The interactive portion of the module consists of two experiments, the "Can Crusher Experiment" and the "Water & Candles".
In the can crush experiment students will heat up an aluminum can with a little bit of water inside, the can can be filled by the observer. After some minutes, we drastically change its temperature by placing it in a bowl of cold water. The difference in temperature, hot and cold, will make the can implode immediately. Being such a visual representation of the interaction between pressure, volume and temperature, the observers will be asked to do an educated guess on the result on the can due to the temperature change. The intention of this interaction is to safely represent this phenomenon, procuring that the person handling the heated can is an adult with the proper security equipment.
The second demonstration of the Combined Gas Law consists of putting two candles in a shallow container with a small amount of water (below the flame), after that you need to put a beaker over the candles and the water will start to rise as soon as the candle flames are gone. This experiment will provide a different visual representation of the power of the difference of pressure due to the change of temperature inside the closed beaker.
| Module details | |
|---|---|
| Topics | Physical Chemistry, Thermodynamics |
| Best-suited audience | Array |
| Interactive? | Yes |
| Approx. time requirement | 15 minutes |
| AIChE community affiliation | Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico Student Chapter |
| Approx. # of volunteers | 5 |
| Recommended audience size | Any size |
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