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phetsims / masses-and-springs

"Masses and Springs" is an educational simulation in HTML5, by PhET Interactive Simulations.
GNU General Public License v3.0
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User suggestion: ability to zoom #345

Closed oliver-phet closed 5 years ago

oliver-phet commented 5 years ago

With the 2.03 version, I could right click to zoom in on the ruler. That's not possible now. I use a screen at the front of the class. Having the zooming capability would help the class read off displacements via the ruler. Any suggestions?

Denz1994 commented 5 years ago

@oliver-phet Was there any info on platform or browser?

Denz1994 commented 5 years ago

Just brainstorming: My initial thought for a workaround is to take a snapshot of the screen using the phet menu in the nav bar and zoom from the snapshot.

It seems like right-clicking to zoom as described isn't a phet specific function that was intended for the sim, but more of convenience based on the browser in use. Alternatively, a 3rd party plugin for a magnification would work.

Toggling the zoom controls in the browser (Chrome, Firefox) didn't work for me.

Thoughts @ariel-phet?

oliver-phet commented 5 years ago

More info from user:

I downloaded the 2.03 .jar (java file), one for mac and another for windows back in fall 2017. On a windows computer, when I click on the java file, a Chrome browser opens with the application masses and springs. Right clicking, I have the option of zooming in. My concern is that in the future, I may not be able to run it since a compatibility issue may arise. I can no longer open the 2.03 mac version on my mac computer.

When opening the most recent masses and springs application, right clicking on the ruler doesn’t allow for zooming.

I like the activity…so if I can keep using it, it would be great. So, would a magnifying glass be possible?

The original sim was Flash and I verified that it allows native zoom in the browser.

ariel-phet commented 5 years ago

@oliver-phet there are plans in the future to allow "pinch to zoom" and the like for accessiblity, but this will be a project wide feature. We should not try to make some sort of workaround for this sim. Also let the user know about Hooke's law if they are wanting a sim with help verifying Hooke's Law, since that sim has a quantitative readout of displacement.

oliver-phet commented 5 years ago

Email to user sent.