How to Remix a Simulation for Your Class with AI

Updated 2026-10-02

Sometimes a library simulation is almost right. The physics is correct and the controls work, but your class needs a different context, other units or one extra graph. Instead of building from scratch, you can remix a simulation: Simulic's AI starts from the working original and changes only what you ask, and you get your own editable copy. This guide shows when a remix is the right tool (and when a free setting does the job), the exact steps behind the Customize with AI button, how to write a change request that works first time, and a worked example that turns a free-fall simulation into a skydiving lesson, with the values to check before class.

A remix costs credits, so first rule out the free options. Many "I need to change it" cases are really share settings.

What you want	Do this	Cost
Different starting values (height, mass, concentration)	Pin them on a share link (Share → Simulation tab)	Free
The simulation in Spanish, French or another site language	Choose the Language when you create the link	Free
Hide a value students shouldn't see	Locked parameters on the link	Pro
A new context, other units, renamed labels, an extra graph or readout, a part removed	Remix	20 credits
Nothing in the library is close	Create a new simulation	15, 25 or 80 credits

Library simulations already come in the six site languages, so a remix just to translate wastes credits. Remix when the simulation itself has to change: what it shows, what it calls things, or how students interact with it.

A remix also beats creating from scratch when the original's model is good. The AI keeps what already works, so you inherit a tested simulation instead of hoping a new one gets the science right. For building something new, see how to create a simulation for your lesson with AI.

What you need

A free Simulic teacher account. Students never need one.
At least 20 credits. Credit packs are 200 credits for $10, 500 for $25 or 1,400 for $60, and credits last 24 months. Pro includes 200 credits every month. See pricing for the current options.
A clear idea of what should change and what should stay.

Step by step: remix a simulation

Open the simulation's page in the library and click ✨ Customize with AI. Its tooltip sums up the idea: "Make your own version: change the numbers, context, language or labels".
If you are not signed in, Simulic asks you to sign in first and then brings you straight back to the remix form.
The page is titled "Remix" followed by the simulation's name. The cost, 20 credits, is shown at the top, next to your credit balance.
Under What are you teaching?, check the Subject (filled in from the original), type a short Topic and choose the Language of the simulation.
Under What should change?, describe your changes (at least 10 characters). The placeholder gives the style: "Use a pendulum with a heavier bob, add air resistance as a parameter, and show the energy bars."
Click Create (20 credits). If your balance is too low, the button reads Not enough credits and a Buy credits button appears.
Follow the progress messages while the AI writes and checks the code. This usually takes one or two minutes. Nothing is charged if the AI fails: failed jobs refund their credits automatically. You can run one job at a time.
Your remix opens in the editor. The header shows a remix tag and Private.

The original stays unchanged in the library. Your copy lives under My simulations, and only you, and students with your links, can open it.

How to write a change request that works

The AI reads the original simulation's code and labels, then makes a new version that keeps everything that already works. Your request only has to describe the difference. Four habits help:

Name the new context in one sentence. "Turn the two balls into a skydiver before and after opening the parachute."
Give numbers and units. "Mass 80 kg, drop height 3,000 m, area 0.7 m² closed and 25 m² open."
Say what must stay. "Keep the velocity–time graph and the terminal velocity readout." This stops the AI from tidying away parts you rely on.
Keep it to one idea. Context plus one or two additions is fine. Five unrelated changes in one request is how things break. You can ask for more later as edits.

Compare:

Weak: "Make this about parachutes."
Strong: "Grade 10 physics. Replace the two balls with one skydiver of mass 80 kg (slider 50–120 kg). Add a button to open the parachute. Drag coefficient 1.0 with area 0.7 m² before opening, 1.5 with area 25 m² after. Drop height 3,000 m. Keep the velocity–time graph and show the terminal velocity in m/s before and after opening. Use g = 9.8 m/s² and air density 1.2 kg/m³."

Worked example: from free fall to skydiving

Start from the library's free-fall simulation. Two spheres of the same material fall from the same height, with air resistance on or off.

