.
Science Department Web Links
Most recent update: March 27, 2007 10:45 AM ; Send comments/new links/broken links to BJP
"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stone, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house, and a collection of facts is not necessarily science." — Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912), French mathematician
Skip to...
"More than ever, the creation of the ridiculous is almost impossible because of the competition it receives from reality." — Robert A. Baker (1937- ) U. S. author.
- Science
News
- KQED Quest Website
- NPR Science Friday Always a great show. Locally on 88.5 FM Fridays from Noon to 1 PM.
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation Great science news page.
- Volcanoes
(thank you Ms. Sullivan!)
- USGS Volcano Site A great list of active volcanos in the world.
- Smithsonian's Volcanoes of the World
- Current Eruptions From the University of North Dakota
- Science Urban Legends From Snopes.com
- Math Help
- History of Science
- Science and Culture
- Useful
- Wikipedia The free encyclopedia.
- Ask Dr. Science Go ahead, ask him.
"[Natural Selection] has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to be play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the *blind* watchmaker." — Richard Dawkins (1941-) English biologist, in The Blind Watchmaker (1986)
- Evolution
- Links compiled by Ms. Kennedy and Mr. O'Malley
- Was Darwin Wrong? No.
- Talk.Origins An index to creationist arguments and their refutation
- Genetics
- Cells
- Cells! from How Stuff Works
- Diversity of Life
- Animal Diversity
- Ecology
- Reproduction
"It is disconcerting to reflect on the number of students we have flunked in chemistry for not knowing what we later found to be untrue."— quoted in Robert L. Weber, Science With a Smile (1992)
- Periodic Table of the Elements
- Tutoring and Help Sites
- Mr. Stecher's Chemistry Links
"I do not like it, and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it." — Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961) Austrian physicist
- Broadly
useful sites
- The Physics Classroom This is a clearinghouse of useful physics information. Play around and see if it floats your boat.
- PhET Physics Education Technology, a great simulation site!
- Fear of Physics Another clearinghouse.
- Hyperphysics Unwieldy, but quick.
- Flash Animation for Physics Wow!
- Physics Java Applets by C.K. Ng, a fantastic collection
- Units
and Fundamental Constants
- SI Units, definitions, conversions and powers of 10
- Digital Dutch Unit Converter Converts everything for you.
- A Dictionary of Units Explanation of all the different units used in physics, the metric system and English system and the SI unit system.
- Motion
and Kinematics
- Motion in One Dimension From the Physics Classroom.
- One Dimensional Motion Multimedia From the Physics Classroom.
- Race Some Red Trucks From Fear of Physics.
- Let's Drop Something From Fear of Physics.
- Projectile Motion Java Applet This program allows you to plot the trajectory of a projectile. Note that the mass of the object only matters if you include air resistance. This is because the y-direction acceleration is always g, regardless of mass. Try playing around with the angle of the projectile until you find the one that produces the most distance. Note also that the projectile spends the most amount of time at the height of its trajectory: think Michael Jordan appearing to float at the peak of his jump. Remember this site next time you need to fire a missile at someone.
- Shoot a cannonball into orbit This is a simplistic program trying to make the connection between Earth-bound trajectories (like throwing a rock at someone) and orbital trajectories. The basic idea is that an object is in orbit when it is thrown so fast that, by the time it hits the ground, the curvature of the Earth has caused it to miss its landing! Goofy but informative.
- Newton's
Laws and Forces
- Newton's Laws From the Physics Classroom.
- Orbit Simulation From Fear of Physics.
- Frictional Force & Pulley Applet This is a very useful demonstration of Newton's Laws. Be sure to read the instructions below the game to see how to work the controls. See if you can pull the thing so fast that the upper block falls right off the lower block!
- Newton's 2nd Law Check your understanding: you make the prediction, it keeps your score.
- Newton's Law of Gravity Better than an apple on the head. Kind of equationish, not for the math-phobic.
- Rotational
Motion & Centripetal Force
- Circular Motion From the Physics Classroom.
