Physics Gateways and Resources
The Physics Gateways and Resources collection is comprised of physics-related web portals, web sites, and individual digital resources identified by National Science Digital Library staff as appropriate for inclusion in the Library. Many of the materials to be found here were suggested by NSDL users. The collection encompasses portals, sites, and resources in many areas of the discipline, including electromagnetism, classical mechanics, optics, oscillations and waves, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and other areas. Here may be found materials for physics educators and learners (early childhood through graduate school), resources intended for the general public, and materials aimed at physics research communities.
Details about NSDL selection criteria are provided in the NSDL Collection Development Policy. To recommend an addition or additions to this collection, please complete NSDL's Recommend a Resource form.
The collection provides access to third-party resources; individual items must be consulted for terms of use.
American Association of Physics Teachers
http://www.aapt.org/
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) serves the needs of physics educators in settings ranging from high schools through research universities. The organization's site provides general information about membership, ... Full description
American Physical Society: Careers in Physics
http://www.aps.org/careers/student/index.cfm
This page features information for students who wish to pursue careers in physics. Topics include academic preparation for middle school, undergraduate, and graduate/postdoctoral students, biographies of physicists working in vari... Full description
An Idiosyncratic History of Giant Magnetoresistance
http://wiki.nsdl.org/index.php/PALE:ClassicArticles/GMR
NSDL Classic Articles in Context. Issue 2, December 2008. Article and learning module devoted to giant magnetoresistance. Full description
Animation Physics
http://www.animationphysics.com/
Animation Physics is a site with resources, such as tutorials, for animation artists. The goal is to present basic physics that's useful to and in the language understood by these artists. Full description
Animations for Physics and Astronomy
http://phys23p.sl.psu.edu/phys_anim/Phys_anim.htm
This collection of animations illustrates basic concepts in physics and astronomy. Topics include astronomy, mechanics, vectors, electricity and magnetism, waves, optics, and many others. The animations are organized by topic and ... Full description
arXiv.org
http://arxiv.org/
ArXiv.org provides open access to close to 500,000 e-prints in physics, mathematics, statistics, nonlinear sciences, computer science, and quantitative biology. It provides search within subject areas and by author, title, abstrac... Full description
Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table
http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/atoms/
This is a section of an online textbook ("Chem 1 Virtual Textbook") on General Chemistry at the first-year college or advanced high-school level. It provides an introduction to the structure and properties of the elements and thei... Full description
Biography of Edmund Clifton Stoner
http://theor.jinr.ru/~kuzemsky/stonbio.html
Biography of Edmund Clifton Stoner including discussion of the the Stoner Criterion. Full description
Blackbody Radiation Lab Using Leslie's Cube
http://webphysics.davidson.edu/course_material/ModernPhysicsLabs/blackbody.html
In this lab experiment, students will investigate the emissivity of different metal surfaces, and investigate the extent to which a tungsten light bulb filament emulates a black body when heated. To investigate the emissivity of s... Full description
Born Approximation
http://electron6.phys.utk.edu/QM2/modules/m7/born.htm
Presentation of the calculations of the Born Approximation Full description
CERN Courier: International Journal of High-Energy Physics
http://cerncourier.com/
The CERN Courier is the journal of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN is an acronym for the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, which led to the formation of the current organization). The journal fea... Full description
CERN Document Server
http://cdsweb.cern.ch/
The CERN Document Server contains over 900,000 bibliographic records, including 360,000 full-text documents, of interest to people working in particle physics and related areas. It covers preprints, articles, books, journals, phot... Full description
CNS Institute for Physics Teachers
http://www.cns.cornell.edu/cipt/
This professional development program from Cornell University's Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), designed specifically for high-school physics teachers, updates educators on recent advances in physics and related applications. ... Full description
Coalition for Plasma Science
http://www.plasmacoalition.org/index.html
Created to increase public understanding of plasma science, this site presents brief papers introducing particular aspects of plasma science and its practical applications, plus an excellent Teachers Guide to Plasma Science Resour... Full description
Coaster Creator
http://www.jason.org/PublicPage/CoasterCreator.aspx
What if you had to design a roller coaster that provided maximum thrills, while still keeping riders safe? The JASON Project's Coaster Creator digital lab is an interactive game that explores the science behind roller coasters. Us... Full description
Current density
http://maxwell.byu.edu/~spencerr/websumm122/node46.html
Explanation of current density as distinct from current. Full description
Doppler Effect Applet
http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/java/Doppler.html
This applet lets students interactively experience the Doppler effect. The user can adjust the position of an "observer" relative to the wave source (a jet plane), change the plane's speed, observe how the waveforms change in freq... Full description
