The Isothermal Bulk Modulus

Highlights of the activity

1. Students are placed into small groups and given a handout with several equations on it. The students are asked to compute the two partial differentials found on the handout.
2. This activity encourages using chain rule diagrams to keep track of which variables are dependent on which.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

We have found that students have a difficult time keeping track of how variables are dependent on each other, particularly in cases when the expressions given are complex. This activity has students calculating partial derivatives and using chain rule diagrams to keep from becoming “lost in the woods.” This small group exercise also introduces students to some of the equations they will see in the following Energy & Entropy course.

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version

Student Handouts

inisobulkmodhand.pdf

inisobulkmodhand.tex