PhET Blog

Have you tried PhET’s HTML5 version of Beer’s Law Lab?

“The thicker the glass, the darker the brew, the less the light that passes through.” Make colorful concentrated and dilute solutions and explore how much light they absorb and transmit using a virtual spectrophotometer!

Don’t forget to visit the Java version to find the activities and description. And, to our US PhET users, have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

Try the new next-gen version of our popular Gravity Force Lab — now for touch and tablets! With a touch of your finger, experience how the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other changes as you alter their properties. What happens as you increase the mass of the objects? What happens as you move them farther apart?

We are so excited to release our next-gen HTML5 sims—just in time for the 2013-2014 academic year! These HTML5 versions not only are touch and tablet optimized but also have built-in flexibility that will enable us to easily facilitate future improvements, including enhanced 3rd-party customization and assessment abilities.

To learn about the new features, and the Future of PhET, watch the video on the right-side of the new (and temporary) “HTML5 HomePage”. The video gives tips on how to use the sims, as well as a glimpse to see what’s coming.

Do you like our new logo? We hope that the new logo reflects our mission to advance science and math literacy worldwide by making STEM active, engaging and most of all, fun!

And, if you’d like to support our next-gen sims, Donate today!
P.S. We are working on updating the logo on our donation page.

Teaching HS physics?

Here’s a guide to PhET simulations and activities for high-school level courses. In the guide, you’ll find example simulations, activities and demos for Mechanics (e.g., Moving Man, Energy Skate Park, and Masses and Springs) and Electricity & Magnetism (e.g., Waves on a String, Electric Field Hockey, and Circuit Construction Kit).

Wishing everyone a great 2013-2014 year. And, look for new HTML5 next-gen sims coming out soon!

To help you find the best simulation for teaching a specific topic in chemistry, don’t forget to use our preliminary guide that gives you a line up of specific simulations (and supplemental simulations) for topic areas in the general chemistry curriculum.

When you can’t go to the pool, learn why things float with the Buoyancy simulation. Arrows show the applied forces, and you can modify the properties of the blocks and the fluid. Apply what you learn next time you’re at the pool.