How to Use Simulations in PowerPoint and Google Slides

Most lessons still run from a slide deck, so the easiest way to bring simulations in PowerPoint and Google Slides into a lesson is to make them one click away from the slide where you need them. This guide shows a workflow that works the same in both apps: a slide with a link that opens the simulation in present mode, and a slide with a QR code that puts the same simulation on every student's device. You will set it up once with Simulic, run it in class, and see a complete four-slide sequence for a momentum demo with real values and a hinge question.

What you need

• A free Simulic teacher account. Students never need one.
• Your deck in PowerPoint or Google Slides.
• A projector or screen, and a browser on the presenting computer.
• A simulation. This guide uses Air track collisions.

Why a link, not a simulation inside the slide

A slide holds text and pictures. A simulation is a live web page that runs in the browser. Simulic has no PowerPoint or Google Slides add-on, so this guide doesn't try to squeeze the simulation into the slide itself. A link does the job better anyway:

• It always works. Clicking a link during a slideshow opens your browser, on any version of either app.
• Present mode is built for the projector. It shows the simulation large and hides everything students don't need to see.
• The QR code carries the lesson to students. The same link, scanned, gives each student the simulation with your questions attached.

Step 1: Create a link for the lesson

1. Open the simulation page and click Share.
2. On the Simulation tab, set the starting values for your demo. For the collision lesson, keep the defaults: cart 1 at 1 kg moving at 3 m/s, cart 2 at 2 kg moving at −1 m/s (to the left). These values are pinned to the new link.
3. Go to the Share Links tab. Under New link, name the link after the lesson, for example "Momentum · Lesson 3 · slides", choose the Language and click Create link.

Step 2: Get the present-mode link

1. On the link card, click Present. Present mode opens in a new browser tab.
2. Copy the address from the browser's address bar. It is your play link with ?present=1 at the end.

You can also click Copy link and type ?present=1 after it yourself. Both give the same address.

In present mode, the page shows the simulation title in large type, the simulation filling most of the screen and the starting-values panel in bigger text. There are three buttons: Show QR code, Restart and Fullscreen. Questions and prediction locks attached to the link do not appear, so the demo never stalls on a question meant for students.

Step 3: Add the link to a slide

1. On the slide where the demo belongs, add a short text line or a shape, such as a button labelled "Run the collision".
2. Select it and add a link with your app's insert-link command (Ctrl+K, or Cmd+K on a Mac, works in both PowerPoint and Google Slides).
3. Paste the present-mode link and confirm.
4. Start the slideshow and click the link to test it.

When you click the link during the slideshow, the simulation opens in your browser. Press Fullscreen, run the demo, then switch back to the slideshow window to carry on.

If you share the deck with students afterwards, change that link to the plain play link (without ?present=1) or add it on the last slide. Present mode hides the questions, and students working alone need them.

Step 4: Put the QR code on a slide

Each link card on the Share page shows its QR code.

1. Click Download QR. You get a PNG image named simulic- plus the link's code.
2. Insert the image on a slide, as large as the layout allows. Students at the back must be able to scan it.
3. Add the short task next to it, so students know what to do once the simulation opens.

The QR code opens the ordinary play link, not present mode, so students get the simulation with any questions you attached. Building the deck on another computer? Send the link to myself emails you the link with its QR code attached.

You don't strictly need the QR slide: present mode has its own Show QR code button, which fills the screen with the code and the short address underneath. The slide version is handy when you want the task and the code on screen together, or when you print the slides as a handout.

Run it in class: a four-slide momentum sequence

Here is the simulation students will see. On load, the carts start moving straight away. Press Reset inside the simulation to stop them at the start, then Run when the class is ready.

Slide 1: the question. "A 1 kg cart at 3 m/s meets a 2 kg cart coming the other way at 1 m/s. They stick together. Which way do they move?" Give the class 30 seconds of silent thinking.

Slide 2: the hinge question. "A) left, B) right, C) they stop, D) it depends only on which cart is heavier." Students hold up fingers. The answer is B. Students who choose A or D think the heavier cart always wins; those who choose C think a head-on collision that sticks always ends at rest.

Slide 3: the link. Click "Run the collision". In the simulation, press Change collision type to switch to the inelastic collision (this also puts the carts back at the start), then press Run. The total momentum is 1 × 3 + 2 × (−1) = 1.00 kg·m/s before and after. The stuck carts move right at 0.33 m/s, and the table shows the kinetic energy dropping from 5.50 J to 0.17 J, a loss of 5.33 J. Switch back to the elastic collision and run it again: cart 1 bounces back at −2.33 m/s, cart 2 moves right at 1.67 m/s, and the kinetic energy stays at 5.50 J.

Slide 4: the QR code and the task. "Scan the code. Set both masses to 1 kg and run an elastic collision. What happens to the velocities?" (The carts swap velocities.) Attach a question set to the link to collect answers: up to 5 questions, including number questions checked with a tolerance, such as "With the starting values, how fast do the stuck carts move?" (answer 0.33, tolerance ± 0.02, unit m/s). Students type a nickname and answer under the simulation; you see the results on the Share page.

The routine behind this sequence, predict before you run, is explained in Predict–Observe–Explain with simulations. For more on running the demo itself, from hinge questions to mini-whiteboards, read teaching with a projector.

No link yet? Use the Present button on the library page

Every simulation page in the library has its own Present button. It shows only the simulation, large, for the class screen, and the button changes to Exit presentation. You can link a slide to the simulation page and press Present when you get there. It needs no account, but you get no pinned starting values, no QR code and no answers, so a share link is better for anything beyond a quick demo.

Troubleshooting

The link opens the normal play page

The address on the slide is missing ?present=1. Copy it again from the tab that Present opened.

Students can't scan the QR code

Make the image bigger, and dim the room lights if the projector is weak. As a backup, read out the short address under the code in present mode.

The simulation doesn't load on the classroom computer

Open the play link in the browser before the lesson. If it fails only on school devices, a web filter may be blocking simulic.com; ask IT to allow it.

The link says it is no longer available

The link is turned off. Click Turn on link on the Share page. The slide and the QR code keep working once it is on again.

For posting the same simulation to an LMS, see the guide to embedding a simulation in your LMS. For the bigger picture, read how to use interactive simulations in the classroom.

FAQ

Can I put the live simulation inside a PowerPoint or Google Slides slide?

Simulic has no add-on for either app. Link the slide to present mode instead: one click opens the simulation in your browser.

Will my slides break if I change the question set later?

No. The link and the QR code stay the same. Changes on the Share page apply to the same link.

Do students see the questions in present mode?

No. Present mode hides questions and prediction locks. Students see them when they open the link on their own devices, for example from the QR code.

Can I reuse the same slide with several classes?

Yes, but each class's answers then land on one link. For separate results, create one link per class, and download a QR code for each class's copy of the deck.