Einstein Light
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/
This award-winning site provides an accessible introduction to the theories of Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein. It uses multimedia modules with animations and video clips to explain mechanics and Galilean relativity, electr... Full description
Expert System for Thermodynamics
http://www.thermofluids.net/
The Expert System for Thermodynamics (TEST) is a web-based software platform used to analyze thermofluids problems, verify hand calculations, pursue what-if scenarios, visualize thermal systems, and conduct other investigations in... Full description
Fermilab: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
http://www.fnal.gov/
Fermilab is a national science laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy and the home of the Tevatron, currently the world's most powerful particle accelerator. Site materials include an overview of the lab's research into high-... Full description
GMR in hard drive read head animation
http://www.research.ibm.com/research/demos/gmr/1.swf
This Flash animation illustrates composite. multilayer materials in the read head of a hard disk drive's actuator. Full description
Hard Disk Drive and GMR
http://www.research.ibm.com/research/demos/gmr/1.swf
This Shockwave presentation illustrates the relationship of the read head in a computer hard drive and the expression of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR). Full description
Historical Scientific Instrument Gallery
http://physics.unl.edu/history/histinstr/
This virtual gallery features a collection of scientific instruments used in the early days of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The gallery's inroduction briefly describes the history ... Full description
Institute of Physics Electronic Journals
http://journals.iop.org/
This database provides online access to all electronic journals published by the Institute of Physics (IOP), including current issues and an archive of historical publications dating back to 1874. The database is searchable by key... Full description
Interview with Albert Fert
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2007/fert-telephone.html
This transcript of an interview between Adam Smith of the Nobel Foundation's Website describes Fert's work that to his sharing Nobel Prize in Physic with Peter Grunberg in 2007. Full description
Laboratory Experiments Using Technology: Learning Materials from the EMPOWER Project
http://www.science-house.org/teacher/empower/labs.html
This collection of physics activities uses calculator- and computer-based probeware (CBL/CBL2/LabPro technology) to explore topics in motion and force, sound and light. The demonstrations were developed by middle-school teachers u... Full description
Large Hadron Collider: Particle Collision Animation
http://hands-on-cern.physto.se/ani/acc_lhc_atlas/lhc_atlas.swf
This animation shows how the protons move through the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator system and then collide in the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) detector. The animation needs the program Macromedia Flash Player. Full description
Letters from the Past: A PRL Retrospective
http://prl.aps.org/50years/milestones
As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Physical Review Letter (PRL), the American Physical Society is presenting throughout 2008 a series of milestone Letters that made long-lived contributions to physics; the selec... Full description
Light and Matter: Introductory Physics Textbooks
http://www.lightandmatter.com/books.html
This series of six books is intended for a one-year introductory course in physics of the type typically taken by biology majors. Algebra and trigonometry are used, and there are optional calculus-based sections. The books may be ... Full description
Molecular Expressions: Electricity & Magnetism: Resistance
http://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=5311
Comprehensive tutorial on resistance, accompanied by three interactive simulations. One allows the user to glimpse resistance at a molecular level; the second explores Ohm's Law; and the third introduces the use of color coding in... Full description
Molecular Workbench: An Interface to the Molecular World
http://mw.concord.org/modeler/index.html
This software provides interactive, visual simulations of molecules and atoms in real time, in both two and three dimensions, using molecular dynamics methods. The simulations cover topics such as classical mechanics, mechanical e... Full description
Nano, Quantum and Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics: Educational Sites
http://tigger.uic.edu/~mansoori/Thermodynamics.Educational.Sites_html
This collection of links provides access to web sites associated with nano, quantum, and statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. The links are arranged by type: basic principles (including classical thermodynamics), nano, quantu... Full description
Nano, Quantum, and Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics: Data and Property Calculation Websites
http://tigger.uic.edu/~mansoori/Thermodynamic.Data.and.Property_html
This collection of links provides access to web sites associated with nano, quantum, and statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. The links are arranged by type: data sites, calculation/program download sites, organizations invol... Full description
Nori's Java Applets: Physics Simulations
http://www2.biglobe.ne.jp/~norimari/science/JavaApp/e-JavaP.html
This collection of Java applets lets students run interactive simulations of a variety of physics topics: docking with a space station, conservation of mechanical energy, planetary motion, the structure of an atom, and many others... Full description
Optical Microscopy Primer
http://microscope.fsu.edu/primer/index.html
