Teaching Resources

Physical Chemistry Virtual Lab

Alessandro Belletti, Renato Borromei e Gianluigi Ingletto

University of Parma

2006-2010

Downloadable software

Advanced

Cooperative learning, Experiential learning

Fundamental Chemistry

Italian

Yes

The prerequisites
It is a product designed for students attending the early years of University and extended to high school students; being so high level, some basic concepts of chemistry (solutions, concentration, electrolytes) are needed to use it. By this, students can practice on these concepts to capture them further completely.

The contents
This program is a virtual laboratory that allows you to play some experiences:
- measurement of the vapor pressure of a pure liquid as a function of temperature
- determination of the composition of a binary mixture in equilibrium at constant pressure using refractometry measures
- conductivity Measurements of strong electrolytes
- determination of the dissociation constants of an acid (or base) using potentiometric measurements
- measurement of heat of combustion of an organic substance by operating at constant volume
- measurement of heat of reaction at constant pressure
- measurement of f.e.m. of a stack
Experiences are rather long and complex, but can also be partially used: for example, the experience named "Measures of conductivity of solutions of strong electrolytes" can be used only partly for the preparation of known solutions; for periods of dilution, you can instead continue correlating concentration and conductivity, and measuring the specific conductivity of an electrolyte.

The aims
To practice of laboratory activities without being present in a real laboratory. A virtual lab cannot substitute the real laboratory but it can help students to apply and remember chemical concepts that, otherwise, they consider as abstrat and difficult.

Task description
The student simulates the work in the laboratory by using a mouse to maneuver the equipment available on the bench, adding some reagents, leading to volume, etc..; he has to take appropriate measures and process the data obtained.

How to use it in class
Two examples are listed below:
1) At first, this resource can be used to simulate an experience not previously carried out in laboratory, then, the same experience can be repeated in laboratory and finally the two experiences can be compared and discussed with the related results.
2) An experience previously carried out in laboratory can be repeated in class with the virtual lab thus reasoning on the different or similar results.In any case it should be used collettively or, at most, in groups. If used individually by students, it should be only after a suitable training in class, under the guidance of the teacher.

Points of strength
- It provides laboratory equipment that are not always available
- It allows to repeat a measurement, a preparation or an experience, whenever wanted and without consuming materials

Points of weakness
- The dexterity needed to maneuver the instruments with the mouse is different than that needed to handle real instruments in laboratory.
- Virtual lab can be used as tool to integrate pratical experiences but not with the aim of replacing them. The experience in a real laboratory, with the possibility of observing phenomena as they actually occur, cannot be substituted by any existing virtual tool.

Scientific category
- Very reliable, it would be nice to have a more simplified version, that would be more suitable for high school students.

Pedagogic value
It is a good tool for collective experiences in class, for instance to complement / supplement experiments already carried out. The individual use by students should be allowed only after suitable training in class.

University of Genova