Ramp: Forces and Motion

School isn’t quite what it used to be, and there’s a high chance that youngsters don’t really get to learn much. Luckily, there are various computer applications out there that can perfectly substitute a teacher, or even school. One suitable example is Ramp: Forces and Motion, coming with the intention of teaching you all about object mass, friction, interaction, and more.

There’s one thing in particular that needs to be done before the application can be put to the test, and that is to check whether or not your computer is equipped with Java Runtime Environment. What’s more, the application can be used from a USB flash drive, since it requires no installation. This also means that registries on the target PC remain intact.

On the visual side of things, the application manages to do an impressive job at explaining how things work, with neatly-displayed objects, forces, and other elements that you can also interact with. There are multiple areas, so you can learn about friction, force graphs, several introductory elements, as well as a game to see if you’ve learned a thing or two.

A side panel is always there so you can set general parameters, such as free body diagram, friction, vectors, walls, and more controls that let you set object position and ramp angle. Sound accompanies all actions you perform, making the lesson even more pleasant.

Ramp: Forces and Motion doesn’t actually come with anything preset, other than functions and values. This is an advantage because you learn by interacting with different objects that need to be pushed up a ramp, having different effects depending on gravity, friction, surface, and other values.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Ramp: Forces and Motion is definitely worth a try, and is sure to teach everyone a thing or two about basic physics elements you might have skipped in school. Visual design is a major advantage, managing to attract your attention from the start, while interaction lets you discover by yourself how things work.