Blogs

ChemEd X contributors offer their ideas and opinions on a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to chemical education.

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Quantitative LeChâtelier’s Principle: From ICE Table to MICE table
// Friday, March 4, 2022 • Michael Jansen
We typically teach students to solve qualitative chemical equilibrium problems using an ICE table, where I, C, and E represent [Initial], [Change], and [Equilibrium] concentrations of each reactant and product in units of mol∙L–1. At the risk of insulting you, I’ll provide an example, liberated from our class textbook:1
text: IONIC FORMULA WORDLE
Ionic Formula Wordle
// Tuesday, March 1, 2022 • Melissa Hemling
I am always looking for little activities to fill those "dead spaces" during the school day like passing times, when some students finish early, or when there is not enough time before the bell to start the next activity.
Galinstan, a liquid metal alloy
My Heart Beats for Chemistry
// Tuesday, February 22, 2022 • Tom Kuntzleman
I have always wanted to try the mercury beating heart experiment, in which a drop of liquid mercury is made to throb like a beating heart.1 However, I have never conducted this experiment due to the issues associated with mercury toxicity.
https://www.choosingwisdom.org/build-self-confidence-finally-feel-secure/
Confidence with Competence
// Monday, February 21, 2022 • Kathleen Carrigan
Have you ever been intimidated by (male) students yelling at you? I am female. Many years ago, when I was a younger, less experienced professor, I would return tests and answer questions immediately.
Multicolored experiment
Solution to Chemical Mystery #19: Multi-colored Mixture
// Sunday, February 6, 2022 • Tom Kuntzleman
In Chemical Mystery #19,1 a yellow liquid is poured into a test tube, and the liquid turns red. When a white sold is added to the red liquid in the test tube, the liquid turns blue.
Color changes
Chemical Mystery #19: Multi-colored Mixture
// Monday, January 31, 2022 • Tom Kuntzleman
I was recently playing around in the lab and discovered a new experiment that is very easy to carry out, but also results in a variety of mysterious color changes. You can watch it in the video below.