Article
Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
(2009)
Abstract
We demonstrate the usefulness of Second Life as a platform for enlivening major
concepts in chemistry education. These concepts include absorption spectra,
selection rules, quantum numbers, and atomic orbital shapes. We have built several
exhibits in Second Life which provide 3-dimensional interactivity for each of those
areas: an interactive experiment showing the absorption spectrum of hydrogen, an
interactive model of selection rules showing allowed and forbidden transitions for
each state, a 3-dimensional grid of orbitals showing the constraints on the values of
quantum numbers, and a large-scale interactive orbital display allowing the user to
choose and rotate to-scale atomic orbitals based on quantum numbers.
Keywords
- virtual worlds,
- quantum mechanics,
- chemistry,
- education
Disciplines
Publication Date
April, 2009
DOI
10.4101/jvwr.v2i1.448
Citation Information
Andrew Lang and David C Kobilnyk. "Visualizing Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life" Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Vol. 2 Iss. 1 (2009) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/andrew-sid-lang/11/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-SA International License.