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When teaching and learning chemical equilibria should we spend more time on math or chemistry? A graphical tools approach allows analysis of complex systems to find the principal species and clarify the chemical story as a function of the master species concentration. Balanced conservation equations then enable finding numerical concentrations. This hands-on computer workshop addresses the large number of graphical representations (logarithmic concentration, distribution, and titration plots for acid-base, solubility, metal-ligand, and redox equilibria) used to “simplify” equilibrium systems. It will be useful for those who need high-quality figures for problem sets and tests, or for those who wish to have students ask “What if?” questions to see how variables affect the graphs. We will use program Kplot, a free equilibrium graphing program that runs on OSX, Windows, Linux and Raspberry. Topics which can be simplified include acid rain and soil equilibria, ocean acidification, amino acids, EDTA titrations with pH and buffer complexation, and pH dependent redox titrations.

Cross-cutting Thread(s):
Organizer 1

George Lisensky

Organizer 1 Email
lisensky@beloit.edu