Optical Depth
PLINKO PHYSICS DEMO
SINGLE BOARD
SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARE
EDITING BOARD
■ BOARD A
■ BOARD B
SCENARIO PRESETS
S1
EUV
S2
X-RAYS
S3
X-RAY
+METALS
S4
METALS
+COMPRESSED
CROSS SECTION
4
px
METALS CROSS SECTION
14
px
METALLICITY
0%
NUMBER DENSITY (n)
50
SCALE HEIGHT (H)
1.00
Pin x/y positions are shared between boards. Only cross sections differ.
▼ DROP BALL
↻ RESET LINES
⇄ REBUILD PINS
OPTICAL DEPTH
τ = ∫ n σ dz
First-hit height ~ mean free path. Ball = photon. Pins = absorbers.
Orange
= avg first-hit depth.
Cyan
= individual hits.
SPACE = drop R = reset