- The Carousel This is a nice way of visualizing centripetal forces. Remember: if something is moving in a circle, the force on it better be pointing at the center of the circle! There is no outward force! (That tendency to go outwards if the inward force is removed is nothing more than Newton's First Law ... it's just executing straight-line motion.)
- Rolling wheel Ok, so this is kind of a technical looking thing. Good if you're really trying to figure out what is happening when a hoop or wheel is rolling along the ground. Notice that the relative speed between the bottom of the wheel and the ground is always zero!
- Conservation
of Momentum
- Momentum Conservation From the Physics Classroom.
- Collisions Simulation From Fear of Physics.
- Cannonball and Railcar Cute simulation showing what happens when a cannonball collides with a railroad car. Check the data by calculating what you expect -- see if your calculation and their numbers agree!
- Conservation
of Energy
- Wikipedia: Conservation of Energy An extensive site with a lot of links and some historical information.
- Hyperphysics: Conservation Laws A summary of the conservation laws.
- I Can't Get Enough Rollercoasters Do you sense a theme?
- Simple
Harmonic Motion (SHM)
- SHM Java Applet This makes the important connection between circular motion and simple harmonic motion. At the heart here is the relationship between sines, cosines, and circles. If you move on in Engineering or Physics, you'll run into this quite a bit.
- Spring and Graph How a sine wave graph is related to simple harmonic motion of a mass on a spring.
- PhET Spings and Energy The graph helps show how energy changes from potential to kinetic to elastic.
- SHM Notes Clearly written notes on SHM.
- SHM Calculator This thing does the math for you. What more do you want?
- Waves
- Ripple Tank Java Demo This is the best demonstration of wave motion and interference. You can draw walls in and everything!
- Demonstration of Sound Waves in Air There are a bunch of great simulations here on sound waves.
- Interference and Beats How interference works for two waves, and how beats are formed. Some nice graphs.
- Electromagnetic Radiation Also known as light. Brought to you by the University of Colorado.
- Doppler shift physlet Why sirens and trains sound the way they do.
- Pressure and Thermal Physics
- Electrostatics
- Electric Fields Java Applet This might be one of the prettiest programs we've linked to here. This is a great way to visualize electric fields, electric potentials, and other nifty things. Place charges as you like.
- Magnetic
Fields
- Motion in a magnetic field Java applet A bit technical looking, but maybe easier than the right hand rule? :)
- How to Do the Right Hand Rule A movie, even!
- More Right Hand Rule More movies.
- More Right Hand Rule and Rail Gun! Love it.
- Magnetic
Induction, Electric Motors and Generators
- Electric generator demonstration Great cartoon that gets at the basics of power generation. The difference between wind power, hydroelectric power, etc., is just in what turns the crank!
- Faraday's experiment as a Java applet Another cartoon that demonstrates the relationship between magnetism and current induction.
- Electric
Circuits
- Ohm's Law in circuits and online practice quiz I remember having a lot of trouble with these concepts in high school. Be sure to review the simplest circuit, and make sure you know what we mean by "voltage drop".
- Microscopic view of Ohm's Law Ok, so this is pretty technical, but it's important to just realize that there is a microscopic explanation for Ohm's Law.
- Relativity
- The Spacetime Lab "It's a good thing I don't have a spaceship."
- Gravity as Curved Spacetime How you know the world is weird.
- Radioactivity,
Particle Physics & Feynman Diagrams
- Periodic Table of the Elements
- Standard Model of Physics You'll need the print version of this chart to do many of the problems in the unit on particle physics.
- Particle Adventure Adventure? Please. Still, pretty interesting.
- Wikipedia: Richard Feynman biography A truly interesting dude.
- The Feynman Diagram If you like the diagrams and want to learn more, here's a great place to check out. Hosted by our own SLAC.
"Life's too short for chess." -- Henry James Byron, Our Boys , 1874
- Fun
Games
- Space Penguin Thanks to Nick M. for sending me this one: this is an addictive projectile motion & gravitational orbit game. Wowza.
