We designed a game, called Quantum Particle-in-a-Sandbox (QPiaS), to help physical chemistry students build intuition on how a one-dimensional quantum mechanical wave function evolves. The game includes a “Core Concepts” mode that walks students through game levels that help build a deeper understanding of quantum mechanical concepts, a “Model Potentials” mode that includes commonly explored one-dimensional potentials, and a “Sandbox Mode” that allows students to draw any one-dimensional potential surface and then explore the resulting one-dimensional wave function solutions for this potential. We will go over the mathematical and computational foundations of QPiaS; how various aspects of the game help students build intuition for quantum concepts such as expectation values, superposition, and wave function collapse; and student feedback about the effectiveness of QPiaS.

Quantum particle-in-a-sandbox: Exploring concepts through a video game

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ACS Spring 2023

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