Convex Lens

Sure enough you hear warnings and advices not to spend a lot of time in front of the computer, or even leave your kids in this situation. However, a computer can teach you a lot of things, given it’s equipped with the right tools or applications. For instance, Convex Lens is the type of app to teach youngsters about light propagation through convex lens.

On the bright side of things, the application comes in a lightweight package which doesn’t require installation, and makes it possible to have it stored on a thumb drive to use it regardless of the computer you’re working on. Note, however, that it depends on Java Runtime Environment to function.

The visual design might not strike you as appealing, but is enough to quickly get you up and running, regardless of experience. Most of the space covers the interactive preview section, with a set of controls in the bottom area, and several info fields on a side panel. The simulation itself is also quite simplistic.

Don’t expect much animation from the application. Simulation speed can be adjusted via a slider, and hitting the play button throws off a few rays of light to indicate propagation from the source, through the lens, and up to the refracted image. You can stop the rays during the simulation to analyze movement step by step.

By default, the simulation shows an idealized display, and you can switch to actual mode. Visibility can be toggled for image, central and parallel rays, or all rays which represent the tracks of ray animations. All objects on the canvas, including the lens, can be interacted with to move them and adjust height.

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that Convex Lens might not offer a complex set of tools to study light trajectory and interaction with convex lens, but it does offer enough details, and an intuitive canvas to work with.