Challenges in teaching thermodynamics for biotechnology engineering students
Praphulla Rao1,*, Prathibha N2
1,2 B M S College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka
* Corresponding author. Tel: +91 9036471963, E-mail: praphulla.rao@gmail.com
Abstract—The disciplines of physics, biology, and chemistry have adopted highly diverse approaches and strategies on thermodynamics education. Many studies have addressed the problems in making the students understand the fundamentals in thermodynamics. Students tend to memorize the equations without the knowledge of their applications and therefore forget them soon after their exams. This paper talks about the challenges of teaching thermodynamics course to biotechnology students. It also highlights some of the teaching learning methods adopted in some universities in order to make the students develop interest and
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b) A. Comprehend the P-V-T behaviour of pure fluids and solve related problems. B. understand heat effects in chemical reactions and solve related problems.
c) Solve problems related to properties of pure fluids and solutions.
d) Apply the concept of phase equilibria, reaction equilibria and energetics in the biochemical engineering problems.
Internal Assessment questions are mapped to corresponding course outcomes (CO) and course end survey is conducted for the students. Based on this, final CO attainment is calculated. Results for last two consecutive years are shown in the Fig.3.
There is increase in CO 1 and 2 attainments from 2013 to 2014 batch. Extra tutorial classes were conducted to improve the performance for the topics related to laws of thermodynamics. Concepts related to the laws of thermodynamics are easy compared to the property of fluids, phase equilibrium and reaction equilibrium.
Fig.3. Attainment of CO’s for year 2012-13 and 2013-14
VI. WIKSATE- SOCIAL LEARNING
Thermodynamics is essentially how heat energy transfers from one substance to another. In “Joe Science vs. the Water Heater,” the temperature of water in a water heater must be found without measuring the water directly from the water heater. This problem was translated to the lab by providing heated water, fish bowl thermometers, styrofoam cups, and all other instruments found in the lab. The thermometer only reaches 45 degrees celsius; therefore, thermodynamic equations need to be applied in order to find the original temperature of the hot water. We also had access to deionized water that was approximately room temperature.
Hess’s Law is also an important concept in this lab. It states that the enthalpy of a reaction is independent of the steps it takes to go from reactant to a product. It happens because enthalpy is a state function. A state function depends on the initial and final state but not the actual process. The Hess’s Law is used to calculate the heat formation of Magnesium Oxide. The amount of heat necessary to create one more mole of a substance is called the Enthalpy of Formation.
This book ties into our first semester of learning about chemistry. Learning how things react with each other played a huge role in his experiment. Learning the charges and what each type of atom does is very important when working in this field. Being able to do the equations of heat transfer and how the heat transfers connects to the type of things David had to know and what he encountered. Many concepts that were learned by David were also learned by our class this year. A large amount of the things we did tie into this book but David did it in a larger scale and took it a little bit further.
Thermodynamics is defined as “the study of heat transfer and its relationship to doing work.” Specifically, it is a field of physics that has to do with “the transfer of energy from one place to another or from one form to another” (Drake P.1). Heat acts as a form of energy that equates to a total amount of work. Heat was recognized as a form of energy around the year 1798. Count Rumford (Sir Benjamin Thompson), a British military engineer, observed that “numerous amounts of heat could be generated in the boring of cannon barrels” (Drake P.1), which is where a cannon’s firing port is enlarged using a drill and immense amounts of heat to make the metal malleable. He also observed that “the work done in turning a blunt boring tool was proportional
The purpose of the experiment is to identify and understand reactions under kinetic and thermodynamic control. A reaction under kinetic and thermodynamic control can form two different types of products. A reaction under kinetic control is known to be irreversible and the product is formed quickly. A reaction under thermodynamic control is known to require rigorous conditions. It is also reversible. The final product is more stable than the product made by kinetic control. The chart below shows the two types of reaction coordinates:
Smith, Roland. Conquering Chemsitry: HSC course. 4th ed. Vol. 1. N/A: Cengage Learning Australia, 2010. 74-90. 1 vols. Print.
I believe that the most important thing in teaching and learning is to insure the future success of the students. That’s why I am committed to placing the needs of the learner at the centre of everything I do. My teaching goal is to link course performance with the development of general learning skills, general chemical science skills, and specific subject matter skills.
The first law of thermodynamics is that heat is work and work is heat. Energy can’t be created or destroyed but it can be converted from one form to another form. First law of thermodynamics would be eating food. Humans turn food into chemical energy and humans need that energy to keep functioning. The second law of thermodynamics is heat can only transfer to colder objects not hotter objects. An example would be ice melting in a cooler. The coldness from the ice doesn’t leave the cooler, instead the heat transfers into the cooler to melt the ice. The third law is that the work or energy put in is equal to the work out plus heat. Some heat energy will always be wasted, such as a computer giving off heat. Using the first law, when the energy is transferred from one form to another, there will always be wasted heat because of the second law. This is because the energy is converted from a useful form to a less useful form. The less useful form is heat.
Thermodynamics is the study that shows the relevance between the work and the heat. Thermodynamics has 2 laws. The first law declares that the heat and the work are mutually interchangeable. The second law states that a entropy of a secluded regulation can never decrease, because the secluded regulation always develops toward the equilibrium thermodynamic. These two laws attitudinize the process of a heat engine.The first law is the implementation of the preservation of energy to the regulation. The second law defines the potential eligibility of the machine and guidance of the energy flow.
I have ensured that I meet my students’ science needs by assuring that the material needed to be cover in the class was covered. Furthermost, the students are able to learn from exploring, which is different from teaching the students how to and giving them the information needed. The students were still able to learn the material needed to be covered by discovering the content.
Thermodynamics is the branch of science concerned with the nature of heat and its conversion to any form of energy. In thermodynamics, both the thermodynamic system and its environment are considered. A thermodynamic system, in general, is defined by its volume, pressure, temperature, and chemical make-up. In general, the environment will contain heat sources with unlimited heat capacity allowing it to give and receive heat without changing its temperature. Whenever the conditions change, the thermodynamic system will respond by changing its state; the temperature, volume, pressure, or chemical make-up will adjust accordingly in order to reach its original state of equilibrium. There are three laws of thermodynamics in which the changing system can follow in order to return to equilibrium.
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