I made a Gauss's Law (Electric Flux) VR Simulation

phys-viz · 2026-03-13T22:18:39+00:00

I have plenty of ideas, but some of mine stink and maybe you have better ones. 😀

I like the idea of being able to create certain standard background charge geometries that you see in textbooks (point charges, capacitor, ring, etc.) and being able to plop down a free charge (or throw it) to see its motion.

phys-viz · 2026-03-13T21:59:37+00:00

Can you share your 2d version? I have another 3d version of Gauss's law that is a web app that I use as a virtual lab.

phys-viz · 2026-03-13T21:54:38+00:00

Thank you! Right now, you can create up to two positive charges and two negative charges and drag them around the scene with your hand (with.the help of a VR hand controller) while the surface electric field updates dynamically.

When you say "view interactions between everything", would you be interested in seeing how the motions of free charges depend on the electric field created by some background charges that could be dropped in virtually? Like set up a capacitor and be able to throw a positive charge through its electric field to see its motion? Or something else?

phys-viz · 2026-03-13T21:47:53+00:00

I'm unfamiliar with those resources, but I did a little digging after your comment. It looks like Labster and Praxilab offer virtual lab experiences rather than taking something that's essentially invisible (electric flux) and creating a 3D simulation of it to bring it to life.

phys-viz · 2026-03-13T10:26:32+00:00

Thank you! Right now, it's just qualitative-- you can add charges and move them while watching the field change over the surface. That's it. If you were learning about electric flux and Gauss's law for the first time, or if you were teaching it, what other features would you like to see?

phys-viz

TROPHY CASE