Free fall and fall with air resistance

Know the original before you remix it, because those values tell you whether the remix kept the model:

With the default drop height of 45 m and air resistance off, the panel shows the fall time t = √(2h/g) = 3.03 s for both objects, whatever their mass.
Turn air resistance on: the panel shows terminal velocities of 62.2 m/s for the 5 kg object and 36.4 m/s for the 0.2 kg one. The heavy object lands at about 3.1 s, the light one at about 3.2 s.
With drag off, a 20 m drop takes 2.02 s and an 80 m drop 4.04 s: four times the height, twice the time.

Now paste the strong request above into What should change? and create the remix. When it opens, check these values by hand before any student sees it:

Closed parachute: v = √(2mg / (ρ·C·A)) = √(2 × 80 × 9.8 / (1.2 × 1.0 × 0.7)) ≈ 43.2 m/s.
Open parachute: with C = 1.5 and A = 25 m², v ≈ 5.9 m/s.
Drag off: if the remix still lets you turn air resistance off, the fall must follow v = gt exactly.
Mass slider: a heavier skydiver must have a higher terminal velocity. If the readout ignores mass, the model is wrong.
Graph: after the parachute opens, the velocity must fall toward the new terminal velocity, not jump to it.

If a value is off, describe the symptom and the expected number in an edit: "With the parachute closed at 80 kg, terminal velocity shows 30 m/s but should be about 43.2 m/s." For a full checklist, read how to check an AI-made simulation before class.

Five remix requests that work

Adapt these to your class. Each one keeps the original's model and changes the context or adds one view.

Physics, gas laws. From Boyle's law: "Make it a bicycle pump. Volume in cm³ (100–500), pressure in kPa, starting at 400 cm³ and 100 kPa. Keep the p–V and p–1/V graphs." Check: squeezing to 100 cm³ must read 400 kPa.
Physics, projectiles. From Projectile motion: "Set it on a basketball court. Release height 2.0 m, hoop 3.05 m high and 4.6 m away. Show whether the shot goes in." Check by hand one launch speed and angle that scores.
Chemistry, dilution. From Diluting Acids and Bases: "Add a column for [OH⁻] to the table. Keep everything else." A small, safe change: the table must still show pH 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 for HCl starting at 0.1 M.
Biology, food safety. From Bacteria in food: "Set it in our school cafeteria: a tray of rice left on the counter from 12:00 to 16:00. Label times as clock times."
Math, similar triangles. From measuring height with shadows: "Set it at our school: find the flagpole's height from its shadow, using a 1.6 m tall student and their shadow as the reference."

For turning a specific test item into a new simulation instead, see turn exam questions into interactive simulations.

Keep improving it with edits

Your remix opens in the editor with the AI assistant next to the preview. Type a change and click Send.

A remix includes 5 free edits. The panel shows how many you have left.
After that, each edit costs 2 credits.
Major rewrite rewrites the whole simulation instead of patching it, for 10 credits. Use it only when the structure is wrong.
Every request creates a new version. Under Details, the Versions table lists each one with your request, and Use this version takes you back.

A typical budget: the remix (20) plus its 5 free edits plus 2 extra edits (4) comes to 24 credits. A 200-credit pack covers about eight remixes at that rate; Pro's monthly 200 credits cover the same.

A remix is shared like any library simulation. Click Share in the editor to create a link per class with pinned starting values, then post the link, show the QR code, copy the embed code, or use the Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams buttons. On the Questions tab, attach a question set. The values you checked by hand make good number questions, for example "Terminal velocity with the parachute closed: 43.2 m/s ± 1".

Happy with it? Share to the public library on the Details tab sends it for review, so other teachers can find it too. For how simulations fit into a lesson, start with how to use interactive simulations in the classroom.

FAQ

Does remixing change the library simulation?

No. You get a separate, private copy. The original stays as it is for everyone else.

How many free edits come with a remix?

Five. After that, each edit costs 2 credits, and a major rewrite costs 10.

Can I remix a simulation into another language?

Yes, you choose the language on the remix form. But library simulations already come in the six site languages, so pick the language on your share link instead unless you are changing other things too.

What happens if the remix fails?

Nothing is charged. Failed jobs refund their credits automatically, and you can try again with a clearer request.

Do my students need an account or credits?

No. Playing is always free, and students open your link without an account. Only you spend credits, when you remix or edit.