Welcome to the Science Sims at CCNY. We build modern simulations to illustrate scientific principles. Most of the sims available are physics related. However, we are currently working on expanding the offerings to other disciplines.

The goal of this project is twofold:

a) to build new, simulations of basic science concepts, and

b) to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in the art of programming and science communication.

We use modern web tools to build ultra clear simulations that illustrate an abstract concept or idea from basic science, without cluttering the screen with unnecessary elements.

Check out our team!

FAQ

What should we do with these?

These sims are meant to supplement lecture notes, web pages, or slides1 just like figures would do in a book. Except with these, students and instructors can interact with the ‘figure’ to some degree. They are not intended to be the basis full labs (though, again, one could supplement an existing lab manual with them)

Hasn’t this been done before?

Of course, everything had been done before to some degree. However, these are built with all modern technology (i.e. no flash/java) and are in general designed with mobile devices in mind. No need to install awkward Java runtimes, or other obscure frameworks. Just open in a browser and you’re off to the races.

They’re too simple.

Great, that’s the whole point. These are intended to illustrate one concept per sim, with as few distractions as possible. There are more complicated and advanced sims out there. See this page at Foothill College Astro Sims for a big list of physics related sims.

Can you make one about x?

Probably, send me a note, or post an issue on the GitHub page and I’ll see what we can do.

I found a bug.

Great, make it an issue.

  1. Currently, it’s a little tricky to embed these into say a power point slide. However, if you are more adventurous or experienced in some web-dev, you could write up some slides using, Slides.com. Then you could embed these as iframes within a presentation. (This is what I do during class)

This project was initially funded via CUNY Advance and a PSC-CUNY Enhanced grant.