A discussion of the physical meaning of the Schrödinger wave equation can not only constitute an
exciting introduction to some of the more abstract ideas of quantum mechanics, but serves more
generally as a useful demonstration of the application of mathematics to modern physics. This
frontline uses physical concepts and mathematical techniques that would be accessible to a
sufficiently interested secondary school student, in order to derive the simplest, one-dimensional
case of the time-independent Schrödinger equation: the derivation relies only upon aspects of
Newtonian/wave mechanics, quantum theory, complex numbers and calculus that would be covered in an
advanced secondary school syllabus.