The electric generator is an advanced topic, and if you are just beginning your study of physics, it presents you with many unfamiliar concepts.
However, the simulation shows how we can take advantage of software to allow you to change the viewing angle and to view processes that
change over time.
If you want to see more simulations we enjoyed creating: “dragging” a ball to match a graph, sliding a block up a plane, electromagnetic
induction, electric potential, space docking mission and wave interference. You can click on any of these topics and the link will take you to that
section. There are many simulations; to see even more of them, you can click on the table of contents, pick a chapter, and then click on any
section whose name starts with “interactive problem.”
To move to the next section, click on the right arrow in the black bar above or below, the arrow to the right of 0.0.0.1 - Whiteboards
Right now, you are reading the text of this textbook. Its design is similar to that found in
traditional textbooks. By “text,” we mean the words you are reading and the illustrations
and writing you see to the right.
As you read the words, study the illustrations and work the problems, you may feel as
though you are using a traditional textbook. (We like to think it is well-conceived and
well-written, but that is for you to judge.) You can print out this textbook and use it as
you would a traditional print textbook.
When you use the electronic version of this book, however, you have access to an
entirely different way of learning the material. It starts with what we call the whiteboards.
You launch the whiteboards by clicking on the illustrations to the right. They present the
same material discussed in the text, but do so using a sequence of narrated animations.
The text and the whiteboards cover essentially the same material. You could learn
physics exclusively through the whiteboards, or you could learn it all via the words and
pictures you now see. The text sometimes contains additional material: the history of
the topic, an application of a principle and so on. Everything found in the whiteboards is
always found in the text, so you do not have to click through them unless you find them
a useful way to learn. The point is: You have a choice. You may also find a combination
of the two particularly useful, especially for topics you find challenging.
If you are reading this on a computer, try clicking on the illustration titled “Concept 1” to
the right. This will open the whiteboard in a separate window. Each whiteboard is
equipped with animations, audio and its own set of controls. Both this textbook and the
whiteboards can be used simultaneously. If you do not have headphones or
speakers, click on the “show text” button after you open the whiteboard.This will
allow you to read the whiteboard narration.
The electronic format provides a visually compelling way for you to learn what can be
complex concepts and formulas. For instance, instead of a static diagram that
represents a car rounding a curve, our format allows us to actually show the car moving
and turning. We can also show you a greater amount of information í for example, how
the horizontal and vertical velocities of the car change over time.
Typical sections throughout the book feature three graphic elements on the right side of
the page, corresponding to three parts of the whiteboard. The first introduces the
concept: For instance, what does the term “displacement” mean? The second contains
the equation: How is displacement calculated? The third, located at the bottom right,
then works an example problem to test your understanding of the concept and the
equation.
The textbook contains hundreds of these whiteboards. If you would like to view some
more to get a sense of how animation and audio play together, you can browse any
chapter. You can explore topics like displacement, graphing simple harmonic motion,
hitting a baseball, electric field diagrams, determining the type of image produced by a
mirror and the force of a magnetic field on a moving charged particle.
To move to the next section, click on the right-arrow in the black bar above or below,
the arrow to the right of 0.1.Whiteboards
Illustrate physics concepts
Explain with narrationWhiteboard components
Concept slides explain idea
Equations provide formula(s)
(^2) Copyright 2000-2007 Kinetic Books Co. Chapter 00