\f0\b0\fs24 is a physics simulation environment which incorporates particles with user-defined initial positions, velocities, charges and masses and radii. Coefficients of resistive forces may be added to individual particles to simulate air resistance or viscosity. User-defined external fields with electric, gravitational, and magnetic properties may be placed in the system as well along with straight wall boundaries.\
\f1\b\fs36 Quick Start instructions\
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\f0\b0\fs24 Use the Particle, External Field, and Boundary Editors to create particles, fields, and boundaries. Click on the
\f1\b\fs28 Init
\f0\b0\fs24 button to initialize, and then click on the
\f1\b\fs28 Start
\f0\b0\fs24 button to begin the simulation.\
\f1\b\fs36 Menus
\f0\b0\fs24 \
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\b Info\
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\b0 - Credits panel and help using PhysicsWorld.
Document \
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\b0 - Open, Create, Save, or Close a simulation.\
\b Edit
\b0 \
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- Basic text manipulation.\
\b Editors\
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Particle Editor -
\b0 create and modify particles.
Field Editor -
\b0 create and modify external electric, gravitational and/or magnetic fields.
Boundary Editor -
\b0 create and modify straight line boundaries.\
\b Data File\
--------------------
\b0 \
\b Set Save Settings...
\b0 - Setup what exactly will be saved in the \
text data file when Save Data File.. is executed.\
\b Save Data File...
\b0 - save a tab delimited text file which can be \
looked at anywhere, but especially useful if loaded into a\
spreadsheet for graphing the data.\
\b Windows\
--------------------\
Show Control Window -
\b0 bring the control window to the front.\
\b Document Description...
\b0 describe your simulation in as much \
detail as needed, and this is saved with the simulation.
New WorldView -
\b0 create a new "window" looking into the \
simulation with its own scale and tracking parameters.
New Monitor Panel -
\b0 create another data window for looking at \
the position, velocity, and acceleration of any particles.
\b0 \
\b Print...\
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\b0 prints the current active window.
\b0 \
\f1\b\fs36 Reviewer Mode
\f0\b0\fs24 \
Choosing Reviewer mode allows one to review the simulation as it has progressed up to the current point. "Init"-ing the simulation erases all of the previously recorded simulation run.\
\f1\b\fs36 Possible Simulations
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The wide range of deltaT and scale values allows the simulation of planetary systems as well as electron sized particle simulations.\
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\f1\b\fs28 Numerical Methods and Calculations Involved\
\f0\b0\fs24 The Simple, Modified Runge-Kutta Bootstrap Method is used in this simulation to determine the new positions and velocities of the particles. (taken from "???" Bennett, Ch.5 Dynamics, pgs. 202-203.)\
The calculations that determine where the particles go in a small increment of time (dt) include the external field forces on each particle, the electro-static force between particles as well as the gravitational forces between each of the particles. \
This simulation only deals with one possible elastic collision on a particle with another particle in one increment of time (dt). This means that if, in one increment of time, three particles or two particles and a boundary are close enough to collide then only one collision will occur for a single particle and it will look like the second collision that should have occurred will not. Collisions with particles and boundaries are done before collisions between the particles themselves but the simulation calculates multiple boundary collisions in one increment of time (dt). The only restriction on collisions then, is that one particle-particle collision will occur in one increment of time (dt) and if, in the previous increment of time (dt), a particle bounces another particle past a boundary, it will go through. This will be fixed in a later version of this program.\
\pard\tx960\tx1920\tx2880\tx3840\tx4800\tx5760\tx6720\tx7680\tx8640\tx9600\f0\b0\i0\ul0\fs24 This application was developed in support of the First-Year Integrated Curriculum in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.\
This curriculum project is supported by the National Science Foundation, the General Electric Foundation, and Lilly Endowment, Inc.\
If you are interested in this or any other program written for the RHIT Integrated Curriculum program, please feel free to contact any of the following people:\
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\f1\b\i\fs28 Dr. Jerry Fine, Mechanical Engineering\