Examples of applications of equilibrium-based methods for multicomponent separations usually require the use of simulation packages, which do not allow students to follow the involved algorithms step by step. Excel spreadsheets with examples of six such rigorous methods have been used with MSc students of Chemical Engineering of the University of…

This paper describes a way to simulate and visualise 3D representations of the resultant electric field vector propagation for plane, circular and elliptically polarised waves. These polarisation states are obtained by the superposition of two coherent linearly polarised waves oscillating in two mutually perpendicular directions. The required data…

Biological systems exhibit strong dynamic variations; for example, a system may have a tendency towards either a steady state, periodic behaviour or chaotic oscillations. These findings, explained by dynamic systems theory, have allowed researchers to formally relate a wide variety of systems, such as the theory of rumour propagation, glucose…

This paper describes an activity using a dog treat ball to introduce systems of first-order differential equations. Beads are placed in the first of two hemispherical chambers of a food-dispensing dog toy. As the ball is turned, students track the number of beads in the first chamber, the second chamber, and the exterior of the ball. Students…

Powder diffraction is one of the most widely used analytical techniques for characterizing solid state materials. It can be used for phase or polymorph identification, quantitative analysis, cell parameter determination, or even full crystal structure analysis using the powerful Rietveld refinement method. As with much of modern crystallography,…

In this age of easy access to the internet and to spreadsheets, easy-to-apply numerical methods exist that are vastly superior to Simpson's rule and the (corrected) trapezoidal rule. Gaussian quadrature (GQ) is such a method. What follows tells how enthusiastic Year 9 students with a physics problem provoked a science teacher into re-discovering a…

This paper presents the usage of an Excel spreadsheet for studying charged particle dynamics in the presence of uniform electric and magnetic fields. The equation of motion of the charged particle is developed under different conditions and the data is obtained in an Excel spreadsheet under variation of parameters such as the velocity of charged…

A bachelor's degree program in chemistry typically starts with basic concepts in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Those principles are very important because they pave the ground for future advanced studies and, therefore, one needs to present them in a clear but rigorous way. One example is provided by the mathematical notion of an iterative…

The present article demonstrates a way of programming using an Excel spreadsheet to teach Fourier series expansion in school/colleges without the knowledge of any typical programming language. By using this, a student learns to approximate partial sum of the n terms of Fourier series for some periodic signals such as square wave, saw tooth wave,…

For the least-squares analysis of data having multiple uncertain variables, the generally accepted best solution comes from minimizing the sum of weighted squared residuals over all uncertain variables, with, for example, weights in x[subscript i] taken as inversely proportional to the variance [delta][subscript xi][superscript 2]. A complication…

Physicists create spreadsheets customarily to carry out numerical calculations and to display their results in a meaningful, nice-looking way. Spreadsheets can also be used to display a vivid geometrical model of a physical system. This statement is illustrated with an example taken from geometrical optics: images formed by a thin lens. A careful…

in this paper we focus on the link between the use of dynamic geometry software and student understanding for the solution of systems of linear equations from an instrumental genesis perspective. Three task-based interviews were conducted with an undergraduate linear algebra student majoring in mathematics education and proficient in using dynamic…

The invention of the computer has led to the establishment of a new research paradigm, computation, which has recently become more and more popular in scientific exploration. However, computation is not well represented in high school and university curricula in science and engineering, although it applies to a wide range of disciplines beyond…

Gravity racing can be studied using numerical solutions to the equations of motion derived from Newton's second law. This allows students to explore the physics of gravity racing and to understand how design and course selection influences vehicle speed. Using Euler's method, we have developed a spreadsheet application that can be used to predict…

A sample class project utilizing Excel spreadsheets to develop a flash drum simulator is demonstrated. In addition to solving equations for mole and enthalpy balances, students are trained to carry out vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations. More importantly, students gain a solid understanding of the link between hand calculations and simulator…