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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2007  > November  >
Information • Textbooks • Media • Resources
JCE SymMath: Symbolic Mathematics in Chemistry
Exploring Orthonormal Functions
Theresa Julia Zielinski
Department of Chemistry, Medical Technology, and Physics, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
Cover
November 2007
Vol. 84 No. 11
p. 1888
Abstract
In this document students explore orthonormal functions using particle-in-a-box wave functions. The particle-in-a-box wave functions, which form a complete orthonormal set of functions, are also used for fitting a linear combination of these functions to a target function. Students compare the quality of the fit between the target function and the linear combination of particle-in-a-box functions and calculate standard deviations. Thus students obtain an introduction to the concept of the expansion of a target function in terms of the components of a complete set of orthonormal functions. The document in this way serves as a preliminary foundation for studying Fourier series expansions. The use of a set of functions as a basis set further prepares students to understand linear combinations of atomic orbitals and basis sets used in ab initio calculations. An introductory overlap matrix exercise is included in this template. This provides a simple introduction to the concept of the overlap integral and the matrix representations of overlap in quantum calculations.

Fitting a linear combination of the first two particle-in-a-box Fy (dotted curve) wave functions to the target function fyi = yi (l − yi)3 (solid curve). When using the document students discover that using 7 particle-in-a-box wave functions brings the two curves into coincidence with a standard deviation of 0.003.
Supplement
Fully interactive computer algebra files are available in the JCE SymMath collection of the JCE Digital Library Only@JCE Online.
More Information
*
Citation
Zielinski, Theresa Julia. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 1888.
*
Keywords
Chemometrics; Computer-Based Learning; Mathematics / Symbolic Mathematics; Physical Chemistry; Quantum Chemistry; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
9/19/2007
9/27/2007
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