Description: A flask with a volume of 1 Liter is evacuated. In class the evacuated flask is set on a balance and weighed. Air is let into the flask. The flask with air is then weighed.

Concept: Density = mass / unit volume

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Description: Students are asked to volunteer to measure the width of the lecture hall using meter sticks. Data is pooled and the mean and standard deviation is calculated.

Concept: The number of significant figures in a measurement is related to the precision of the measurement.

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Description: One kilogram and 100 g samples are displayed to compare their sizes. A liter beaker is displayed to show its size. One mole samples of various elements and compounds are displayed. One mole of NaCl and 1 Liter beaker are shown in relationship together to demonstrate molarity.

Concept: A mole is not a measurement of a static amount of material.

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Description: The temperature of an ice bath is measured while salt is dissolving in it. This is compared to the temperature of a saturated salt solution/ice mixture and the Celcius temperature is calculated to be 0° F.

Concept: In attempting to produce as cold a temperature as possible, Fahrenheit prepared an ice bath to which he added salt to lower the temperature further. He assigned a value of zero to that temperature.

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Description: Five different white powders are reacted with various substances. An unknown powder that is one of the five, is reacted with the same substances. These results are used to identify the unknown.

Concept: Qualitative observations of reactions are used to identify unknown substances.

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Description: Nine blocks, all 1.0 in³ in size, are compared in several manners to find their relative and absolute densities.

Concept: The density of a substance relates to how closely the atoms within that substance are packed. When comparing substances equal in size (volume) the more dense substances should have a larger mass.

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