Hi Niel, Neil Pilgrim <debian-science@kepier.clara.net> writes: > David Fokkema wrote: > >> So, basically, he's teaching ray tracing in the sense of: >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_%28optics%29 > > Yes, this is what I was meaning - and yes, you can see how its > difficult to explain what we need! You might consider looking at xeukleides (Debian package of the same name). It is a simple, general 2D geometry program. While not designed for it, you can use it for playing with optics. However, you will have to put in the correct optical formulae into the scripts by hand as it doesn't inherently "know" about refraction and reflection. I've attached 4 examples I made some time ago. They all play with reflection, not refraction, but maybe they will give you some idea of what is possible. To run each, do: 1) run: xeukleides file.euk 2) hit ESC to go from edit to display 3) use arrow keys to change input parameters HTH, -Brett.
Attachment:
focus.euk.tgz
Description: Some xeukleides examples.