An application for visualizing the dynamic properties of an equimolar binary mixture of isotropic reactive particles is presented. By introducing a user selectable choice for the activation energy, the application is useful to demonstrate qualitatively that the reaction rate depends on the above choice and on temperature. The application is based…

A virtual catalytic reactor laboratory (VCRL) experiment, which can be used in most browsers, is described. Students select feed conditions and use the VCRL to take data for a gas-phase catalytic reaction and fit kinetic parameters to a Langmuir-Hinshelwood rate expression. The VCRL contains instructions, equipment descriptions, an animated…

Thermodynamics and kinetics are key topics in the chemistry curriculum that pose challenges to students across a range of educational levels. These struggles arise from the complexity and mixed representations inherent to the topics. Additionally, while thermodynamics and kinetics are related, students struggle to make conceptually correct…

In most high school physics classes, gravity is described as an attractive force between two masses as formulated by Newton over 300 years ago. Einstein's general theory of relativity implies that gravitational effects are instead the result of a "curvature" of space-time. However, explaining why things fall without resorting to Newton's…

Students often struggle to understand the independence of velocity vectors in two-dimensional motion. Despite seeing classic projectile demonstrations, it is probably not obvious to most new students why the path of motion is parabolic. Likewise, first-year students might not predict that the path of motion is linear in two-dimensional vector…

Much of the literature contributing to physics instructors' knowledge of student ideas (KSI) reports common patterns of reasoning that are framed as discontinuous with canonical concepts. Our work contributes new KSI about mechanical wave propagation from a resources perspective, framing student thinking in terms of context-sensitive pieces of…

In this paper we present a novel approach to teach kinetic energy as an observable and measurable concept. The fundamental principles have been outlined for gravitational potential energy in an earlier work, that we extend here. By accelerating or decelerating bodies with springs we begin, in a first step, with a direct comparison method for…

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of incorporating distance learning for long periods. However, few studies have addressed strategies to overcome the limitations caused by the lockdown. In this study, we report an active learning experience on the topic of chemical kinetics, using two "flipped class" approaches,…

"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

The so-called Diet Coke and Mentos experiment is initiated by dropping Mentos candies into a bottle of Diet Coke or other carbonated beverage. This causes the beverage to rapidly degas, causing foam to stream out of the bottle. Simple application of the gas laws leads to the straightforward prediction that ejection of greater foam volume is…

Re-considering 'space' has gained importance once again, especially in the context of virtual spaces that have developed in the last century. Virtual technologies aiming for a lifelike experience have tried to imitate the processes taking place in physical space and adapt them to virtual spaces. Just as in the physical world, spaces formed by…

The use of free energy plots to understand the concept of thermodynamic equilibrium has been shown to be of great pedagogical value in materials science. Although chemical equilibrium is also amenable to this kind of analysis, it is not part of the agenda of materials science textbooks. Something similar is found in chemistry branches, where free…

Biochemistry textbooks often provide a disconnected, highly mathematical, and decontextualized treatment of thermodynamic and kinetic principles, which renders topics like protein folding difficult to teach. This is concerning given that graduates entering careers, like the pharmaceutical industry, must be able to apply such knowledge and related…

This article introduces the use of "VPython" (the "Python" programming language plus a 3D graphics module called "Visual") as a potentially valuable tool in teaching aspects of secondary school chemistry, which also provides an opportunity for students to gain some experience with manipulating and/or writing computer…

Models that are used to predict and explain phenomena related to molecular vibration and rotation are ubiquitous in physical chemistry, and are of importance in many related fields. Yet, little work has been done to characterize student use and application of these models. We describe the results of a multi-year, multi-institutional qualitative…