Frank Potter's Science Gems - Engineering

FYI: Check back weekly, for we will continue to add new resources to the more than 16000 WWW resources that we have located so far.

Latest update: Monday, January 1, 2024.
http://www.sciencegems.com

ENGINEERING SUBCATEGORIES

Techniques: Measurement and Scientific Investigation
Mathematical Methods

Aerospace
Chemical / Environmental
Civil
Control / Electrical
Industrial
Materials

Mechanical
Nuclear
Power
Software
Technical Ceramics
Computers/Internet

Physical Science I

Physical Science II

Physical Science III

Earth Science I

Earth Science II

Life Science

Math

STS

Health

Reference Desk

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ENGINEERING

I. Engineering - Techniques: Measurement and Scientific Investigation

Grades K - 8

NANOWORLD Image Gallery - D. Waddell @ Univ. of Queensland, Australia Electron microscope images in abundance: select Image Gallery to see insects, blood cell, cement, polyp skeleton, crystals, bread mold, rat hair, egg shell, pollen, etc. Also a wonderful section on scale size examples from the atomic & molecular to the cellular and macromolecular.
Laws, Rules, Principles, Effects, Paradoxes, Limits, Constants, Experiments, & Thought-Experiments in Physics - Author E.M Francis, HTML-version K. Hellig, Institute of Physics, Technical University Chemnitz-Zwickau Dictionary of 100's of physics terms and ideas.
Exploratorium Science Snackbook of Science Demonstrations - Exploratorium, San Francisco
Sample of about 40 "snacks" from the 100 in the book for simply constructing and investigating science, from optical illusions to electricity and light. Examples: Afterimage; Anti-Gravity Mirror; Balancing Ball; Balancing Stick; Benham's Disk; Bernoulii Levitator; Bicycle Wheel Gyro; Bird in the Cage; Blind Spot; Blue Sky; Bone Stress; Bridge Light; Bronx Cheer Bulb; Bubble Suspension; Bubble Tray; Cardboard Tube Syllabus; Center of Gravity; Charge and Carry; Cheshire Cat; Circles of Magnetism; Cold metal; Colored Shadows; Condiment Diver; Convections Currents; Cool Hot Rod; Coupled Resonant pendulums; Critical Angle; Curie Point; Diamagnetism; Dipping Bird; Diffraction; Electroscope; Geyser; Hand Battery; Laser Jello; Magnetic Shielding; Peripheral Vision; Resonator; Sense and Taste; Solar Brightness; Spectra; Stripped Down Motor; Tired Weight; Vector Toys; Vortex, etc.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

THE NIST CODATA RECOMMENDED VALUES OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS - E. Richard Cohen and Barry N. Taylor and maintained by the Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards "This document gives the values of the basic constants and conversion factors of physics and chemistry resulting from the 1986 least-squares adjustment of the fundamental physical constants as published by the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants and as recommended for international use by CODATA".
Musée des arts et métiers - Paris (In French) Historical instruments of measurement and research - with images.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

II. Engineering - Mathematical Methods

Subcategories include: Graphing, Vectors, Applied Algebra, Applied Calculus, Differential Equations, Tensors, Symmetries.

Grades K - 8

NANOWORLD Image Gallery - D. Waddell @ Univ. of Queensland, Australia Electron microscope images in abundance: select Image Gallery to see insects, blood cell, cement, polyp skeleton, crystals, bread mold, rat hair, egg shell, pollen, etc. Also a wonderful section on scale size examples from the atomic & molecular to the cellular and macromolecular.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

Graphing Vector Calculator (Java Applet) - P. Flavin Practice vector operations.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

III. Aerospace

Subcategories include: Planes, Spacecraft, Images from Space, Space Science Lesson Plans, Aerodynamics - wing analysis, Delta Clipper Single Stage Orbit

Grades K - 8

FirstFlight: 1903 Wright Flyer Simulation- Open University, UK "The Wright brothers designed the 1903 Flyer to protect themselves from injury whilst they learnt to fly. Their canard design was safer in a stall but a Shockwave version of Frederick Hooven's simulation demonstrates how difficult it must have been to fly." Also has movies of actual flights and a movie of the flight simulator in action!!
International Space Station Live!- NASA.
Activies, research, etc. being done at the ISS.
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE SCIENCE MUSEUM Virtual Exhibits (Ben Franklin - Glimpses of the Man; The Heart: A Virtual Exploration); Educational Hotlists ( Lessons on Energy, Geology, Health, Space Science, Virtual Exhibits, Weather Science); and Virtual Exhibit Hotlist with links to many other exhibits and places.
Pictures of Spacecraft, Planes, & Helicopters at National Air and Space Museum, and you can tour the museum itself!
SPACE SCIENCE LESSON PLANS - Center for EUV Astrophysics, Berkeley, Ca "Doing Astrophysics Research with an Artificial Earth Orbiting Satellite, Sine Waves, The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Images of the Universe in Different Wavelengths, Satellite Communications, Satellite Dishes, Constellations and the Zodiac, Solar System Objects, Earthquakes, and More!"

