All analytical techniques are governed by the principles of physical chemistry, and chromatography is certainly no exception. By examining the underlying concepts of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), students can gain greater appreciation of and insight into the science and utility of thermodynamics, as well as solution properties of…

A method for using electronic structure calculations to predict the standard molar enthalpy of combustion for hydrocarbons is presented. In this approach, simple geometry optimizations can be used to accurately compute the enthalpy of combustion within 3% of the experimental value using Hartree-Fock, MP2, or virtually any functional in density…

In the laboratory, data acquisition systems are important, as they allow us to easily and precisely collect data. In this sense, Arduino emerges as an automatic data acquisition device with great potential, due to its low cost and high versatility. In this work, we describe the development of an experimental apparatus, with automatic data…

Currently there are no assessment instruments available for upper-division thermal physics, though several introductory assessments are currently available. Notably missing from these introductory assessment are items targeting statistical mechanics. This leaves a gap in the content that can be assessed by upper-division thermal physics faculty.…

A spreadsheet project that enables students to construct chemical potential vs temperature plots, [mu](T), of liquid and gaseous mercury and all three phases of diiodine and ammonia is presented. Statistical thermodynamics is used to determine the entropies of the substances in the gas phase. For the solid and liquid phases, students start with…

Physical and virtual labs have unique capabilities that can influence how students learn from them. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of physical and virtual manipulatives on students' learning of heat and temperature and to examine the influence of various combinations of physical and virtual manipulatives. A total of 205…

The change in enthalpy of a chemical reaction conducted at constant pressure is equal to the heat of the reaction plus the nonexpansion work of the reaction, ?H = qP + w[subscript additional]. After deriving that relationship, most general and physical chemistry textbooks set w[subscript additional] = 0 to arrive at the claim that ?H = qP, and…

A spreadsheet-based exercise for students is described in which they are challenged to explain and reproduce the disparate temperature dependencies of the heat capacities of gaseous F[subscript 2] and N[subscript 2]. For F[subscript 2], C[subscript p,m] increases from 300 K, reaches a maximum at 2200 K, and then decreases to 74% of the maximum…

Several recent studies have employed item response theory (IRT) to rank incorrect responses to commonly used research-based multiple-choice assessments. These studies use Bock's nominal response model (NRM) for applying IRT to categorical (nondichotomous) data, but the response rankings only utilize half of the parameters estimated by the model.…

We report on the study of student difficulties regarding a heat engine in the context of a Stirling cycle by the method of measurement. An in-class test about a Stirling engine with a regenerator was taken by three classes, and the students were asked to perform one of the most basic activities--calculate the efficiency of the heat engine. Our…

This paper reports on how a group of students think when trying to solve a set of thermodynamic revision exercises in the context of collaborative small group conversation at the undergraduate level. The revision exercises involved exploring the relationship between enthalpy and temperature, entropy and temperature, and entropy of a gas under…

This study has proposed a simple method to show the convective heat transfer. The object in this study is an air conditioner (AC) as a simple case of convection. In addition, AC is also easy to find in the class because most classrooms in Indonesia installed AC. Usually, a visualization needs special software (i.e. MatLab or others) and good…

A significant amount of energy in the form of heat is lost in industrial processes once it is used in specific processes. Among different technologies, high-temperature heat pumps (HTHP) are a valuable method of recovering low-temperature waste heat in the industry in a very efficient way that can be activated using clean electricity. As a…

An intensive course in heat transfer was created for the winter break between semesters to provide students with a "second chance" to learn the material and receive a grade of C- or better required to take the subsequent courses in the chemical engineering curriculum. It includes on-line and in-person instruction. Over the three years…

Pregraduate students often have low success expectations toward their thermodynamics courses, which are often considered too abstract and remarkably difficult to understand. For this reason, they may not even try to reach any level of comprehension while settling for reproducing mathematical calculations and memorizing definitions to pass the…