California Math Counsil - Asilomar December 2009
Eric Muller
Workshop #367
THE MATH AND SCIENCE OF SURFACE AREA AND VOLUME
Eric Muller, Science/Math Educator, Exploratorium Teacher Institute
Explore the math and science of surface area and volume with cool chemistry activities from the Exploratorium. We will measure and calculate things all the way down to the size of an atom. Starting with simple geometric and algebraic concepts, we will work our way through square and cubic values for area and volume, ratios, proportions, unit conversion, the metric system, exponential notation and beyond the nano-scale. All lessons use easily obtainable materials.
How Big is Small
( Thickenss of a molecule - Mono-layer of Oleic acid (C18H34O2))
Good description of lab activities on Oleic acid monolayers
My calculation sheet and answer sheet for this activity (given to you)
The Burning Math of Steel Wool
The Making of steelwool - Video: How it's made
The Burning Math of Steel Wool - math worksheet (given to you)
Burning of steel wool handout - great demostration of what large amounts of surface area can do.
Other useful links:
The Exploratorium Teacher Institute (TI)
This Hand out is located at: http://www.exo.net/~emuller/conference/cmc2009.html