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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > April  >
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Computer Bulletin Board
Quantum Mechanical Tunneling through Barriers: A Spreadsheet Approach
Andrés Cedillo
Departamento de Química, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Ap Postal 86-219, Villa Coapa, DF 14391, Mexico

Cover
April 2000
Vol. 77 No. 4
p. 528

Abstract
Transmission coefficients for arbitrary potential barriers are obtained using a spreadsheet approach to solve the pertinent Schrödinger equation for the corresponding dispersion eigenfunctions in one dimension. Potentials should be of finite range, otherwise arbitrary. The method of implementation in personal computers is presented here, and it is also shown that the graphical capabilities of the software make it more useful in teaching. This approach reproduces exact solutions for square step barriers and it is illustrated with Gaussian potential energy functions. As a practical example, we simulate a chemical reaction whose rate shows an Arrhenius-like behavior.
More Information
*  Citation
Cedillo, Andrés. J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 528.
*  Keywords
Quantum Chemistry; Kinetics; Physical Chemistry; Computer Assisted Instruction
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
March 2, 2000
April 15, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000 > April > Page 528


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