Victor Gil

Atomic orbitals and their representation: can 3-D computer graphics help conceptual understanding?

Publishing data
2005
Resource type: 
peer reviewed article
Publication details: 
Revista Brasileira de Ensino FĂ­sica, vol. 27, issue 3, pages 319-325

Quantum mechanics is a non-intuitive subject. For example, the concept of orbital seems too difficult to be mastered by students who are starting to study it. Various investigations have been done on student's difficulties in understanding basic quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, there are few attempts at probing how student's understanding is influenced by appropriate visualization techniques, which are known to help conceptual understanding.