Program to visualize the field produced by electrodes and dielectrics in two dimensions
The area shown represents a 3cm x 3 cm cross section of a two dimensional problem in electrostatics.
The dark blue electrode is grounded (at 0V), while the dark red one is at 9V as if connected to a battery.
The boundary is at intermediate voltages
The program uses the relaxation method to solve the electrostatics problem. It is necessary at least 1000 iterations for the results to be trusted.
Selecting "Equipotential" shows black lines at voltages of 1V, 2V... up to 8V.
Selecting "Field lines" shows purple electric field lines.
If "Vectors E, arrows" is selected, arrows will be shown indicating the magnitude
of the electric field. Scale 1 pixel = 40V/m (capped at 12 pixels = 480 V/m).
You can choose several different configurations of electrodes, including parallel plates (as a capacitor), cylinders, etc.
The "V" display shows the potential at the position of the mouse.
The "E" display shows the electric field vector in Cartesian coordinates
X is horizontal and Y vertical, right and up are positive.
The "|E|" display shows the magnitude of the electric field vector.
You can choose no dielectrics (vacuum), a circle, a square or bars with the dielectric constant (kappa) selected.
In Potential mode, the color scale goes from blue (0V) to red (9V) indicating electric potential.
In Electric Field mode, the color scale goes from blue (0V/m) to red (2000 V/m or more) indicating
the magnitude of the electric field vector.