Molecules and Light

Molecules and Light Screenshot
  • Molecules
  • Photons
  • Absorption
Java Logo Original Sim and Translations

Topics

  • Molecules
  • Photons
  • Absorption
  • Light

Description

Adjust light source slider and begin your observations of how different molecules react to different light sources. Note that the interactive elements in this sim have simple description that can be accessed using a screen reader.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Explore how light interacts with molecules in our atmosphere
  • Identify that absorption of light depends on the molecule and the type of light
  • Relate the energy of the light to the resulting motion
  • Identify that energy increases from microwave to ultraviolet
  • Predict the motion of a molecule based on the type of light it absorbs
  • Identify how the structure of a molecule affects how it interacts with light
Version 1.4.14

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Molecules and Light - Guided Inquiry Activity A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Alycia M. Palmer UG-Intro Guided Chemistry
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Chemistry
Biology
Earth Science
Physics
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López MS
HS
Other Earth Science
Physics
Biology
Chemistry
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum This contribution was designed by PhET. Julia Chamberlain UG-Intro
HS
Other Chemistry
Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics Jaya Ramchandani HS Other Physics
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer HS
MS
Other Physics
Biology
Chemistry
PhET Greenhouse Effect Simulations Jack Ganse MS
HS
Discuss
Guided
Earth Science
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López Grad
UG-Intro
UG-Adv
K-5
MS
HS
HW
Discuss
Physics
Mathematics
Chemistry
Astronomy

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Molekulat dhe Drita
Arabic All العربية Run now الجزيئات والضوء
Basque All Euskara Run now Molekulak eta argia
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Molekule i svjetlost
Catalan All català Run now Molècules i llum
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 分子与光
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Molecules and Light_分子與光
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Molecules and Light
Czech All čeština Run now Molekuly a světlo
Danish All Dansk Run now Molekyler og lys
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Moleculen en licht
Estonian All Eesti Run now Molekulid ja valgus
Finnish All suomi Run now Molekyylit ja valo
French All français Run now Molécules et lumière
Galician All Gallegan Run now Moléculas e Luz
Georgian All ქართული Run now მოლეკულები და სინათლე
German All Deutsch Run now Moleküle und Licht
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Μόρια και Φως
Hebrew All עברית Run now מולקולות ואור
Hindi All हिंदी Run now अणु और प्रकाश 
Hungarian All magyar Run now Molekulák és a fény
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Molekul dan Cahaya
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Móilíní agus Solas
Italian All italiano Run now Molecole e luce
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 分子と光
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಕಣಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಬೆಳಕು
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Молекулалар және сәуле түсіру
Khmer All Khmer Run now ម៉ូលេគុល និងពន្លឺ
Korean All 한국어 Run now 분자와 빛
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Molekulas un gaisma
Macedonian All македонски Run now Молекули и светлост
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Молекул ба Гэрэл 
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Molekyler og lys
Norwegian Nynorsk All Norwegian Nynorsk Run now Molekyl og lys
Persian All فارسی Run now مولکول ها و نور
Polish All polski Run now Cząsteczki i promieniowanie elektromagnetyczne
Portuguese All português Run now Moléculas e Luz
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Moléculas e Luz Download teacher tips PDF
Romanian All română Run now Moleculele și lumina
Russian All русский Run now Молекулы и свет
Serbian All Српски Run now Молекули и светлост
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now  විද්‍යුත් චුම්බක තරංග තුළ දී අණුවල හැසිරිම
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Molekuly a žiarenie
Spanish All español Run now Moléculas y luz Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Moléculas y luz
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Moléculas y Luz
Swedish All svenska Run now Molekyler och ljus
Tamil All Tamil Run now மூலக்கூறுகளும் ஔியும்
Thai All ไทย Run now โมเลกุลและแสงขาว
Tibetan All Tibetan Run now འདུས་རྡུལ་དང་འོད།
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Moleküller ve Işık
Turkmen All Turkmen Run now Molekulalar we ýagtylyk
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Phân tử và ánh sáng

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Amy Rouinfar (lead)
  • Jesse Greenberg (developer)
  • John Blanco (developer)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • Aaron Davis (developer)
  • Kelly Lancaster
  • Yuen-ying Carpenter
  • Patricia Loeblein
  • Emily B. Moore
  • Robert Parson
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Alex Klinger (graphic arts)
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js