This web site
is all about chemical reaction stoichiometry (CRS) - what it is
and what to do with it.
Why
have we created this site?
- to provide a widely accessible
tutorial on CRS
- to provide a Java applet for
implementing CRS
- to provide a resource site (literature
and software) for CRS
What
is CRS?
Let us begin with the three essential ingredients
of CRS:
- the concept of conservation of types and
amounts of atomic species during chemical change.
- the representation of chemical species
by molecular formulas, and a list of the species involved in
a system of interest.
- a simple means of solving the linear equations
expressing conservation.
These ingredients are very simple, but have
far-reaching consequences in all chemical phenomena. They are
within the mental grasp of even a beginning student. No additional
concepts or artifices are required.
The universal method described in this tutorial
(MRM) will work for any CRS problem, and need not require
the use of a computer. For convenience, we provide a Java applet
on this site to implement MRM.
Required for what?
Required to generate a proper set of chemical
equations to represent the stoichiometry of a reacting system
of any degree of complexity. We provide a new Java applet on the
site to achieve this.
What does the phrase
"to represent the stoichiometry" imply?
It implies two things mainly:
- the chemical equations generated
act as constraints on the prediction of kinetics or equilibrium
considerations about possible changes in the composition of the
system;
- for calculation of any change in
composition by means of the equations generated, the number of
degrees of freedom (pieces of additional information required,
outside CRS, e.g., from kinetics, thermodynamics or analysis)
is equal to the number of such equations.
For
Whom is this Web Site Intended?
Click on the appropriate link for specific
guidance.
- A beginning
student (first-year university/college, or final-year high
school).
- An advanced
university student (physical chemistry; material and energy
balances)
- Instructors (teachers, lecturers, teaching assistants) of
the above.
- Chemical practitioners (chemists, chemical engineers, geochemists, ...)
READ ON. TRY THE APPLET. LET US KNOW YOUR OPINIONS.
Top of Page