Transmission line

Learning science in school can be a pain, and sure enough, it can be pretty tough to grasp. Physics is a suitable example, but computer applications can now be used to better describe what’s going on. To understand, download Transmission line and see for yourself, as it’s fitted with multiple editing and simulation options.

There’s no need to have the application installed, nor can you, since it’s not bundled in a deployment package. This means you can carry it around on a USB flash drive to use on the go. However, you need to make sure the computer you use it on is equipped with Java Runtime Environment.

Upon launch, the main window is brought up, along with a separate panel that provides a description of what the application does and how. Truth be told, you need to be ready to spend some time and get familiar with all options and simulation possibilities, because the description is barely enough to cover the basics.

By default, the main window of Transmission line only shows a sample electric circuit, as well as graphs for voltage and current, but you can bring up graphs for incident and reflected as well. You get to work with a set of simulation playback controls, and a speed slider in case you want to slow it down for close inspection.

However, you don’t have to worry if nothing happens when pressing play, because the simulation doesn’t start until you connect wires on the source. As you figured out, the electric circuit representation is interactive, with the possibility to have several elements placed for different results, as well as defining, several values.

Some more details can be accessed from the rich context menu. It’s possible to bring up more data sets, as well as to save states for later analysis. The application lets you save a snapshot of the current simulation, and even capture an animated GIF file. Sadly, the video recording component doesn’t quite get the whole picture, with little to no motion grabbed, other than a static representation of the circuit.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Transmission line comes in handy for learning some principles of physics, but you need to be packed with some degree of patience to get to know how each feature functions. The simulation is fully interactive, with options to place different elements and bring up data sets, but it feels rough around the edges overall.