This software allows users to plot electric field lines and equipotential surfaces surrounding point charges, providing a valuable tool for visualizing and analyzing electrodynamics.
Franklin 1.1.7, one of the early versions, did not use OpenGL and the resulting plots could not be rotated. However, its other features are still present in later versions. Franklin 1.1.9 was a significant upgrade as it was the first version to use OpenGL. It introduced a second separate window that allowed users to rotate the graph in real-time, although all mouse click input still had to be done in the original graph window.
A new version of Franklin was built entirely with Apple Computer's Cocoa IDE for Mac OS X users. Despite keeping major features from version 1.1.9, this version merged the two separate graph windows into a single window that uses Apple's OpenGL. The graph window must remain in an orthographic projection and cannot be rotated to accept input from mouse clicks. This is to ensure accurate display of points even when the graph is transformed or rotated, preventing confusion.
Franklin is intended as freeware for science education, but it is not meant for commercial use or distribution without the creator's permission. Overall, Franklin is a useful tool for plotting electric field lines and equipotential surfaces that has undergone significant development over the years, resulting in improved functionality and user experience.
Version 1.8: N/A