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

Cassini Mission to Saturn - Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA Science, Mission, Spacecraft, etc.
New Horizons to Pluto and Beyond - Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA Science, Mission, Spacecraft, etc.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

Compressible Aerodynamics calculator - W. Devenport, Virginia Tech "This calculator computes the standard relations for compressible flow of a perfect gas. The calculator is intended to provide a faster more convenient alternative to printed tables and charts (e.g. NACA Report 1135)." Includes Isentropic flow, Normal shock, and Oblique shock relations.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

IV. Chemical / Environmental Engineering

Subcategories include: Growth rates on Molecular synthesis, Substrates, Adsorption, Biochemical pathways, Petrochemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Food chemistry, Chemical cleanup, Water treatment.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

Web Element - PERIODIC TABLE DATA BASE - M. Winter, University of Sheffield Multimedia, Includes: Periodic Table of the Elements, Elements listed by Symbol, by Atomic Number, Name and Symbol. About a dozen physical properties are given including boiling and melting points, electrical and thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity.
CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS - SEARCHABLE INDEX - University of Berlin Searchable Database using appreviations of Chemical Compounds. In English and German. As an example: if you are looking for Alanine, Enter keywork search "ALA".
Decibels vs. Distance Calculator (JavaScript) - MC2 Design Group, Vancouver, Canada "This calculation will give you the amount of attenuation, in decibels, you can expect with a change in receiver distance, in a free field (outdoors)." Barrier effects on sound intensity.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

"MINIMUM" Level: university

What is a Chemical Engineer?- U. of Minnesota All the opportunities and activities!!

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

V. Civil Engineering

Subcategories include: Structures, Earthquake engineering, Water resources, Risk analysis, Large-scale systems, Transportation planning, Traffic control, Soil mechanics, Material strength, Hydraulic systems, Transport phenomena, Numerical techniques, Reliability.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

VI. Control / Electrical Engineering

Subcategories include: System feedback, Dynamic control, Safety, Integrated systems, Discrete systems, Mechanical control, Electrical control, Stability, Machine sensing mechanisms, Analog and digital signal analysis, Logic and signals.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

Decibels vs. Distance Calculator (JavaScript) - MC2 Design Group, Vancouver, Canada "This calculation will give you the amount of attenuation, in decibels, you can expect with a change in receiver distance, in a free field (outdoors)." Other related calculators.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

Control of Stepping Motors, a tutorial - D.W. Jones, University of Iowa Intro, basic control circuits, software, and examples.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

Feedback and Temperature Control - C.D.H. Williams, U. of Exeter, UK "This is an introduction to the effects that feedback can have on systems. I have chosen an oven controlled by a PID temperature controller to use as a case study but the behaviour described is characteristic of many systems that employ feedback. There is a detailed interactive simulation of the oven-controller system for you to experiment with."
Introduction to Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) - Control Systems Group at U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign PCT offers a clear explanation for the pervasive phenomenon of control, which is also known as purposeful behavior. Hierarchical PCT (HPCT) outlines a hierarchical arrangement as a likely organization of multiple control systems, which can explain the purposeful behavior of living organisms.
Neural Networks at your Fingertips - K. Kutza "...ready-to-reuse software simulators for eight of the most popular neural network architecture ..."

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

VII. Industrial Engineering

Subcategories include: Industrial machinery, Large-scale systems, Monitoring processes, Process logistics, Distributed systems.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

To be added when verified.
Active Logic - K. Purang, University of Maryland "Active logics are a family of inference engines that incorporate a history of their reasoning as they run. This characteristic makes Active Logic systems more flexible than traditional AI systems and therefore more suitable for commonsense reasoning."

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

VIII. Materials Engineering

Subcategories include: Metallurgy, Biomaterials, Designer methods, Plastics, Ceramics Composites.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

MOLECULAR MODELING - New York University [Start MathMol, then SELECT Quicktour, or, Modules, or Software] In MODULES ones finds: Water Module (labs, simulations, activities, challenges, reviews); Carbon Chemistry (bonding, compounds, diamond, graphite, Buckyballs, kevlar); Photosynthesis (under development); Molecules of Life (access to protein molecules in archives at other sites); 3-D Modeling of Molecules (tutorials); Ask-a-Scientist Page. Also tutorials in 3-D imaging of geometrical solids.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

HYSTERESIS - Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University Multimedia Teaching Module (Text and Images) Includes: What is Hysteresis?, Noise in Hysteresis, Return Point Memory, The Critical Point and The Epsilon Expansion.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

