Dig the quantum harmonic oscillator, and cleanse your mind of the nineteenth-century malarkey you learned in high school chemistry class

If, like me, you're a science geek at heart who found high-school science offputting and baffling, the Internet has the cure. High-school physics steers clear of quantum mechanics and other twentieth-century ideas because the math is really hairy. Fortunately, now we have computers to do math for us. Enjoy the fruits of their labors with these nifty math and physics visualizations by a guy named Paul Falstad.

The most interesting one to me is the quantum harmonic oscillator. To avoid a headache, I recommend immediately setting the simulation speed to very slow. Plus then it's easier to see what's going on. Play with the slicing, fun! Rod Nave's Hyperphysics page informs me that a diatomic molecule like garden-variety H2 or O2 acts somewhat like two objects floating in space connected by a spring. The QHO describes the atoms' fluctuations the way it models the spring's rhythmic bouncing. Forget about little round electrons orbiting a bunch of bigger round protons and neutrons; the QHO gives you a much better idea of what the smallest constituents of matter "look like" (bearing in mind that the colors aren't literal; they're a visualization aid.) The QHO is also the foundation for the understanding of complex modes of vibration in larger molecules, the motion of atoms in a solid lattice, the theory of heat capacity, and various other real-world situations.

Some of the other particularly trippy and entertaining applets: box modes, the circular membrane, the ripple tank, the wavebox, 2D electrostatic fields, 3D vector fields, and spherical harmonics. Put on some Grateful Dead or seventies Miles, it enhances the experience.

© ethan hein 2007 | back to memebase | back to top