Physics Made Fun...OK, Physics Made Less Painful

by , 4:00 PM EST, January 15th, 2001

Yves Pelletier has released two new applications to help students study and understand basic principles of Physics. The YP Atwood and YP Geneva Mechanism both help Physics students understand some of the basic principles of rotational motion, and both do so in an entertaining way. According to Yves Pelletier:

Two new physics simulations for the Macintosh are now available from YvesPelletier: YP Atwood and YP Geneva Mechanism.

YP ATWOOD 1.0 simulates a pulley (made of one or two disks) driven byone or two suspended masses. It is designed to study the kinematics andthe dynamics of rotational motion with constant angular acceleration, andlinear motion with constant acceleration. During the animation, up to 5vectors (position, velocity, acceleration, tension and weight) and up to 7graphs (position, velocity, acceleration, angular position, angularvelocity, angular acceleration and energies vs time) can be displayed.

YP GENEVA MECHANISM 1.0 (mechanical engineering): A Geneva mechanismis used to provide an intermittant rotational motion of the driven partwhile the driver wheel rotates continuously. This program simulates aGeneva mechanism with 4 or 6 slots. It displays graphs describing theangular position and the angular velocity of both parts of the mechanism,and it can also draw the tangential velocity of both parts.

Price: $15 (single user), $200 (site)

You can find more information on these, and other great educational products, at Mr. Pelletier's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Physics is one of the ultra-intimidating classes that any student has to go through. Applications such as these, however, serve to add a practical touch to a complicated idea, thus allowing students to be more comfortable when studying the topic.

Yves Pelletier