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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > November  >
In the Laboratory
Use of the Vreeland Spectroscope in the Quantum Chemistry Laboratory
William G. Wickun
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, Montana State University, Billings, MT 59101-0298
Cover
November 1998
Vol. 75 No. 11
p. 1477
Abstract
Although quantum mechanics is probably the most powerful and potentially useful area of physical chemistry, much of it involves describing and solving physical problems in terms of mathematics. The wave function description of atomic orbitals, the physical significance of quantum numbers, and angular momentum are central concepts, yet most students find them difficult to assimilate. The laboratory should be the arena not only for teaching basic lab techniques but for illustrating the ideas and concepts to which students are exposed in the lecture. I have shown that the quantum mechanistic ideas describing the structure of atoms can be effectively demonstrated in the laboratory using the Vreeland direct-reading spectroscope. Although this spectroscope is customarily employed in geological and geophysical applications and in the mining industry, many colleges and universities use it for teaching mineralogy and geochemistry. I resurrected a Vreeland spectroscope from the earth science department and successfully employ it to illustrate the concepts of atomic structure and spectra in the quantum chemistry laboratory.
More Information
*  Citation
 Wickun, William G. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 1477.
*  Keywords
 physical chem, quantum chem, atomic properties, structure, laboratory instruction
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 18, 1999
June 24, 2005
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