JCE Software, 5B2: Animated Demonstrations

Animated Demonstrations

Philip I. Pavlik
Northern Michigan University, Marquette MI 49855-5343

Note:
Series B (MS DOS) software previously included on the General Chemistry Collection CD-ROM is now available for free download by Journal of Chemical Education subscribers.
Go to the download page.

Animated Demonstrations is a collection of five programs. The first three, PBl, PB2, and HCC, were designed to help students gain better understanding of quantum mechanical behavior by allowing them to observe it directly. The last two SALT and CLEAVE illustrate the phenomena of salt dissolution and crystal cleavage.
PBl and PB2, are companion programs that deal with the quantum mechanical description of the standard, one- and two-dimensional "particle in a box" problems. Each program depicts accurate, animated, graphical representations of the wave functions (real parts), the probability density functions, and probability dot plots for the lowest four eigenstates of the system. PB1 displays three windows on the screen, one for each of the above mentioned functions. PB2 makes use of two windows, the first one shows animated wave functions and the other alternately displays probability functions and dot plots.
These programs are very useful as lecture demonstrations to illustrate the relationship between the wave function, the probability density function and the corresponding dot plot representations of electronic orbitals commonly used in chemistry. Their use is appropriate for any chemistry (or physics) class where the quantum theory of atomic, electronic structure is being studied.
The program HCC displays accurate, three-dimensional pictures of all the electronic charge clouds for the 1s through 3d atomic, electronic orbitals for the hydrogen atom. Each charge cloud is represented, to scale, by one thousand points in space, randomly distributed in accordance with the probability density function corresponding to its wave function.
As an additional feature, this program also shows the charge clouds that result from the construction of 2sp, 2sp², and 2sp³ hybrid orbitals from hydrogen atomic wave functions. These hybrid orbitals are only hypothetical. (The actual hybrid orbitals are built from atomic orbitals from central parent atoms other than hydrogen.) Nevertheless, they do give a good visualization of the spatial properties of the actual hybrid orbitals.
The screen display consists of two windows. The first one shows an orbital graphic while the other presents a menu of all program options. The user may optionally choose to view single frames, or "slides", of the orbital charge cloud as it would appear from virtually any spatial direction or to see a real time animation that shows the charge cloud rotating around the desired coordinate axes.
This program can be used either as a lecture supplement or a student tutorial. It is appropriate for any chemistry (or physics) class where the quantum theory of atomic electronic structure is being studied.
The program, SALT, begins with a display of a sodium chloride crystal lattice under an animated assembly of water molecules. Water molecules are then shown hydrating and lifting ions from the lattice and carrying them off into the solution. After several ions have dissolved the program simply recycles the animation sequence.
The program CLEAVE depicts a section of a sodium chloride crystal lattice and a solid rectangular object above the crystal. The object pushes down on the lattice causing slippage of a lattice plane. This action subsequently brings like charged ions into close proximity. The lattice is then seen to fly apart along the lattice plane due to the repulsive forces between these ions. This sequence repeats at user controlled animation speeds.
The operation all five programs in this collection is very straightforward and transparent. PBl, PB2, and HCC include user instructions and are menu driven from the keyboard.
Hardware and Software Requirements
Animated Demonstrations requires a MS-DOS/IBM compatible computer with 512K of RAM and CGA or better graphics.

First Published: December 1992
Citation: Pavlik, P. I. . Animated Demonstrations J. Chem. Educ. Software 5B2
Keywords: Lecture Aid; Computer Room; High School; General; Inorganic; Physical; Wave theory of atom; Atomic orbital electron distributions; Ionic compounds; Hydration of Ions

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Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: December 4, 1996 Created by: J. L. Holmes
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.



Animated Demonstrations
Philip I. Pavlik Northern Michigan University, Marquette MI 49855-5343

Note:	Series B (MS DOS) software previously included on the General Chemistry Collection CD-ROM is now available for free download by Journal of Chemical Education subscribers. Go to the download page.

Animated Demonstrations is a collection of five programs. The first three, PBl, PB2, and HCC, were designed to help students gain better understanding of quantum mechanical behavior by allowing them to observe it directly. The last two SALT and CLEAVE illustrate the phenomena of salt dissolution and crystal cleavage. PBl and PB2, are companion programs that deal with the quantum mechanical description of the standard, one- and two-dimensional "particle in a box" problems. Each program depicts accurate, animated, graphical representations of the wave functions (real parts), the probability density functions, and probability dot plots for the lowest four eigenstates of the system. PB1 displays three windows on the screen, one for each of the above mentioned functions. PB2 makes use of two windows, the first one shows animated wave functions and the other alternately displays probability functions and dot plots. These programs are very useful as lecture demonstrations to illustrate the relationship between the wave function, the probability density function and the corresponding dot plot representations of electronic orbitals commonly used in chemistry. Their use is appropriate for any chemistry (or physics) class where the quantum theory of atomic, electronic structure is being studied. The program HCC displays accurate, three-dimensional pictures of all the electronic charge clouds for the 1s through 3d atomic, electronic orbitals for the hydrogen atom. Each charge cloud is represented, to scale, by one thousand points in space, randomly distributed in accordance with the probability density function corresponding to its wave function. As an additional feature, this program also shows the charge clouds that result from the construction of 2sp, 2sp², and 2sp³ hybrid orbitals from hydrogen atomic wave functions. These hybrid orbitals are only hypothetical. (The actual hybrid orbitals are built from atomic orbitals from central parent atoms other than hydrogen.) Nevertheless, they do give a good visualization of the spatial properties of the actual hybrid orbitals. The screen display consists of two windows. The first one shows an orbital graphic while the other presents a menu of all program options. The user may optionally choose to view single frames, or "slides", of the orbital charge cloud as it would appear from virtually any spatial direction or to see a real time animation that shows the charge cloud rotating around the desired coordinate axes. This program can be used either as a lecture supplement or a student tutorial. It is appropriate for any chemistry (or physics) class where the quantum theory of atomic electronic structure is being studied. The program, SALT, begins with a display of a sodium chloride crystal lattice under an animated assembly of water molecules. Water molecules are then shown hydrating and lifting ions from the lattice and carrying them off into the solution. After several ions have dissolved the program simply recycles the animation sequence. The program CLEAVE depicts a section of a sodium chloride crystal lattice and a solid rectangular object above the crystal. The object pushes down on the lattice causing slippage of a lattice plane. This action subsequently brings like charged ions into close proximity. The lattice is then seen to fly apart along the lattice plane due to the repulsive forces between these ions. This sequence repeats at user controlled animation speeds. The operation all five programs in this collection is very straightforward and transparent. PBl, PB2, and HCC include user instructions and are menu driven from the keyboard. Hardware and Software Requirements Animated Demonstrations requires a MS-DOS/IBM compatible computer with 512K of RAM and CGA or better graphics.


News \| Issues \| CD-ROM / Video \| Find It! \| Technical Support \| For Authors
JCE Online \| Journal \| Software \| Internet \| Happenings \| About JCE \| Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001 Created: December 4, 1996	Created by: J. L. Holmes Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.