Simulate thousands of particles to visualize vector fields.
The particles move along the vector field: at every time step dt the particles move by dx on the x-axis and dy on the y-axis.
They are simulated using WebGL therefore the simulation runs on the GPU.
Functions of x, y and t.
Define the elementary movement of a particle given its x, y coordinates and time t.
These are set by the user using the corresponding fields.
One can use basic operations like +, -, *, / as well as elementary functions such as cos, sin, tan, exp, pow(_, _), sqrt, etc.
Variable: t.
Changes every frame by dt (time interval since last frame). Ranges by default from min 0 to max 10.
When its value reaches max, it goes back to min.
Variable: x.
Ranges from left to right. The default left value is -1. The default right value is 1.
Variable: y.
Ranges from bottom to top. The default bottom value is -1. The default top value is 1.
Slider that controls the number of particles in the simulation.
Slider that controls the particle speed multiplier.
Slider that controls the time (number of frames) that particles live.
Checkbox controlling whether all particles move at the same speed, by normalizing their velocity.
Color picker that controls the color of slower particles. Default is #6666ff
Color picker that controls the color of faster particles. Default is #ffffff
On the top left hand corner of the simulation canvas there is a button that toggles the parameters menu to display the canvas in fullscreen.
On the bottom right hand corner of the simulation canvas there is an indicator of the simulation speed (in frames per second).
Any change to the parameters will update the website URL. Therefore to undo an action users can use their browser back button. This also allows users to share or save a simulation and its parameters.