PhET Blog

Explore fractions while you help yourself to 1/3 of a chocolate cake and wash it down with 1/2 a glass of orange juice! Create your own fractions using fun interactive objects. Match shapes and numbers to earn stars in the fractions games. Challenge yourself on any level you like. Try to collect lots of stars!

We’re expanding our collection of earth science simulations with Plate Tectonics:
Explore how plates move on the surface of the earth. Change temperature, composition, and thickness of plates. Discover how to create new mountains, volcanoes, or oceans!

We’re excited to add to our collection of biology simulations with the latest new simulation, Gene Expressions – The Basics:

Express yourself through your genes! See if you can generate and collect three types of protein, then move on to explore the factors that affect protein synthesis in a cell.

Need to improve fraction skills? Try the new Fraction Matcher sim. Match shapes and numbers to earn stars in this fractions game. Students can challenge themselves at different levels, collecting stars as they improve their fraction skills.

We just published a new Collision Lab sim that includes improvements based on our research and teacher feedback. With the new Introduction tab, it’s now easier to explore one dimensional collisions. The Advanced Tab still offers full data collection and 2D collisions.

We’re excited to publish another new simulation on fluid dynamics, Fluid Pressure and Flow. Explore pressure in the atmosphere and underwater. Reshape a pipe to see how it changes fluid flow speed. Experiment with a leaky water tower to see how the height and water level determine the water trajectory.

We’re excited to publish another new simulation, Under Pressure, where you can explore pressure under and above water. See how pressure changes as you change fluids, gravity, container shapes, and volume.

No sim design is ever final! We are always looking for ways to
improve them. For example, we recently updated the molecule images
in the Reactants, Products and Leftovers sim to match the images that are used in other PhET chemistry sims. We hope this change will allow more continuity in your
curriculum.

We’re excited to publish our latest new simulation, Normal Modes:

Play with a 1D or 2D system of coupled mass-spring oscillators. Vary the number of masses, set the initial conditions, and watch the system evolve. See the spectrum of normal modes for arbitrary motion. See longitudinal or transverse modes in the 1D system.

Learn about Beer’s Law with this new simulation:

“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!