From Learning to Leading: A Chemist’s Guide to Wolfram Technologies
This post written by Bailey Long is excerpted from a longer post on the Wolfram Blog. The original, much longer, post can be viewed here!
From preparing food to nourish our bodies to finding cures for terminal illnesses, chemistry is a foundational part of our world. As a computational chemist, you may have a lot to learn to master this subject, but fueled by Wolfram’s collection of educational resources, elaborate simulation functions and research projects, you’ll be ready to tackle this exciting science head on.
Level 1 — Learn about Chemical Computing
Wolfram|Alpha Example Queries
Wolfram|Alpha’s searchable database gives budding computational scientists the tools to find reliable information and calculations to support just about any field of work — including chemistry. Example queries for chemistry are available to instantly learn about different chemical properties, balance chemical equations, explore chemoinformatics and more. Struggling to remember chemical formulas? Wolfram|Alpha recognizes chemicals by name, formula or any other identifier.
Wolfram|Alpha Pro also offers step-by-step chemistry examples and solutions to help walk you through different chemistry problems and struggles. You can learn more about the different applications through the Wolfram|Alpha Chemistry Team’s collection of step-by-step chemistry blogs:
- “Chemistry Step-by-Step Solutions: Chemical Reactions”
- “Chemical Solutions: Step-by-Step Chemistry Series”
- “Structure and Bonding: Step-by-Step Chemistry Series”
- “Quantum Chemistry: Step-by-Step Chemistry Series”
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others)
Stephen Wolfram’s Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) is a weekly stream where Wolfram answers the questions you wish you could have asked in school — philosophical, technical or otherwise.
Science & Technology Q&A for Kids (and Others) [Part 138] addresses a series of chemistry questions, including suggested curriculum and basic applied chemistry.
Wolfram|Alpha Chemistry Team — Mathematica & Wolfram Language Fast Introduction for Chemistry Students
For those who are new to Wolfram Language, Mathematica & Wolfram Language Fast Introduction for Chemistry Students may be helpful in learning about how to use Wolfram Notebooks and using Wolfram Language to begin your chemical computing journey.
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
The Wolfram Demonstrations Project offers more than 12 thousand interactive Wolfram Language Demonstrations in varying fields, including over five hundred chemistry Demonstrations. Set unique conditions and watch experiments unfold from Demonstrations like the following.
Beer’s Law
By: Scott Berger, Rachael Holappa and Kaitlin Nguyen
A classic experiment brought straight to your computer screen, this Demonstration shows Beer’s law by measuring the concentration of a liquid using light waves. The Demonstration allows you to manipulate the wavelength and concentration to calculate absorbance and molar absorbance.
Element Density Comparisons
By: Theodore Gray
When it comes to learning about the elements, it can be difficult to keep track of the different characteristics. Gray’s Demonstration lets you compare and visualize the density of any two elements using bars to demonstrate their weight.
Build Your Own Atoms
By: S. M. Blinder
Blinder’s Demonstration will also give you the chance to become familiar with the elements and what makes them unique by manipulating the atomic number, mass number and number of electrons.
Featured Wolfram Community Post
Wolfram Community is one of the best places to learn about others’ projects and share or find help with your own work. These recent Community posts are a sampling of some of our favorite chemistry projects.
Antioxidants: Colorful Foods to Tame Free Radicals
By: Gay Wilson
Wilson shares the importance of a well-balanced diet in terms of vitamins and chemical nature. She breaks down the importance of vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and phytosterols to find the most antioxidant-rich foods for a healthy body.
Wolfram System Modeler — High School Chemistry Library
Wolfram System Modeler is an interactive modeling lab that gives you the chance to run dynamic simulations for varying environments. The High School Chemistry library offers a series of labs to conduct chemistry experiments that will give you the experience and confidence to put your skills to practice with virtual demonstrations and calculations.
Wolfram U — Wolfram Notebooks for Teaching Chemistry
For those looking to teach about the basics of chemical computing, be sure to check out Wolfram U’s course Wolfram Notebooks for Teaching Chemistry. The hourlong video course features Jason Sonnenberg from the Wolfram|Alpha Chemistry Team, who discusses Wolfram chemistry applications, strategies and resources for meaningful interactive instruction. Sonnenberg’s experience in education and chemistry makes this the perfect resource for the Wolfram novice looking to integrate technology into the classroom.
Wolfram Function Repository
The Wolfram Function Repository offers an ever-expanding collection of Wolfram Language functions developed by both Wolfram teams and users. With over 2,500 functions available, there are plenty of chemistry tools to go around for the computational chemist.
The Repository’s chemistry selection includes search functions for the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Common Chemistry database, basic essential chemistry conversions and more:
Wolfram Academic Programs
For those looking to flex their combined powers in Wolfram Language and chemistry (and other areas!), be sure to keep an eye out for the Wolfram educational programs. High-school students who are looking for an entry point to experience Wolfram may be interested in the Wolfram High School Summer Research Program, where participants create a STEM research project under the mentorship of Wolfram employees. The following is a sample of chemistry projects from the 2024 program:
Enjoyed Level 1’s chemistry resources? Well, how about two more? Check out Level 2 and Level 3 on the original blog post here!
