Molecular dynamic simulations of particles with van der Waals interaction
In molecular dynamics simulations, the movement of molecules in the force field of all other molecules is calculated. The video (click on the image on the left) shows the collision of two argon atoms in a one-dimensional system. In addition, the exchange between the potential and kinetic energy during the collisions is plotted. The temperature is chosen so low that the two atoms cannot separate, so there is a van der Waals dimer.
If many particles are simulated, the system behaves chaotically in the sense of deterministic chaos. A corresponding video for two dimensions starts after clicking on the image on the left.
The stop-motion video below, created by pupils, shows the classical oscillation of a diatomic system. It illustrates the mapping of the quadratic potential model onto the time axis (click on the image on the left).