL MY PROGRAMS CAN RUN ON A MAC PLUS! These old Mac Plus are simply indestructible! Even though it is better to use them on more powerful computer (with color capability), all my shareware programs are carefully tested on a Mac Classic in order to ensure compatibility on older models. The only restriction is: my programs need System 7.0 or better.
This shareware program can be downloaded from:
http://www.kagi.com/pelletier/projectiles.html
Coming soon: OPTICS!
YP Reflection
YP Reflection is designed to assist teachers and students when they study the laws of reflection in geometrical optics. The program provides the user with a laser source that can be moved and rotated, and with a large quantity of mirrors that can be moved and rotated. The normal to the mirror, the angle of incidence, the angle of reflection and the direction of propagation are displayed. The obtained diagram may be printed, copied to the clipboard, or saved as a PICT file.
http://www.kagi.com/pelletier/reflection.html
YP Image 1.0
YP Image is designed to assist teachers and students when they study geometrical optics. The
program computes the location and the lateral magnification of the image formed by a thin lens or a spherical mirror, and draws the principal rays on the screen. The obtained diagram may be printed, copied to the clipboard, or saved as a PICT file.
YP Planetary Gear is designed to assist teachers and students when they study the working of a planetary gear train. (this software is not related in any way with astronomy). A planetary gear train is a mechanism consisting of an assembly of meshed gears: the sun gear, the planet carrier, and the ring gear. The automatic transmission in an automobile uses the planetary gear train to transmit power from the engine to the wheels at various controlable speeds and torques. The trans- mission of power is varied by locking one or the other of the three gears. With YP Planetary Gear, you may observe the motion of a planetary gear train when one of its parts is locked. The program also calculates the ratio of the angular velocities when one of its parts is locked.
This shareware program can be downloaded from:
YP Slider Crank simulates the motion of a piston activated by a slider crank mechanism. The crank is in uniform rotational motion (constant angular velocity), causing the piston to move with a variable acceleration. Relative lenghts of the crank arm and the connecting rod may be changed easily. During the simulation, it is possible to display the following vectors: acceleration, velocity and position, and the following graphs: acceleration, velocity and position versus time.
This shareware program can be downloaded from:
If you have a Mac, teach science or have a curiousity about Water Bottle Rockets, read this: Water Rocket Fun simulates the flight of a water bottle rocket. It can be used from 4th grade up to the college level. The user can input bottle type, (even those pump toy rockets), gravity as found on different planets, the fluid to fill the rocket, the atmosphere's density by altitude, drag coefficient, air density, amount of fluid in rocket, bottle pressure, calculation speed and accuracy and additional fins. The program flies the rocket and gives general numbers like max velocity, apogee, max thrust, time to apogee. The user may request height, velocity, force, impulse, kinetic energy, potential energy, graphs versus time or a pressure versus velocity graph. The results can be printed. The application also includes suggested experiments the software can be used for. It now has a altitude calculation section where a user can enter tracking angles and the program calculates and keeps track of the launch and the altitude and drift distance at altitude in a data table. The data
can be saved and opened by ClarisWorks v4.04 automatically as a spreadsheet or as a text file by any other program. All the results can be printed. It
also includes how to build your own launcher, rocket and more, much more.
NEEDS: Mac LC or newer 1 meg of ram above the system.
THE PROGRAM IS FREE!! and can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
WaveWindow is a software oscilloscope. Very useful for anyone who
works with sound on the Macintosh, educational, and fun to play with. It displays sound visually on your screen in real-time. Several different modes, including dynamic color waveforms.
Requires System 6.0.7 (or greater) and a Macintosh with microphone-input. Supports the Built-in Mic, MacRecorder, VoiceLink, any device that follows Mac protocol.
Easy to use, try singing into the microphone. After you get the basic idea, experiment with 'Preferences'. There are several different synchronization and display modes. Try the 'Lissajous Figures' in 'Async' mode and play an 'F' on your favorite instrument. Wow!
NEW IN VERSION 2.1...
------------------
- Runs faster on faster machines.
- Invoke Preferences by clicking in display area
- Analyzes frequency (realtime) on very fast machines.
- Quadra-AV aware.
This program is shareware ($12.) and can be found on Info-Mac and mirror sites in the science directory .
c1993,94 by Rustle Laidman (raymeow@aol.com)
All Rights Reserved (and Strictly Enforced)
Similar to the United States Energy Simulator, but now the player must maintain supply/demand balances for 6 world regions. The game has all the same features but also includes a fully automated play mode that can be used to play a series of games while adjusting one or more of the Scenario parameters. For example: A series of games could be played while changing only the population growth. This allows a student to clearly see the consequences of certain key concerns on the entire energy/environment picture.
REQUIREMENTS: Mac-16 color graphics, hard disk, Version 6.03 or newer.
PHYSICS SOFTWARE PACKAGES, R.W.Tarara, Saint Mary's College
All programs are full working versions, free to download, try and use. 'Donations' will be accepted to 'help-the-cause' and will be rewarded with printed documentations and automatic notice of updates--but are not necessary for continued use of the software.
Download from:
http://estel.uindy.edu/inaapt/rickt/software/mac/WORLD_ENERGY.sea.hqx
105 short animated sequences designed to be used as by the instructor during classes. See: AAPT ANNOUNCER, Vol.25, No.4, pg 63. Topics covered include Kinematics, Dynamics, Relativity, Thermodynamics, Sound, E&M, Optics, Nuclear Energy, and many more. Each animation takes only a few minutes to show. They are designed to be displayed to a small or large class-that is, any text to be read is large, topics and actions are kept simple. Each animation also includes an instructor file to explain the objective of the animation and suggest ways to most effectively use it. While most animations are 'single-topic' and designed as lecture aids, there are a few interactive segments that can be used in other ways. For example, both the 'Chain Reaction' and 'Decay/Half-Life' animations can be used in an 'experimental' mode to collect data and do further analyses. There is a ray- tracing animation that can be used with different lenses, objects, and positions and there are electric-field mapping animations that can deal with as many as five separate charges.
REQUIREMENTS: Mac-16 color graphics, hard disk, Version 6.03 or newer.
PHYSICS SOFTWARE PACKAGES, R.W.Tarara, Saint Mary's College
All programs are full working versions, free to download, try and use. 'Donations' will be accepted to 'help-the-cause' and will be rewarded with printed documentations and automatic notice of updates--but are not necessary for continued use of the software.
Download from: