Pocket thermal laboratoryiOS · v1.2
Plitram Field app icon
Plitram FieldEducation · Heat conduction

Paint a metal plate. Watch the heat find its way.

Plitram Field turns your iPhone into a 2D heat-conduction bench. Fix the edge temperatures, brush on copper, titanium or an insulator, and see the temperature field evolve live.

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  • 9 real thermal materials
  • 1x to 4096x time control
  • Up to 4 probes
  • Solver runs on your device
  • Store rating: not yet available

Sample run in the app: steady state reached at 334 s simulated, not real, time. Crank the clock and you are there in moments.

Starter experiments

Pick your first experiment

Three setups worth running on day one. Select a card, copy its setup tag for your own notes, then install and build it in the Lab, Race or Notes screens.

RACE-CU-W
  • Materials, then the RACE tab
  • Hot end 100 °C, rods 200 mm
  • Copper hits 50 mm in 24.8 s, tungsten in 40.4 s
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Clock to steady state 334 s
PLATE-90-10
  • Left edge 90 °C, right edge 10 °C
  • Drop probe P1 and read the trace
  • Reference run: 6,595 steps, mean 50.3 °C
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STENCIL-49
  • Notes, then the STENCIL tab
  • N 62, W 80, E 35, S 20 around T_i 49.0
  • Tap rod cells and drag the diffusivity slider
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Disclaimer: these are suggested in-app setups, not prizes, rewards or payouts. Setup tags are plain labels for your own notes. App pricing is shown on the App Store listing.

Under the hood

How the heat engine works

The plate is a grid of cells, and each cell moves toward the average of its four neighbours. That is the 5-point finite-difference stencil, and Plitram Field runs it on your iPhone with no server. Because a new value needs only the cells next to it, the whole plate can update every frame.

T_i ← 49.0 + 0.24 · (62 + 35 + 20 + 80 − 4·49.0) = 49.2

You set the rules at the edges. Fixed-temperature boundaries pin the hot and cold sides while the interior relaxes. The app watches the residual and flags steady state on its own, with haptic feedback. In a saved run, steady state arrived at 334 s after 6,595 steps of 0.051 s, with a mean plate temperature of 50.3 °C.

Materials decide how fast it all happens. Conductivity k and diffusivity α come straight from the library: copper at 401 W/m·K and 111 mm²/s, stainless 304 at 16 W/m·K and 4.2 mm²/s. Run a rod race and the gap becomes visible: 24.8 s for copper to push a front to 50 mm, 40.4 s for tungsten.

Verified specifications

App namePlitram Field
PlatformiOS, App Store id 6828840168
CategoryEducation
Version1.2 (various bug fixes)
Plate200 mm square, 2D
Materials9, including an insulator
ViewsHEAT, ISO, FLUX
Time speed1x to 4096x, plus pause and step
ProbesUp to 4 with history charts
Archive60 plates, 50 full runs
Store ratingNo rating information yet
On the bench

Instruments in your pocket lab

Nine materials to paint with

Copper, Aluminium, Tungsten, Brass, Iron, Carbon Steel, Titanium, Stainless 304 and an Insulator. Each has its own texture swatch and k and α values.

HEAT, ISO and FLUX views

A false-colour map, labelled isotherm lines at 90, 70, 50, 30 and 10 degrees, or arrows showing which way heat flows. Numbers back up every colour.

Probes with trace charts

Tap the plate to place up to four probes. Read a live value such as 48.6 °C, toggle ALL or LAST 60 S, and see where the curve settles.

Time on your terms

Play, pause, step one frame, or accelerate from 1x up to 4096x. Slow down to study a front, speed up to reach equilibrium.

Trace a photo into a plate

Import from the camera or photo library and convert the image into a plate layout, then assign materials and run it.

Archive of plates and runs

Keep up to 60 named plates and 50 full runs, each with probe time series and residual decay graphs. Reopen any plate in the Lab.

Study routines

From first brush stroke to stability proof

Run an experiment

  • PAINT: lay materials on the plate and set boundary temperatures.
  • RUN: start the clock and choose a speed.
  • PROBE: drop markers, read traces, remove ones you no longer need.
  • Open a saved run later and drag the chart to scrub through time.

Compare materials

  • LIBRARY lists materials from highest to lowest conductivity.
  • CUSTOM holds your own materials.
  • RACE pits two rods against each other, with RACE AGAIN and RESET.

Learn the numerics

  • Notes holds three interactive mini-solvers.
  • STENCIL: tap a rod cell to heat it and watch neighbours average out.
  • BOUNDARY: compare the boundary condition types.
  • STABILITY: explore the CFL criterion and see when a solver misbehaves.

Solve the Studies

  • Eight puzzles unlock one after another.
  • Each sets a thermal objective and a material budget.
  • Spend materials wisely to hit the target temperature.
Ready when you are

Heat your first plate in minutes

Plitram Field for iPhone and iPad via the App Store. Install it, brush copper onto one side, pin the edges at 90 and 10 degrees, and press play.

Download Plitram Field

Requires an iOS device with App Store access. Price, file size, in-app purchase and ad information, and the age rating are shown on the official App Store page.