Weblink 18.1 The energy levels and wavefunctions of a particle in a box

This application shows how the energy levels and wavefunctions vary as the width of the box and the mass of the particle are varied. The walls of the box are the vertical black lines, and the energies of the levels are represented by the horizontal lines in the box. For each level, the corresponding wavefunction is plotted assuming that the horizontal line (representing the energy) is the x-axis. The quantum number n of each level is shown in the left.

• Move the sliders to vary the width of the box, the mass of the particle and the amplitudes of the wavefunctions
• Use the radio buttons to select whether or not the wavefunction is displayed, or to select display of the square of the wavefunction
• For best performance, Google Chrome is recommended