Lentil Optical Simulation

The Lentil Optical Simulation allows users to experiment with different ways of manipulating light. There are two settings that can be used on the experimental table, geometric and physical. The geometric mode treats the light as rays. This is the mode where users get to pick their own designed lens, mirrors, and other refracting surfaces to manipulate the way the light moves and the consequences of that movement. The physical mode treats light as a wave, where it is emitted as a wave and retarders, lens, and polarizers manipulate the shape. There are also beam splitters and lamps as well. Lastly, the simulation has a lens crafter built into the app, that allows the user to enter in different plane equations and set the index of refraction for those surfaces. The user can enter in spherical, plane, or hyperbolic equations and the app will generate surface meshes that replicate the way a lens, mirror, or refractor would actually look. The user can always change any surface they are creating and use it in their simulations.

This app was designed to allow optical enthusiasts to experiment with the effects of polarizers, retarders, beam splitters, mirrors, lens, refractors, lasers, and lamps on light as rays and waves. It will allow users to see the shape of waves, how intensity and polarization angles are effected, what properties of different optical pieces have on the light, and how lens of different shapes and materials effect light. While this simulation does not cover everything, it does give users a strong start in the study of optics. The lens crafter also allows users to see how to build and manipulate 3D plane equations.