Energy

Category: Technology. Last updated June 20, 2023.

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Power up with this collection of links to learn more about energy, its chemistry, and its relation to your life.

Sections

  1. Activities
  2. Demos
  3. Labs
  4. Articles
  5. Videos

Activities

  • Heat Flow Process Engineering Optimization from AACT
    Use a team-based approach to solve the problem of upscaling a chemical process from lab scale to production scale for a hypothetical reaction. The project involves thermochemistry concepts of heat and calorimetry, along with conversion factors.
  • What Makes Something Feel Warm from AACT
    Engage in thinking about energy issues in chemistry and the nature of energy (thermal) transfer by challenging the idea that temperature is a measure of heat content.
  • Energy Foundations for High School Chemistry from ACS Energy Foundations for High School Chemistry What's energy? How do we use it? How can it change? Investigate these big ideas about energy.
  • NOVA Energy Lab from PBS
    This interactive game allows students to analyze data, then design a renewable energy system for your city of the future.
  • Spark in the Dark from ThoughtCo.
    Materials needed: dark room, wintergreen candy, and your mouth. Let’s go!

Demos

  • Energy from AACT
    Observe the exothermic and endothermic properties of state changes first-hand by dipping a finger in water and wax—substances with different freezing and boiling points.
  • Hot Popcorn from AACT
    Pop popcorn using three different methods in order to experience and investigate three types of heat energy transfer: convection, conduction, and radiation.
  • Energy in Hot and Cold Packs from AACT
    Observe temperature changes in chemical hot and cold packs and discuss processes of endothermic and exothermic changes. Also see that common household products can be used to make a hot and cold pack.
  • Elephant Toothpaste from Flinn Scientific
    Mix together hydrogen peroxide, sodium iodide solution, and dishwashing liquid in a tall cylinder and stand back. Your students will observe with amazement a catalyst in action as an enormous amount of soapy foam erupts from “Old Foamey!”
  • Day in the Dark Demonstrations with Jamie Benigna from Flinn Scientific
    Light up luminescence learning with this series of five classroom demos in the dark.

Labs

  • Chemistry is Cooler Stress Test Challenge from AACT
    Design and build a device capable of insulating an ice cube submerged in boiling water for two minutes.
  • Energy Transfer Investigation from AACT
    Experience several examples of energy transfer, analyze observations and interpret results in an attempt to explain why each transfer took place.
  • Less than Zero from AACT
    Investigate the endothermic reaction between baking soda and HCl while considering stoichiometric ratios, molar concentrations, reaction scale, and calorimetry.
  • Designing Exothermic and Endothermic Reactions from AACT
    Design and test an experiment for producing either an endothermic or an exothermic reaction. The goal is to successfully construct a reproducible procedure for a reaction that either releases or absorbs thermal energy, and that can be supported with data.
  • Cool Science: Building and Testing a Model Radiator from AACT
    Construct a model of a car radiator to investigate parameters that lead to efficient cooling then investigate multiple variables as you experiment with various radiator designs.
  • How Much Energy is in Your Snack Food from AACT
    Find the amount of heat energy stored in foods and compare heat calories with food calories.
  • Microwaving a Chocolate Bar from Chem 13 News University of Waterloo
    Get a ruler and some chocolate to consider the energy of your microwave and the speed of light.
  • Aluminum–Air Battery from Exploratorium
    Want to light up a Christmas tree bulb? You won't need an outlet. Make this homemade battery instead.

Articles

  • Cow Power from ChemMatters
    Don't waste that stinky waste! Use it to fuel up instead!

Videos

  • Water Electrolysis from Science Fix
    This short video includes two simple demonstrations of water electrolysis.



  • How do We Tell Temperature? from ACS Reactions
    There's a lot of chemistry that goes into thermometers. This video takes a look at the science behind how we tell temperature.