If you are studying physics, and you are about 15 years old, you have probably already heard about Uniform Rectilinear Motion (mru) and Uniformly Accelerated Rectilinear Motion (mrua), as well as their equations, which are necessary to solve the typical problems of “a car is traveling at a constant speed of 10 m/s and another one starts 30 seconds later with an acceleration of 3 m/s2, where and when do they meet?”
The question is… can the Internet help us simulate these types of movements?
Yes, you can, and here are some interesting options.
Online cinematic simulators
There are many online simulators, and none of them allow you to place two objects moving simultaneously on the same graph, but we can always open two browser windows and compare them side by side (or one above and one below).
Desmos
A web application where we have to enter the value of the variables (initial space, initial velocity, and acceleration) and play back the time to see how a point moves in an accelerated or uniform manner, depending on whether the acceleration value was marked as zero or not.
Desmos is very useful for viewing the distance traveled over time, and we can have two windows open at the same time, with two different movements, to simulate cars, thus seeing how they are positioned.
It’s not visually very attractive, but it’s very useful and easy to use.
oPhysics
More oriented toward understanding the relationship between space, velocity, and acceleration through graphics. This simulator doesn’t display time, and moving objects aren’t shown as in the previous example, but it can help better understand certain concepts.
Buddy
Very visual, but it doesn’t allow you to customize variables. Just select the cases from the drop-down menu and see how the car moves based on your selection. It’s ideal for viewing and playing with before getting serious about problem-solving.
geogrebra
An MRU simulator where we have to set the variables at the bottom so that the train moves correctly on the graph. The version with acceleration is at this other link.
Walter Fendt
In this simulator, we have a simulator integrated into the browser, with a “nice” yellow background, complete with a car.
PHET
And we finish with a Java simulation (which takes longer to load) of the “accelerating man.” In it, we can choose to view the movement in the traditional way or with the graphics updating in real time.
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to send them to our social media channels.