If you have any interest in Flash + Math/Physics, I recommend you try out APE (the Actionscript Physics Engine) library by Alec Cove. It’s a set of AS3 classes that will easily let you create a world of particles that are affected by physics. If you’ve ever thought about making an action-type game, this might be the place for you to start.
Just today I stumbled upon some great examples by a guy named Andrew Garrahan that were posted to Google Group called APE General.
Follow this link to see the examples: APE Cornerstones: Basic Examples
(Thanks Andrew, these should really help me get started)
There’s also some other great examples in this group and I imagine it will grow as well. I hope this helps someone out there!