Materials Research - University of Chicago Some properties of new materials: resistance, dipole moments, etc
PERIODIC TABLES - WebELEMENTS - Mark Winter, University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England Multimedia, Includes: The Elements, The Isotope Pattern Calculator, Element Percentage Calculator, and practically everything you ever want to know about an element including ionic radii, electronegativities, bond enthalpies, and isotopic abundances. Lists other WebElements Sites and other periodic table services.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

IX. Mechanical Engineering

Subcategories include: Manufacturing processes, Heat transfer, Fluids, Vibrations, Geometrical modeling, Combustion technology, Robotics, Linear systems.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

Reverberation Time in a Room Calculator Your choice of materials for the walls and the floor, etc.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

Tribology; An Introduction Solid-on solid, slip stick, etc.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

X. Nuclear Engineering

Subcategories include: Nuclear reactors, Energy conversion, Reactor products, Material analysis, Fusion research, Safety concerns.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

ISOTOPE PATTERN CALCULATOR - Mark Winter, University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England Multimedia version that allows you to enter a chemical formula and will calculate the molecular weights of all the possible isotopes.
Table of Nuclides - J. Chang (Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute), Brookhaven National Lab, USA (mirror) Clickable chart to obtain lifetimes (color-coded), decay modes, and other nuclear properties of all the possible isotopes.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

Large Plasma Device - LAPD at UCLA Alfven wave studies, Whistlers, Lower hybrid waves, current channels, images from plasmas, etc..

XI. Power Engineering

Subcategories include: Hydroelectric plants, Wind energy, High voltage transmission, Electrical networks, Motors and Generators, Coal/oil power, Automobiles, Efficiency.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

"MINIMUM" Level: university

National Energy Information - Energy Information Administration, Washington, D.C. Petroleum supply data, clean air laws, Natural Gas, Short term outlook, price data, International energy outlook, forecasting, etc.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

XII. Software Engineering

Subcategories include: Computers operating systems, Program reliability, Application programs, Serial and parallel computation, Artificial intelligence, Communication security.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

Turing Machines Learn about the basics of Turing machines and their state diagrams with this simulation.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

HTML Document Verification - G. Oskoboiny This is a form-based service where you can either submit an entire HTML document by it's URL or enter bits and pieces of HTML interactively and receive immediate feedback. Also validates XHTML and Japanese charater encoding.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

Opsis: A Java Applet that Combines Programming, Proof, and Animation to Teach Binary Search Tree Algorithms - A. Michail, U. South Wales, Australia "Opsis is a Java applet designed to teach binary search tree algorithms. Opsis is not an animation program; rather, the system uses visual programming in an abstract way."
Active Logic - K. Purang, University of Maryland "Active logics are a family of inference engines that incorporate a history of their reasoning as they run. This characteristic makes Active Logic systems more flexible than traditional AI systems and therefore more suitable for commonsense reasoning."
Internet terms Words, terms, acronymns, and phrases found in the Internet environment.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

Reverse Dictionary - How One Works - OneLook Describe a concept and get back a list of words.
Computer Vision Demos Links to many research laboratories worldwide.

XIII. Technical Ceramics

Subcategories include: Physical properties, Limitations to design, Thermodynamics, Structural strength, Electrical properties, Composites, Cost/benefits.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

To be added when verified.

"MINIMUM" Level: university

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

To be added when verified.

XIV. Computers/Internet

Subcategories include: Microprocessors, Serial and Parallel systems, Memory, I/O transfer, Peripheral control, Communication rates, Time sharing, Video display, Software compatability.

"MINIMUM" Level: 6th Grade

Computing Dictionary - FOLDOC Enter your terms.
A Chronological History of the World Wide Web - R. Cailliau Links and calendar of the history.

"MINIMUM" Level: 9th Grade

Primer to DNA Based computers "For the same reasons that DNA was presumably selected for living organisms as a genetic material, its stability and predictability in reactions, DNA strings can also be used to encode information for mathematical systems."

"MINIMUM" Level: university

Computational Science Education Project An introduction to High Performance Computing issues as a preparation for research and studies in computational science and computational engineering. The intended audience are students in science and engineering at the advanced undergraduate level and higher. Computer architecture and numerical methods applied to Ocean Models, Bioelectric Field Problems, Monte Carlo methods for surface particle transport, Chaos, Seismic Wave Propagation, and issues in Computational Astrophysics.
Internet 2 - G. Wood, University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development The goals, partners, progress, and hardware plans.

"MINIMUM" Level: graduate

Primer to DNA Based computers "For the same reasons that DNA was presumably selected for living organisms as a genetic material, its stability and predictability in reactions, DNA strings can also be used to encode information for mathematical systems."