Skip to Content Go to sign in Skip to Primary Navigation Skip to Secondary Navigation Skip to Page Navigation Skip to Header Navigation Skip to Footer Navigation Read more about accessability options and our navigation

Physics Classroom is making strides to make our site accessible to everyone. Our site contains 6 navigation areas. The Primary, Secondary, and Page Level navigations have a screen reader version of their nav structure that allows using the left and right keys to navigate sibling navigation items, and up or down keys to navigate parent or child navigation items. The others can be navigated using tabs. The Primary Navigation handles the first 2 levels of site pages. The Secondary (which is not always available) handles the 3rd and 4th level of structure. The Page level navigation allows you to navigate the current page's headings quickly. The Header Navigation contains the Light/Dark Mode toggle, Search, Notifications and account login. The Breadcrumb Navigation contains the breadcrumb of the current page. If the current page has a breadcrumb, you can get to it by skipping to the content and tabbing in reverse (shift plus tab). The Footer Navigation contains links such as Privacy, Contact, about and terms. Some resources contain an Audio Player that can be activated by holding down the T key for 3 seconds, and then using K to pause and resume. While not every area of Physics Classroom is usable purely from keyboard and screen reader, we are committed to continue work on making this possible. If you have questions or need additional help, please use this link to contact us.

Return to screen reader navigation
Home Interactives Magnetic Fields and Electromagnetism

Interactive - Magnetic Fields and Electromagnetism

Observe the interaction between a bar magnet and the needle of a compass with our Magnetic Field Simulator. And explore the inner workings of a Bainbridge mass spectrometer with our Mass Spectrometer simulation.

Activities

Bar Magnets

Experiment with six bar magnets. Drag them about. Flip them around. Orient them as you please. Observe their attractions and repulsions. And observe how changes in position and orientation affect the magnetic field in the surrounding space.

Bar Magnets
Electromagnet

What is needed to make an electromagnet? And what can increase the strength of the magnetic field created by an electromagnet? Explore these questions and more with our Electromagnet simulation.

Electromagnet
Magnetic Fields

Need a magnet and some iron filings? How about a compass? No worries because we got you covered with our Magnetic Fields Interative. Drag a compass needle through the space surrounding a bar magnet and observe the magnetic field created by the bar magnet.

Magnetic Fields
The Mass Spectrometer

It costs big $$$ to use one of these "Mass Spec" machines. But we'll give you time on ours free of charge. Tap this link and start firing ions down the chamber to see how much stuff they're made of. Take some time to analyze each section - the charge accelerator, the velocity selector, and the detector. We don't know if its worth a million $$$, but we do know it's worth your visit.

The Mass Spectrometer

Special thanks to Kirby!

Return to Screen Reader Navigation