Coffeeshop Physics
by Jim Pivarski

Magnetodynamics
Needs Unity Web Player to run: click to install

Download the documentation

Van de Graaff Example

This one demonstrates the static electricity simulation: balloons, particles, a ball bearing, and staticy fabric are attracted to the Van de Graaff generator when it's on.

Interactivity

You can turn the Van de Graaff generator on and off by pressing its red button. If the charged ball bearing and the particle accelerator are visible, you can move them, too.

Details

Magnetodynamics contains tools for simulating magnets and static electricity. The magnetic and electric fields are not coupled (Ampère's law and Faraday's law), since that would be computationally expensive. The goal of this project is to emulate the effects that are large enough to be easily noticed by humans, such as static cling. See the documentation for details.

Tabletop Experiments Van de Graaff Demo Ball magnets Sun and Earth
Flying Wrenches Hovering Magnet Beam through Solenoid Geomagnetism Antimatter in a Penning Trap