Requirements for Geometric Optics: Basics

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In 11/11/21 design meeting, and in phetsims/geometric-optics#253 (comment), we decided to pursue a Basics version of this sim, rather than adding an Intro screen.

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If it is indeed a goal to have a Basics version of this sim, I need to know what it looks like so that I can anticipate that during implementation. The longer I don't have that information, the more likely it is that something will need to be reworked to support a Basics version.

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@arouinfar @kathy-phet @ariel-phet @pixelzoom had a design meeting on 12/20/2021. Full meeting notes are in the design document.

Here's a summary of how Basics differs from the full version:

• Only convex lens & flat mirror, no radio buttons to select optic shape
• Change icon for the Mirror screen to a flat mirror
• Move flat mirror to same screen coordinates as lens
• No Second Point (hide checkbox, a single optical object for all scenes)
• Label 'Object' and 'Image', not 'Object 1' and 'Image 1'
• Hide checkboxes for “Focal Points”, "2F Points" on Mirror screen
• Ignore ?focalLengthControl, default focalLengthControlTypeProperty to 'direct', no Options dialog
• ?enable2F defaults to true

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Slack:

Chris Malley 2/17/2022 4:42 PM
Question about the requirements for GO:Basics, as captured in our 12/20/21 meeting notes, it says:

Remove Second Point

I’m assuming that this means to remove the 2nd arrow, 2nd lamp, and 2nd point-of-interest on the frame objects (and the “Second Point” checkbox, of course). So GO:Basics only has a single optical object, in all “scenes”. Is that correct?

Ariel Paul 2/17/2022 4:46 PM
That is my notion

Kathy Perkins 2/18/2022 6:37
OK with me.

Amy Rouinfar 2/18/2022 8:30
Yes, that’s correct.

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• This issue should be migrated to geometric-optics-basics after that repo is created.

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Notes to myself... Here are the things that need to know whether we're running the Basics version, and the "constructor chains" to get to them.

Concave lens only:
LensModel > Lens options.opticShapes

Flat mirror only:
MirrorModel > Mirror options.opticShapes

Mirror origin centered on the screen:
MirrorScreenView > options.getViewOrigin

Checkbox visibility:
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOSCreenView > GOControlPanel > VisibilityCheckboxGroup > ‘Second Point’ object literal
MirrorScreenView > GOSCreenView > GOControlPanel > VisibilityCheckboxGroup > ‘Focal Points (F)’ object literal
MirrorScreenView > GOSCreenView > GOControlPanel > VisibilityCheckboxGroup > ‘2F Points’ object literal

Object/Image labels:
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOScreenView > ArrowObjectSceneLabelsNode: objectLabelString
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOScreenView > FramedObjectSceneLabelsNode > ArrowObjectLabelNode
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOScreenView > FramedObjectSceneLabelsNode > ArrowImageLabelNode
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOScreenView > LightObjectSceneLabelsNode > LightObjectLabelNode
LensScreenView & MirrorScreenView > GOScreenView > LightObjectSceneLabelsNode > LightImageLabelNode

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Regarding this requirement:

• Label 'Object' and 'Image', not 'Object 1' and 'Image 1'

I made the Basics version a bit more flexible than this. By default, numbered labels are not used in the Basics version. But if a second object/image is made visible (by setting secondPointVisibleProperty to true via Studio or PhET-iO) then the sim will switch to numbered labels.

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@arouinfar Geometric Optics: Basics is ready for review. The PhET-iO API (and Studio tree) is identical to Geometric Optics; we'll discuss that in #3. But I consider it a nice "feature".

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An additional change we could make in the Mirror screen is to allow free dragging of the framed objects, and add the drag-locked toggle button. But I'm reluctant to do that until PhET-iO decisions have been made in #3.

[arouinfar]

@pixelzoom the sim looks great! I agree that it would be a big improvement to allow free-dragging of the object on the Mirror screen, but it makes sense to defer until #3 is settled.

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Tracking free-dragging in the Mirror screen in #5.

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@arouinfar This is ready for review.

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From implementation-notes.md...

... here's a summary of how Geometric Optics: Basics differs from Geometric Optics. Unless specifically noted, these differences can be "undone" via PhET-iO.

Lens screen:

• Convex lens only. Possible to add concave lens via PhET-iO.
• No radio buttons to select the optic shape.
• No second optical object. Hide the "Second Point" checkbox.
• Label 'Object' and 'Image', not 'Object 1' and 'Image 1', unless a second object is added via PhET-iO.

Mirror screen:

• Flat mirror only. NOT possible to add concave and convex mirror via PhET-iO.
• No radio buttons to select the optic shape.
• Change screen icon to a flat mirror
• Since we have only a flat mirror, move origin to the same screen coordinates as the Lens screen.
• No second optical object. Hide the "Second Point" checkbox.
• Label 'Object' and 'Image', not 'Object 1' and 'Image 1', unless a second object is added via PhET-iO.
• Remove checkboxes for “Focal Points”, "2F Points" on Mirror screen. Not possible to add them.

Global:

• Default focalLengthControlTypeProperty to 'direct', and remove "Focal Length control" from the Options dialog.
• Default add2FPointsCheckboxProperty to true, so that "2F Points" checkbox is visible on Lens screen.

[arouinfar]

Thanks for the summary @pixelzoom. Geometric Optics: Basics looks great!