Physics Integrity
Every experiment on OpenLab models real physics — with the same simplifications every physics course makes, stated plainly instead of left implicit, and checked by machine before it ships.
Idealized models, stated plainly
Every experiment models an idealized version of the physics: point masses unless a size effect is the point of the lesson, frictionless surfaces unless it's a friction preset, the ideal gas law for the thermodynamics experiments, thin-lens and thin-prism approximations in optics, massless and inextensible strings and springs unless stretch or mass is what's being taught. This is the same idealization every introductory physics course and every simulation makes — we say so directly rather than leaving it implicit.
Every answer key is independently verified, not hand-typed
Each lab sheet's answer key is checked against an independent verifier function before the sheet can ship — the printed answer and the formula behind it are never trusted on their own. Every formula reference cites a real, existing entry from one shared formula registry, rather than free text that could name the wrong law.
If a sheet asks for it, you can actually set it
Every value a lab sheet asks a student to set is checked against the real control range in the running simulation — the slider, the drag range, the input bounds — so a sheet can't ask for a number outside what its own control is designed to produce.
Where the idealized answer and the live reading can differ
The idealized answer key and what the simulation actually shows you can differ slightly by design. Real contact friction, drag, and restitution aren't perfectly ideal, and that small gap between the textbook answer and the live reading is sometimes the point of the lesson.
How we fix a physics error
When we find an error in a formula, an answer key, or a simulation's physics, the fix ships together with an automated test that specifically catches that error — not just an edit. That test keeps running on every future change, so a defect that reached production can't quietly reappear.
Found a physics error?
To report a physics error, contact us at contact@openlabscience.com