Physics and chemistry simulations
21 interactive physics and chemistry simulations from GCSE to university, with live graphs, readouts and a prediction challenge.
GCSE
Forces & acceleration
Push harder than friction
Forces on a slope
Will it slide, or stay put?
Momentum and collisions
Bounce, crunch or stick together?
Mass on a spring
Stretch it, let go, watch it bounce
Waves on a string
Add two waves, find the nodes
Refraction and Snell's law
Bend light, then trap it
Lenses and ray diagrams
Where does the image land?
Series & parallel circuits
Series or parallel: which wins?
Radioactive decay
Which nucleus goes next?
Gas laws
Squeeze it, heat it, feel the pressure
Reaction rates
Make A and B react faster
A-level
Projectile motion
Which angle flies furthest?
Pendulum
What really sets the swing?
Orbits and Kepler's laws
Launch a planet. Will it come back?
Capacitor charging and discharging
How long until it's half full?
Electric fields and equipotentials
Where does the field cancel out?
Double slit and diffraction grating
Two slits, a row of bright lines
Photoelectric effect
Why can't red light do it?
University
More simulations: Maths simulations, PhET, Falstad
Learn this properly
Lessons from the Combined and Separate Science courses on this topic: worked steps, then exam-style questions with new numbers every time.
How it works
Physics and Chemistry Simulations is a free virtual lab with 21 interactive simulations, grouped by level. GCSE: forces, slopes, momentum, springs, waves, refraction, lenses, circuits, radioactive decay, gas laws and reaction rates. A-Level: projectiles, pendulums, orbits, capacitors, electric fields, the double slit and the photoelectric effect. University: resonance, the particle in a box and spacetime diagrams. Each one has sliders, live readouts with units, the key equation and a prediction challenge, and every result is checked against the textbook formula.
- Pick a level (GCSE, A-Level or University), then a simulation: each picture shows what it models.
- Set the sliders, such as launch angle, string length, spring constant, voltage, temperature or volume. The readouts update as you move them.
- Press Start (Launch on projectile motion) to run it, Pause to freeze it and Reset to begin again.
- Watch the live graph, such as height against time, alongside the readouts table.
- Pick a playback speed (0.25x to 4x) and open Advanced for more: launch height, gravity on other planets, air resistance and wind for projectiles, and extra options in every other sim.
Tips
- Write down your prediction before you press Start. The Challenge works best when you commit to an answer first and then test it.
- Change one slider at a time and keep the rest fixed. That makes it a fair test, just as you would plan a practical.
- Check the equation against the readouts. On the pendulum, compare the measured period with the small-angle value at a small and a large start angle.
- In Reaction rates, new amounts of A and B take effect when you press Reset, so reset after changing them.
FAQ
- How realistic are the numbers?
- The physics simulations step the standard equations forward in small time steps, so values closely match the formulas shown. Gas laws and Reaction rates are particle models: pressure and rate are counted from collisions on screen, so they wobble around the ideal value.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. Everything runs in your browser on a laptop, tablet or phone, and nothing moves until you press Start.
- Are my settings saved?
- Slider settings reset when you reload. Your points and your best projectile distance are kept in this browser, and a free Brainlag account syncs them across devices.