Select between Basic and Advanced at the top of the settings panel. Basic has a more limited set of components, suitable for teaching to roughly age 16 (UK GCSE level), Advanced has a bigger set of components, suitable for teaching to age 18+ (IB or UK A-Level).
2. Design your circuit:
Ensure the Mode toggle at the top of the settings panel is set to Design.
Drag components from the settings panel onto the circuit grid, placing them in position on the dashed lines.
Drag components already on the circuit grid to move them, drag whilst pressing Ctrl to clone them, and drag whilst pressing Shift to move a group. Note: Similar options can be accessed on mobile devices by long-pressing the component.
Wires can also be placed by clicking/tapping on an empty grid-space.
Adjust the settings of each component by right clicking on them (long-press on mobile); typical settings to adjust include things such as orientation, potential difference and resistance. Components with adjustable settings are marked with a gear wheel icon.
Select a circuit from the Pre-made circuits drop-down as an alternative to building one from scratch.
Use the buttons at the bottom of the settings panel to save your current circuit, load a previously saved one, or share the current circuit as a link that can be posted or emailed.
3. Run your circuit:
Switch the Mode toggle to Run to run the circuit, noting the output of any meters and sensors.
Toggle Component labels on or off – this can be useful to refer to specific components when teaching and asking questions.
Toggle the Component inspector and hover over any component to view a range of information about it.
Toggle Teaching mode on to hide all readouts, which can be individually toggled on by clicking individual components; this can be useful to set students problems to test their understanding.
Toggle Breakable lamps on to make them break when too much current flows through them, breaking associated branches of the circuit.
Toggle the Graph button at the top of the settings panel and drag the Red circle over a component whose activity you want to graph, then choose the type of graph. Produce the graph by adjusting the circuit settings and seeing how the component responds.
Toggle Show current to see an animation of the Electron flow or Conventional current; the speed of movement indicates the size of the current.
Check the Overall resistance readout on the settings panel to see the overall resistance of the circuit.
Drag items from the External influences section to add a light source, heat source or magnet to interact with particular components.
Click the Scarecrow explains button at the top of the settings panel for an explanation of the circuit; if this is a pre-made circuit, it will be a detailed explanation with suggestions of things to try, if it is a custom circuit it will be more limited.