Using a CBL Unit, a Temperature Sensor, and a Graphing Calculator to Model the Kinetics of Consecutive First-Order Reactions as Safe In-Class Demonstrations.

A Calculator-Based Laboratory (CBL), a graphing calculator, and the cooling and heating (or heating and cooling) of water are used to model the behavior of consecutive (and biphasic) first-order reactions as safe in-class demonstrations. By measuring the temperature (Tb) of water in a beaker after a sealed vial partially filled with water at temperature Tv is submerged in it (Tv ≠ Tb, Tv ≠ ambient temperature or final temperature), plots of temperature versus time that model the kinetics behavior of biphasic reactions can be produced.