The Royal Society of Chemistry and Learn Chemistry are proud to sponsor the conversion of five PhET simulations from flash into HTML5. This means they will play now also nicely on a range of tablets and mobile devices, as well as desktop computers. They are also being updated, bringing their designs into 2014 too! The first simulations released from our partnership are Build an Atom, Beer’s Law and Concentration. These simulations are popular with teachers around the world due to the minimal language barrier and those with language included are rapidly translated by PhETs very active community.




      Beer's Law simulation


















                            Build an Atom simulation







 Concentration simulation


But why? I think PhET can explain it really well in their own words:

PhET provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena for free. We believe that our research-based approach- incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing- enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the physical world.

The PhET simulations can help students visually comprehend the concepts by using animations to bring the invisible to life - Build an Atom and Build a Molecule (flash) in particular. Simulations can be explored in a freeform fashion using drag-and-drop, sliding and measurement instruments such as rulers, pH meters and thermometers. The user affects the responses immediately thus demonstrating cause and effect relationships.

All PhET animations are free to use and more can be found on their website. Look out for more RSC sponsored simulations in the next few months (pH and Acid-Base solutions)…!