Activity
American Chemical Society

Energy and Entropy of a Stretched Rubber Band

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Stephen Perry invented and patented the modern rubber band in 1845. Young scientists put his discovery to work as they use rubber bands to observe entropy and enthalpy. They determine the change in free energy to figure out if it...
Activity
American Chemical Society

Entropy and Enthalpy Changes

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
My room isn't messy — it's a scientific experiment in entropy! Scholars investigate entropy, enthalpy, and spontaneity through a guided procedure and set of questions. The lesson connects the Second Law of Thermodynamics, energy...
Activity
Teach Engineering

Efficiency of a Water Heating System

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Tired of waiting for hot water? Groups of three determine the efficiency of an electric water-heating device. They calculate the amount of energy it takes to heat the water and the theoretical amount of energy required to heat the water....
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Efficiency of a Water Heating System

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students use a watt meter to measure energy input into a hot plate or hot pot used to heat water. The theoretical amount of energy required to raise the water by the measure temperature change is calculated and compared to the electrical...
Activity
University of Sydney (Australia)

Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A set of printable pdf pages from the University of Sydney's "Thermal Physics Module" site. Entropy is defined and explained conceptually. The mathematical treatment of entropy is introduced. The second law of thermodynamics and its...
Activity
Science is Fun

Science Is Fun: Rubber Bands and Heat

For Students 4th - 8th
An experiment to investigate the thermal properties of rubber by studying its behavior in different scenarios. A discussion of how entropy explains what is observed is provided.
Activity
Other

Nmsea: Electrolysis: Obtaining Hydrogen From Water

For Students 9th - 10th
The New Mexico Solar Energy Association provides an article entitled, "Electrolysis: obtaining hydrogen from water - the basis for a solar-hydrogen economy". The article is medium size in length with pictures and charts throughout to help.