This web site contains a collection of very short videos covering topics in classical mechanics. They are electronic, web-delivered versions of demonstrations performed in most introductory physics classes.
Type of Material:
Animation collection
Recommended Uses:
In-class demonstrations and web-based materials for review.
Technical Requirements:
Quicktime or AVI viewers
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Student visualization and model-building using Newton's laws in common physical situations.
Target Student Population:
Introductory physics classes at the high school and college levels.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None, although these videos are supplemental to other resources.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
A broad range of topics are covered by this collection, from basic kinematics through rotational motion and reference frames. The videos are high quality and quite realistic, with the addition of conceptual constructs such as force, acceleration, and velocity vectors. These materials address many standard problems with which students struggle, such as determining force components on an object resting on an incline. The animations of motion in non-inertial frames and the Coriolis effect are especially noteworthy, since comparable items are not widely available.
There are several sequences of videos that connect different systems to the same underlying physics. An example are videos on circular motion of (1) a car going around a banked track, (2) a mass on a string moving in a horizontal circle, and (3) an airplane making a horizontal banked turn.
Concerns:
There exist Java applets that cover the same topics that are interactive and with adjustable parameters, but these videos provide simple-to-use, high-quality, 3D animations of physical systems.
There is a video of a pendulum moving in a vertical circle where the force on the mass is away from the center of rotation. This is obviously not a standard pendulum with a mass on a rope. The author has created animations of a "Car Coasting Through a Vertical Loop" that covers the same topic, but the pendulum simulation could be useful for students who don't pay enough attention to their assumptions.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This material can be used to illustrate difficult concepts, to help explain demonstrations, and to provide students with review materials outside of class. Many of the animations include dynamic free body diagrams; these are a great improvement over static pictures.
Concerns:
No explanatory text is provided with the animations, so it will be up to the instructor to provide the context.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The videos run well and are easily downloaded or linked. An effort has clearly been made to keep file sizes reasonable, so the animations will load quickly.
Concerns:
The "Old Embedded" versions of the videos are available for legacy purposes and may not work on current versions of browsers.
Creative Commons:
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