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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998  > November  >
In the Classroom
Applications and Analogies
A Cyclist's Guide to Ionic Concentration
Arthur M. Last
Department of Chemistry, University College of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada V2S 7M9

Cover
November 1998
Vol. 75 No. 11
p. 1433

Abstract
A simple analogy to help students understand ionic concentration is presented. A common problem among beginning chemistry students is the failure to recognize that in a solution containing 0.1 mol L-1 sodium chloride, the concentration of chloride ion is 0.1 mol L-1, not 0.05 mol L-1. Similarly, many students do not understand that in a solution containing 0.1 mol L-1 magnesium chloride, the concentration of chloride ion is 0.2 mol L-1. To help students overcome such problems, an analogy has been developed in which a salt such as sodium chloride is compared to a unicycle, consisting of a frame and a wheel; magnesium chloride is compared to a bicycle, consisting of a frame and two wheels; and so on. Complete (i.e., 100%) dissociation is assumed throughout the discussion.
More Information
*  Citation
Last, Arthur M. J. Chem. Educ. 1998 75 1433.
*  Keywords
introductory, high school chem, teaching, learning aids
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
June 18, 1999
June 24, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1998 > November > Page 1433


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