TINY WORLD / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
Does this pattern belong to the surface—or the way it was scanned?
Fixed height colour scale · brighter means higher · same field in instrument coordinates
Every test starts from the original settings and changes one thing.
Choose an experiment. Compare the images, then record what you notice.
Change one thing. Compare carefully. Let several observations support your explanation.
YOUR FIRST INVESTIGATION
You can revisit experiments and edit your observations. A successful explanation needs two complementary comparisons. There are no penalties or time limits.
The field axes stay fixed when you turn the model specimen. Height colours use the same scale in every view. These are synthetic scans, not photographs.
ABOUT THIS SIMULATION
AFM follows a surface with a probe. Probe geometry and feedback can affect the image. This game isolates three controlled possibilities: a probe with two contact points, feedback tracking lag, and an unusual but genuine repeated surface.
All fields are invented dimensionless height maps. The same surface supplies every test. Geometric imaging uses a maximum-contact operation with a finite parabolic probe. A two-apex probe can duplicate apparent features; it does not add two height signals together. A first-order tracking response creates directional lag, not oscillatory ringing. No damage, tip wear, noise, adhesion, force dynamics or mixed artifacts are modelled.
Each experiment changes one condition relative to the original settings. “Turn the specimen” rotates the underlying surface by 90° before simulating the tip and feedback. Images remain in fixed instrument coordinates. The tip stays oriented with the instrument. Reversing scan direction changes acquisition order without mirroring the displayed field.
The replacement model probe has the same primary apex shape with a single contact point. Thus well-tracked non-probe cases can remain exactly unchanged here. Real replacements may change apparent widths or other details. Slower scanning improves the particular tracking problem modelled here; it is not a universal fix for all streaks.
Recorded observations and complementary tests support a conclusion within this limited model. One tip change or rotation alone does not prove an artifact or genuine topography. Real images can combine several causes and require more checks. The final image reveals known invented geometry, not a reconstruction.
Descriptions provide the same evidence in words without a penalty. Revisiting experiments does not reroll the surface. Progress lasts while this page is open. These are learning mysteries, not a secure assessment or instrument procedure.
Same fixed height colour scale. Enlargement changes display size only.
This clears your observations and progress and creates new synthetic fields.
MVLscope