Rank |
Site |
|
Review |
| Excellent |
World of Physics |
 |
The World of Physics is a collection of hard to find physics facts and
information. Though not an exhaustive treatment of all branches of physics,
the site includes the quantity and units of physical constants (permitivity
of free space for example), definitions of basic physical quanities (such as the
dielectric constant), and derivations of physical laws and theorems (i.e.
Parallel Axis Theorem). The website is the work of Eric Weisstein in
collaboration with Wolfram Research. Eric Weisstein developed this site to make
hard to find technical and educational resources available to scientists and
educators alike. Overall, this website is an excellent reference source for
students and teachers.
|
| Excellent |
Physics Encyclopedia |
 |
The Physics Encyclopedia is an ecyclopedic collection of physics links.
The site includes links to java animations, tutorials, and power point
presentations which teach physics at all educational levels. Some of the
links include American Physical Society, Harvard Univeristy, and Argonne
National Laboratory. This website
is maintained by Igor Ivanov and hosted on Tripod. The site is supported
through advertisements. Even with the slight annoyance of ads, the Physics
Encyclopedia is a wonderful site with links to almost every topic in physics.
|
| Good |
The Laws List |
 |
The Law List is a good dictionary-like reference for looking up the definitions
and laws of physics. The site includes an alphabetical listing of every law from
Ampere's Law to Wien's Displacement Law. One of the strengths of this site is its
speed since it is entirely text based. The site was developed by Erik Max Francis
to be a collection of every law of physics, but he has continued to add rules,
definitions, and thought experiments to his growing site. The Law List is a good
starting point for budding physicists.
|
| Good |
Physics Central |
 |
Physics Central is a physics news site with many good physics links. This site
also has an "Ask a Physicist" section where you can email Dr. Lou about any
subject in physics. One highlight of this site is the buckyball web guide where
sites specifically designed for teachers are available. This site was created by
the American Physical Society to help promote physics on the web. Physics Central
is a great place to have your physics questions answered.
|
| Good |
IPPEX |
 |
The Interactive Plasma Physics Education Experience (IPPEX) is a physics site
which primarily deals with plasma physics. IPPEX contains shockwave animations,
an email question and answer section, and virtual tours of fusion reactors. One
particular interesting feature of this site is the virtual Tokamak reactor where
people can design their own fusion reaction. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
designed IPPEX to help educate the public about fusion research. In conclusion,
The Interactive Plasma Physics Education Experience is a wonderful site for people
interested in plasma physics.
|
| Good |
PhysLink |
 |
PhysLink is a good site for finding university level physics resources. The site
contains links to educational resources, links to different university physics
departments, an "Ask a Physicist" email form, and discussion forums. The
discussion forums allow students and physicists from around the world to discuss
various physics topics. PhysLink was created by Anton Skorucak to provide a variety
of astronomy and physics resources for students and professionals. Overall, PhysLink
is a great site to look up information as well as share your views with others.
|
| Fair |
Big Chalk |
 |
The physics section of Big Chalk offers help for the befuddled student. With topics
ranging from infrared goggles to nuclear vs. fossil fuel, Big Chalk delivers a
spectrum of physics subject matter. One of the strengths of Big Chalk is the inclusion
of World Book Encyclopedia definitions for almost all of the topics. The inclusion of
encyclopedia entries is easily seen form the fact that Big Chalk was created by World
Book. Regardless of corporate sponsorship, Big Chalk is a very useful site with well
written articles.
|
| Fair |
Physics 2000 |
 |
Physics 2000 offers a good deal of information on a select number of topics. The site
primarily uses applets and a question and answer presentation to teach students, mainly high school students,
about physics. One strong feature of Physics 2000 are the user controlled lab applets.
The applets allow students to see in "real time" the effects of a though experiment.
Physics 2000 was created by the University of Colorado at Boulder to give students a
collection of interactive applets to help them learn about physics. Physics 2000 is a fair
site mainly geared toward high school students.
|
| Poor |
DC Physics |
 |
DCPhysics provides a great deal of physics information with a great deal of advertising and broken links.
This site contains links to animations , class lectures, free software, and eBooks.
The lectures are especially helpful for undergraduates, while the applets would be
more useful for high school students. One useful feature of the site is the search bar
which allows one to search the entire site by keyword. DCTech created DCPhysics and uses
the site to sell physics books (REA's Problem Solver). If you can look past the advertising, DCPhysics is a very
useful site.
|
| Poor |
Physics Zone |
 |
Physics Zone is an advertisement that tries to teach physics. Physics Zone consists of
summaries of important physics topics (such as Work and Energy), derivations of laws and theorems
(i.e. Coulomb's Law), and essays about various topics in physics (ex. Radar). Unfortunately,
the site has a lot of pop up ads that can get very annoying and parts of the site are not
complete. One strength the site does have is the ability to download the material as
MS Word documents. This site is maintained by Farid Minawi. Physics Zone is a poor site for all
but the most patient people.
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