JCE Software, 3B1: PIRExS

PIRExS

James P. Birk
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287

Note:
This program is out of print, but is available for free download by Journal of Chemical Education subscribers.
Go to the download page.

PIRExS, an acronym for Predicting Inorganic Reactivity Expert System, is a rule-based, instructional expert system that predicts the products of inorganic reactions. Predictions are based on thermodynamic, not kinetic, data. Students can use PIRExS as an investigative tool to learn descriptive inorganic chemistry. For example, students can be asked to find a sequence of reactions that would result in a desired synthesis; PIRExS can indicate whether or not reactions will work as part of a synthetic sequence. Students can also use the program as a quick, convenient source of information about reactivity, and from that information they can be asked to generate their own rules for predicting reactivity.
Prediction of reaction products is initiated by entering one or two chemical formulas of compounds, ions, or elements. If a single reactant is entered, the program will check for possible disproportionation, internal redox, decomposition, or hydrolysis reactions. If two species are entered, the program will check for possible reactions between these species or among their components. Types of reactions include: binary combination of elements; redox involving elements, ions, ionic compounds, some complex ions (at pH = 0 only) and gaseous nonmetal oxides; displacement of hydrogen from water, steam, or acids by elements; oxidation of a compound by oxygen; displacement of an element in a compound by another element or by carbon monoxide; oxide displacement reactions between oxides and oxo salts or oxo acids; molecular exchange reactions; ionic precipitations; acid-base neutralizations, including those between oxides; hydrolysis of various ionic species and some covalent compounds; complex ion substitutions; reactions of concentrated sulfuric acid; molecular oxidative-additions; and reactions of ozone and ozonides.
Once reaction products have been predicted a student can ask for explanations, and the program will reveal the rules used. Complete output from the expert system can be overwhelming for a beginning student, and so the program can be limited to selected reaction classes. This permits an instructor to introduce material in a gradual and controlled manner. The instructor can also decide whether explanatory messages should be produced. These decisions are stored in a disk file that can be edited with the DOS line editor, with a word processor, or by means of a utility program included with PIRExS. This utility presents a pull-sown menu that lists all the controllable features of PIRExS; the desired features can be checked off and saved.
Hardware and Software Requirements
PIRExS is supplied on 5.25-in. disks and will run under MS-DOS (IBM PC DOS) version 2.xx or 3.xx; some incompatibilities with PIRExS have been found in DOS 4.00.
PIRExS requires at least 512K RAM and two disk drives (or one drive and a hard disk); it uses not graphics and so any monitor/adapter should work.

First Published: April 1990
Citation: Birk, J. P. . PIRExS J. Chem. Educ. Software 3B1
Keywords: Lecture Aid; Computer Room; High School; General; Inorganic; Inorganic reactions

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Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: December 3, 1996 Created by: J. L. Holmes
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.



PIRExS
James P. Birk Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287

Note:	This program is out of print, but is available for free download by Journal of Chemical Education subscribers. Go to the download page.

PIRExS, an acronym for Predicting Inorganic Reactivity Expert System, is a rule-based, instructional expert system that predicts the products of inorganic reactions. Predictions are based on thermodynamic, not kinetic, data. Students can use PIRExS as an investigative tool to learn descriptive inorganic chemistry. For example, students can be asked to find a sequence of reactions that would result in a desired synthesis; PIRExS can indicate whether or not reactions will work as part of a synthetic sequence. Students can also use the program as a quick, convenient source of information about reactivity, and from that information they can be asked to generate their own rules for predicting reactivity. Prediction of reaction products is initiated by entering one or two chemical formulas of compounds, ions, or elements. If a single reactant is entered, the program will check for possible disproportionation, internal redox, decomposition, or hydrolysis reactions. If two species are entered, the program will check for possible reactions between these species or among their components. Types of reactions include: binary combination of elements; redox involving elements, ions, ionic compounds, some complex ions (at pH = 0 only) and gaseous nonmetal oxides; displacement of hydrogen from water, steam, or acids by elements; oxidation of a compound by oxygen; displacement of an element in a compound by another element or by carbon monoxide; oxide displacement reactions between oxides and oxo salts or oxo acids; molecular exchange reactions; ionic precipitations; acid-base neutralizations, including those between oxides; hydrolysis of various ionic species and some covalent compounds; complex ion substitutions; reactions of concentrated sulfuric acid; molecular oxidative-additions; and reactions of ozone and ozonides. Once reaction products have been predicted a student can ask for explanations, and the program will reveal the rules used. Complete output from the expert system can be overwhelming for a beginning student, and so the program can be limited to selected reaction classes. This permits an instructor to introduce material in a gradual and controlled manner. The instructor can also decide whether explanatory messages should be produced. These decisions are stored in a disk file that can be edited with the DOS line editor, with a word processor, or by means of a utility program included with PIRExS. This utility presents a pull-sown menu that lists all the controllable features of PIRExS; the desired features can be checked off and saved. Hardware and Software Requirements PIRExS is supplied on 5.25-in. disks and will run under MS-DOS (IBM PC DOS) version 2.xx or 3.xx; some incompatibilities with PIRExS have been found in DOS 4.00. PIRExS requires at least 512K RAM and two disk drives (or one drive and a hard disk); it uses not graphics and so any monitor/adapter should work.


News \| Issues \| CD-ROM / Video \| Find It! \| Technical Support \| For Authors
JCE Online \| Journal \| Software \| Internet \| Happenings \| About JCE \| Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001 Created: December 3, 1996	Created by: J. L. Holmes Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.