Cart
Article
Use of the Vreeland Spectroscope in the Quantum Chemistry Laboratory
Hi-Res PDFPurchase the full-text
- PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)
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.
Keywords (Audience):
Upper-Division UndergraduateKeywords (Domain):
Physical ChemistryKeywords (Pedagogy):
Hands-On Learning / ManipulativesKeywords (Subject):
Quantum ChemistryCiting Articles
Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.
This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).
Investigating the Photoelectric Effect Using LEDs and a Modular Spectroscope
Lucia Diaz and Charles A. SmithJournal of Chemical Education2005 82 (6), 906Investigating the Photoelectric Effect Using LEDs and a Modular Spectroscope
Lucia Diaz and Charles A. SmithJournal of Chemical Education2005 82 (6), 906Elementary spectroscopic investigations often utilize a commercial spectroscope. To maintain calibration these devices have fixed positions for the slits and dispersive element. Due to the rigidity and non-modular nature of these devices, they may seem ...
Tools
-
Add to Favorites
-
Download Citation
-
Email a Colleague -
Permalink
Order Reprints
Rights & Permissions
Citation Alerts
History
- Received: August 03, 2009
ACS
Network
Facebook
Tweet This
CiteULike
Newsvine
Digg This
Delicious
