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Despite the importance of thermodynamics as the foundation of chemistry, most students emerge from introductory courses with only a dim understanding of this subject. Generally students recognize that the information is significant, yet do not assimilate it into later studies, especially in applied fields such as biology and biochemistry.
A clear sense of the problem is reflected in a number of other contributions to this Journal (e.g., 1-6). Most (1-4, 6) recommend increased rigor in derivation of equations. This may appeal to students in advanced courses in chemical thermodynamics, but not to most. A few other suggestions are to introduce the subject earlier in general chemistry courses (2) or to provide innovative ways to visualize reaction changes (3).
I suggest that the problem lies at another level entirely: the meanings of the terms are not clear. Recently, MacNeal (7) introduced the concept of mathsemantics, the joining of mathematics with a deep understanding of the sense (semantics) in which it operates. For example, the author argues that not only can we add apples and oranges (yielding total fruit), but that anything less than such a synthesis is trivial. Mathematics is hard, not because of the actual mathematical part of the problem but because of the semantics. As discussed thoroughly by Weinburg (8), the very names we affix to ideas dominate how we think about them.
A similar reorientation would benefit chemical education. By way of example, the word "spontaneous" is widely used in thermodynamics, presumably because the word is familiar and assists understanding of this subject. In the following, I will provide evidence that this word has contributed more to the obfuscation of chemical ideas than it has helped elucidate them.
Literature Cited
- Redlich, O. J. Chem. Educ. 1975, 52, 374 - 376.
- Bergquist, W.; Heikkinen, H. J. Chem. Educ. 1990, 67, 1000 - 1003.
- Macomber, R. S. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 311 - 312.
- Sanchez, K. S.; Vergenz, R. A. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 562 - 566.
- Feiner, A. S.; McEvoy, A. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 493 - 494.
- Gerhartl, F. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 539 - 548.
- MacNeal, E. Mathsemantics. Making Numbers Make Sense; Viking: New York, 1994.
- Weinberg, G. M. An Introduction to General Systems Thinking; Wiley-Interscience: 1985.
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