- Truck Dismount Thanks to Jack K. and Steve H. for getting me on this one. Brutal.
- History
of Games
- A Clash between Game and Narrative Talk about a thesis.
Whereupon
are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of
God shouted for joy?
- Bible
, Job (ch. XXXVIII, v. 6-7)
- Astronomy
Image Sites
- Astronomy Picture of the Day If you only look at one site on this entire page ...
- The Nine Planets By Bill Arnett, a beautiful tour
- The Messier Catalog Hosted by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
- NASA Solar System Simulator Make your own pictures ... a great program.
- Lunation This will help you understand the phases of the moon.
- Map a Planet from USGS -- pretty fantastic!
- Observatories
- Hubble Space Telescope The one, the only.
- Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) The most important experiment you've never heard of.
- Chandra X-ray Observatory Revolutionized our understanding of the universe of the very, very hot.
- LIGO Observatory Got gravity waves?
- U.S. Naval Observatory This site is great for numerical data, like sunrise and sunset times, phases of the moon, and the like.
- SETI@Home You could be the one.
- Astrobiology at NASA Sport of the future!
- Extrasolar Planets Yeah, there's over a hundred planets known now. If you think about it, we're living in a pretty amazing time.
- Bay
Area Astronomy Resources
- Clear Sky Clock: SF Find out if you're going to have clouds, light pollution, moon pollution, or whatever, before heading out to observe.
- Morrison Planetarium Closed for renovations, I understand.
- San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
- SF Sidewalk Astronomers
- Astronomical Society of the Pacific We are fortunate to have so prestigious an educational organization so close to us here in the city.
- Chabot Space and Science Center A beautiful museum and planetarium.
- The Exploratorium If you haven't been here, and you live anywhere near SF, you gotsta go.
- Heavens Above Satellite Finder Wanna see the International Space Station with your own eyes?
- Online Astronomy Tutoring and Help Sites
- Astronomy
News & Analysis
- Bad Astronomy Debunk your friend's dumb theories.
- LANL Astrophysics Abstract Archive Advanced, but everything you need.
- Yahoo! Astronomy News
- Astronomy
Organizations
- American Astronomical Society This is the main astronomical organization in the US.
- AAS Meeting Abstracts
- Astronomical Society of the Pacific We are fortunate to have so prestigious an educational organization so close to us here in the city.
- UC Berkeley Astronomy Department
- SFSU Physics and Astronomy Department
- UC Santa Cruz Astronomy Department
- UC Davis Physics and Astronomy Department
- Stanford Physics and Astronomy Department
- Astronomy
Demonstrations
- U. Colorado EM Waves A great graphical introduction to the nature of light.
- Interactive Absorption & Emission Spectra This is useful for qualitatively describing the spectra of the fundamental chemical elements.
- Powers of 10 A beautiful and famous trip through the universe.
- Phases of the Moon Once you get this, the night sky feels like a giant clock.
- Moon Calendar Helps you to plan your camping trips on the new moon.
- Galaxy Crash Play God and smash galaxies together. Try to recreate famous collisions, like The Mice.
- Interactive Solar System Live
- Interactive Spectra
- Astronomy
Education
- Project ASTRO This volunteer organization hooks astronomers up with local teachers, so that kids in the classroom get a chance to look through a telescope.
- Goals for Astronomy 101
- AAS Innovations in Teaching I (1997)
- AAS Innovations in Teaching II (1997)
- AAS Innovations in Teaching III (1997)
- Role-playing exercises for astronomy teachers
- Astronomy Education Review (Journal)
- Strategies for Teaching Astronomy
An engineer is someone who washes their hands before going to
the toilet.
- Unknown
- Engineering Education
- Engineering Videos
- Engineering
Sites
- http://www.nanoreisen.de/ Nanotechnology site.
"Tell a man that there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you.... Tell him that a bench has wet paint upon it and he'll have to touch it to be sure." - Raimond Verwei
"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Edsger Dijkstra
- Organizations
- Theory
- Practice