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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2004  > April  >
In the Classroom
Using Science Fiction To Teach Thermodynamics: Vonnegut, Ice-nine, and Global Warming
Charles A. Liberko
Department of Chemistry, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 52314-1098
Cover
April 2004
Vol. 81 No. 4
p. 509
Abstract
When covering the topic of thermodynamics at the introductory level, an example from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's, fictional novel, Cat's Cradle, is used to take what the students have learned and apply it to a new situation. The students are introduced to the hypothetical compound ice-nine, which forms spontaneously when a seed crystal is introduced into the ocean. Using a discussion format, thermodynamic concepts are reviewed and it is determined that the process of converting liquid water to ice–nine must be accompanied by a large increase in the temperature of the surroundings.
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More Information
*  Citation
 Liberko, Charles A. J. Chem. Educ. 2004 81 509.
*  Keywords
 General Chemistry; Humor / Puzzles; Intermolecular Forces; Phase Transitions / Diagrams; Thermodynamics; Water / Water Chemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 March 3, 2004
February 23, 2005
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