Students use a PhET simulation to explore the time evolution of a particle in an infinite square well potential.
Launch the “Quantum Bound States” PhET. Pause the simulation at t=0.
Make the square well potential as deep as you can on the screen to approximate an infinite well.
What happens to the energy levels if you:
How your observations are consistent with the equation for the energy eigenvalues?
At t=0, what do the energy eigenstate wavefunctions look like?
How do these shapes and colors make sense?
At t=0, what does the probability density look like for the energy eigenstates?
How is the shape of the probability density related to the shape of the wavefunction?
For the n=2 energy eigenstate (in other words, the first excited state)
If you were looking for the particle in the box, where is the particle most likely to be? Explain.
As time passes, what do the energy eigenstates do? (What do they look like?)
Explain why you see what you see.
As time passes, what does the probability density of the energy eigenstates look like?
Explain why you see what you see.
Create a superposition state:
Explain why you see what you see.