An Example of the Interaction between Virtual and Physical Experiments in Dynamics

Abstract

A web-based interactive virtual experiment on the subject of conservation of angular momentum is presented. Students can perform the virtual experiment anywhere via the web before executing the actual physical experiment in a laboratory. The virtual experiment is designed to incorporate factors and parameters that could be estimated or fixed arbitrarily, or to be varied based on the results of the physical experiment. Students will then have a better understanding of the limitations of a virtual experiment and how a physical experiment could help to refine the corresponding virtual experiment.