This tutorial provides an introduction to optical microscopy and imaging. Topics include the physics of light and color, the anatomy of optical microscopes, and film and digital techniques for capturing microscopic images. There i... Full description
Optics for Kids: Science and Engineering Behind It
http://www.opticalres.com/kidoptx.html
This site provides an introduction to optics, the science of light, for younger students. Topics include what light is and how it travels; what lenses are and how they work; and what lasers are and what they can do. There is also ... Full description
Optics.org: Lasers, Optics, and Photonics Resources and News
http://optics.org/cws/home
This online journal, or "community website," from Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing features news articles, interviews, and analyses of research and industry in optics, photonics, and laser technology. The site also provides i... Full description
Paul Drude
http://www.pdi-berlin.de/paul-drude
Biographic profile of Paul Drude Full description
PER Central
http://www.per-central.org/
Physics Education Research (PER) Central is a collection of information and resources for physics education research. Site materials include articles, theses and dissertations, links to research groups, curricular material, news a... Full description
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca
The Perimeter Institute supports research in cosmology, quantum foundations, particle physics, quantum gravity, quantum information theory, and superstring theory, and conducts educational outreach to teachers, students, and the g... Full description
Physical Review Focus
http://focus.aps.org/
This online digest provides selections from the American Physical Society (APS) journals "Physical Review" and "Physical Review Letters." These articles, explained for students and researchers in all fields of physics, are suitabl... Full description
Physical Setting/Physics Core Curriculum
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/pub/phycoresci.pdf
This guide is intended to assist high-school teachers and supervisors as they prepare curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the physics content and process skills of the New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Sci... Full description
Physics 8.02: Electricity and Magnetism
http://evangelion.mit.edu/802TEAL3D/
This is the online version of a course on electricity and magnetism taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Topics covered include vector fields, electrostatics, magnetostatics, Faraday's Law, and light. The cou... Full description
Physics Applets
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/
This collection of interactive JAVA applets features items suitable for use in physics, astronomy, or environmental science courses. The applets are arranged by topic: astronomy, energy and environment, mechanics, and thermodynami... Full description
Physics Demonstrations
http://www.science-house.org/learn/demos/index.html
A collection of in-depth physics demonstrations with instructions for doing it yourself, videos that let you see how it's done, and suggestions for developing some of the demos into experiments. The demonstrations were developed a... Full description
Physics Education Research at Illinois-Urbana
http://research.physics.uiuc.edu/PER/
The Physics Education Research group at the University of Illinois-Urbana studies the learning, understanding, and teaching of physics and the application of physics knowledge. As part of an effort to reform the introductory Physi... Full description
Physics Education Technology: Interactive Physics Simulations
http://phet.colorado.edu/new/index.php
The Physics Education Technology (PhET) project provides a collection of simulations for teaching and learning physics and chemistry, as well as teacher-contributed lessons and activities that make use of them. Created by a team a... Full description
Physics Education Technology: Interactive Physics Simulations
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phet/web-pages/index.html
This collection of interactive, research-based simulations introduces students to basic physical phenomena. The simulations cover a variety of topics: motion, sound, and waves; light and radiation; electricity, magnets, and circui... Full description
Physics.org: Your Guide to Physics on the Web
http://www.physics.org/
This comprehensive guide, sponsored by the Institute of Physics, is intended for students, teachers, and parents. The site offers a searchable database providing access to thousands of approved physics-related websites that have b... Full description
Physicsworld.com: A Community Website from IOP Publishing
http://www.physicsweb.org/
This journal, available in both print and online versions, provides news and feature articles, job postings, and product information for those interested in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, nuclear and particle physics, con... Full description
PhysLink.com: Physics and Astronomy Online
http://www.physlink.com/
PhysLink.com is a web directory supplying links to physics and astronomy education, research, and reference sites, and some original content. The education page features an ask-the-expert blog feature; links to sites on the histor... Full description
Planck's Constant Physics 2000
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/quantumzone/photoelectric2.html
Animated explanation of Planck's Constant, h = 6.626 x 10^-34 J*s . Full description
Primer on Quantum Theory of the Atom
http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtut/atomic/qprimer/
This question-and-answer tutorial provides an introduction to quantum theory and the electron structure of the atom. Suitable for advanced high-school students and those beginning postsecondary education, this "quantum catechism" ... Full description
Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Cavitation
