It's all uphill from here! Scholars examine the pattern of random particle motion up a staircase. The simulation shows how the linear increase in energy corresponds to an exponential decrease in particle concentration.

Concepts

potential energy, gravitational potential energy, gravity, temperature, thermochemistry, entropy

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Start the simulation at the beginning of class; analyze during the final 15 minutes
• Create a best fit line to model the change

Classroom Considerations

• Ensure an understanding of chemical potential prior to the demonstration

Pros

• The demonstration provides both a bar and line graph to help visualize the pattern
• Allows control of different variables

Cons

• None