Learning

Finding Stationary Points on the Potential Energy Surface

Potential Energy Surface (PES) → Computational Chemistry Basics

This learning path guides high school students through the concepts and techniques used to locate stationary points (minima and transition states) on a potential energy surface (PES). Starting with the fundamentals of the PES, it covers energy minimization, the role of gradients and Hessians, convergence criteria, transition state search methods, and intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) analysis.