http://cav2001.library.caltech.edu/
This archive features electronic versions of the papers presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Cavitation (CAV 2001) held at the California Institute of Technology on June 20-23, 2001. Materials include invited lecture... Full description
Quantum Physics Made Relatively Simple: Three Lectures by Hans Bethe
http://bethe.cornell.edu/
These lectures were delivered by legendary Cornell University theoretical physicist Hans Bethe (1906-2005) in 1999 to his neighbors at a retirement community in Ithaca, New York. The lectures are presented as large or small videos... Full description
QuarkNet
http://quarknet.fnal.gov/index.html
QuarkNet, a professional development program for high-school physics teachers, is intended to involve them and their students in collaborative high-energy physics experiments and research. During the summer months, teachers collab... Full description
SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
http://ads.astro.puc.cl/
This digital library, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under a NASA grant, offers three bibliographic databases containing more than 6.7 million records: astronomy and astrophysics, physics, and arXiv e-... Full description
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
http://www.iap.tuwien.ac.at/www/surface/STM_Gallery/stm_schematic.html
Description of a scanning tunneling microscopy, a technique developed in the eighties and allows imaging solid surfaces with unprecedented resolution. Full description
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
http://www.iap.tuwien.ac.at/www/surface/STM_Gallery/stm_schematic.html
Description of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Full description
SciCentral: Physics and Chemistry News
http://www.scicentral.com/P-02phys.html
This site provides links to physics- and chemistry-related news articles from a variety of outlets and journals. Sources featured on the site must be freely accessible to online readers and are ranked by the editors based on relia... Full description
Science Club: Kids' Science Projects
http://scienceclub.org/kidproj1.html
This collection of science projects covers electricity and magnets, optics, and other physical science topics. The projects are arranged by simple, medium, and advanced skill levels, and include videos that show the materials used... Full description
Science of Spectroscopy
http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/
This Wiki-based resource provides an introduction to spectroscopy for advanced high-school and postsecondary students. The site uses real-world applications of spectroscopy to involve students and provides links to external resour... Full description
Science of Sports
http://www.science-house.org/student/bw/sports/index.html
A collection of lab activities using computers and/or calculator-based probeware to investigate the basic physics and physiology behind most sports. The activities were developed for and used during a summer camp for high-school s... Full description
Soundry
http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/
The Soundry is a collection of resources that introduce users to the most basic concepts of what sound actually is, as well as to the specifics of how humans perceive sound. Topics include psychoacoustics (the study of the structu... Full description
Special Libraries Association: Resources in Physics
http://units.sla.org/division/dpam/subjects/phys.html
This directory provides access to online resources in physics, astronomy, and mathematics. These items include directories and biographies of people in these disciplines, links to websites of professional societies, and informatio... Full description
Spin Dynamics and Magnetic Multilayers
http://www.diva-portal.org/diva/getDocument?urn_nbn_se_uu_diva-8168-1__fulltext.pdf.
Spin Dynamics and Magnetic Multilayers, by BJÖRN SKUBIC is part of theDigital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, number 326 (2007). Full description
Video Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations
http://www.physicsdemos.com/
The Video Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations is a comprehensive set of interactice physics demonstrations and explanatory materials with equipment lists. Subscription required. Full description
Visual Physics
http://library.thinkquest.org/10170/main.htm
This collection of physics applets encourages active learning and interaction and helps to integrate web-based resources into physics teaching. The applets are organized by topic: force, work, tension, torque, projectile motion, m... Full description
Visualizing Relativity
http://wwwvis.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/relativity/
This software permits photorealistic simulation of scenes and relativistic phenomena using computer graphics to show features that could never be seen in real life at the scales of human time and space. It is part of a course in t... Full description
When Things Get Small
http://www.ucsd.tv/getsmall/
This television program provides a humorous look at the nanoscale world and nanotechnology. It provides an idea of how small a nanomemter is by using familiar objects such as a human hair, peanuts, and others, and discusses the ph... Full description
Why Doesn't the Electron Fall into the Nucleus?
http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtut/atomic/WhyTheElectron.html
This tutorial offers a conceptual and nonmathematical answer to a question rarely given explicit treatment in conventional textbooks, and often answered incorrectly by teachers in terms of classical mechanics. The explanation cove... Full description
XAFS.org
http://xafs.org
X-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) is a spectroscopic technique that uses x-rays to probe the physical and chemical structure of matter at an atomic scale. XAFS.org is a community website (a wiki), editable by its users. Site ... Full description