In upper division physics courses, it is sometimes difficult to understand the physical behavior of a system due to the complexity of the associated math. This is particularly true in electrodynamics, the study of electric and magnetic fields. Double click on an image to see the action, or go back to top.
Visualization can also be helpful in understanding how mathematical approaches work.
For example, in electrostatics, one often has to solve Laplace's equation. Visualization allows us to understand how the different techniques for solving Laplace work. Visualization allows us easily to see that both approaches give similar results, but also that the separation of variables method gives a good answer much more quickly than the relaxation method . Double click on an image to see the action, or go back to top.