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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > April  >
Information • Textbooks • Media • Resources
Computer Bulletin Board
Visualization of Wavefunctions using Mathematica
Patricia L. Lang and Marcy Hamby Towns
Ball State University, Department of Chemistry, Cooper Science Bldg, Muncie, IN 47306
Cover
April 1998
Vol. 75 No. 4
p. 506
Abstract
This paper presents computer-based laboratory activities which focuses student attention on the quantum mechanical models for translational motion, vibrational motion, and rotational motion. Using Mathematica, students investigated the two-dimensional particle in a box, the harmonic oscillator, and the particle on a sphere by graphing the wavefunction y and the probability density |y|2. Student understanding and achievement was measured using a post-lab survey, an examination question, and a question on the semester final. Students stated that they developed a better understanding of the concept of a wavefunction and a probability density. On the semester final, 88% of the students could correctly identify pairs of degenerate two-dimensional particle in a box wavefunctions.
More Information
*  Citation
 Patricia L. Lang and Marcy Hamby Towns . J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 506.
*  Keywords
 Physical Chemistry, Laboratory
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 25, 1999
June 24, 2005
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