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Tutorials & Learning Guides

Welcome to the Soft Potato Learning Hub! Explore hands-on tutorials covering electrochemistry simulations, scientific Python programming, and the Linux command line for students, researchers, and computational scientists. This section is in active development and will be updated continuously.

Chip — Code & Mesh Analyst

Electrochemistry Simulations

Interactive simulations, numerical solvers, and analytical benchmarking with Soft Potato:

  • Cottrell Chronoamperometry — 1D potential-step diffusion simulation, concentration profiles, Cottrell plots, and diffusivity extraction.
  • Cyclic Voltammetry — Reversible electron transfer (\(O + e^- \rightleftharpoons R\)), triangular sweep generation, Randles–Ševčík diagnostics, and peak separation analysis.

Python

Foundational scientific programming tutorials designed for researchers and engineers:

  • Installing Python & First Simulation — Installing official Python across operating systems, setting up an isolated virtual environment, comparing IDEs, and running an analytical chronoamperometry test in IDLE to verify your setup.
  • Python Fundamentals: Variables & Functions — Variables, physical constants, typing, scientific functions, and calculating electrochemical parameters like thermal voltage.
  • Numerical Computing with NumPy — Utilizing np.ndarray for vectorized math, evaluating equations without slow loops, and handling multidimensional concentration grids.
  • Data Visualization with Matplotlib — Generating publication-quality figures, transient curves, cyclic voltammograms, custom styling, multi-panel subplots, and vector graphics export.

Linux

Essential command-line skills for running simulations, managing data, and remote computing:

  • Navigating the Filesystem — The Linux directory hierarchy, essential navigation commands (pwd, ls, cd, mkdir), and tab autocompletion.
  • File Management & Data Inspection — Creating, moving, copying files safely, fast data inspection with head, tail, cat, and text search with grep.
  • Running Scripts & Redirection — Running scientific Python scripts from the terminal, standard I/O redirection (>, 2>&1), and managing background jobs.
  • Remote Computing with SSH & Rsync — Connecting securely to remote lab workstations with SSH keys, persistent sessions with tmux, and syncing datasets with rsync.