Chemistry Apps

I’ve never taught chemistry, but I’ve worked with some great chemistry teachers. These apps have been tested by many.

The apps are sorted by content area and how you might use them. I want to help as many students as possible get a high-quality three-dimensional science education. The apps will always be free. If you find them useful, consider donating to the Wild Haired Science Teacher on patreon. You’ll support development of more apps!

🔥🔥🔥UPDATE! I will not be teaching summer school this year so that my free time can be spent on whscience. If you can, please support using the link above.🔥🔥🔥

Virtual Labs/Phenomena

These replicate something like you would get with a hands on lab. Students can change things and see final velocities.

Air Pressure Paper - Pressure - Very simple simulation of air particles hitting a paper. Drag the right edge of the paper to change its size. Measures the width of the paper and the number of hits per second. I once started the year with trying to flip a ruler with a single sheet of news paper on it. This simulation helped the students make sense of why the news paper is able to stop the ruler if it is flat but not if it is folded up. Text is huge because I used it on a projector as a whole class.

Balloon - Pressure - Look for gas patterns using a particle model of an inflated balloon. Students can change the number of particles and the temperature and see how the size of the balloon changes. The balloon size depends on collisions with the particles, something the students can figure out through observation. I originally made this for astronomy, so the base version doesn’t show gas outside the balloon. There is a version showing the balloon in an atmosphere where the balloon only shrinks when hit by gas on the outside. There are also versions in °C for the base version and atmosphere version. Note: This simulation does not try to accurately model temperature. It cannot be used for a mathematical representation of gas laws.

Bond Energy Happiness - Energy and Bonds - This is my attempt at dispelling the common misconception that breaking bonds releases energy. I tried to make it clear that it is the reforming of more stable bonds that release energy.

Heat Capacity - Heat - Heat or cool metal balls of different sizes and materials and put it in water to measure the change in water temperature. You can watch visually or export a data series as csv.

Light and Temperature - Heat - Change the temperature of a black body. See the distribution of light by wavelength and see an approximation of the color. I have a version that shows the distribution by frequency too I could fix up if there is interest.

Mg HCl - Reactions - Simulates HCl reacting with Mg. Shows the molecules and graphs of compound levels. I made this for a friend so I haven’t used it personally, but it has been tested by a number of chemistry teachers.

Planet Gas Model - Pressure - A particle model with gravity. Students can discover patterns and figure out how why pressure changes with elevation on a planet like Earth. The gas particles follow only simple rule. Gravity pulls towards the center. Unlike most of my simulations, this one uses code from an physics library which doesn’t conserve energy well so it has to reset every 30 seconds. There is also a version with no solid planet in the middle.

Rusting - Reactions - Simulates rusting at different temperatures and environments and for different shapes. Shows the molecules. I made this for a friend so I haven’t used it personally, but It has been tested by a number of chemistry teachers.

Temperature Solids - Heat - Simulates the movement of particles in two solids at different temperatures. You can change the size of each solid (number of particles) and starting temperature and you can drag them to touch or not touch. You see a graph of their temperature over time. I made this for a friend so I haven’t used it personally, but It has been tested by a number of chemistry teachers.

Water Temperature - Heat - Place a small beaker of water into a larger dish of water. Can control the initial temperatures and volumes. Shows the temperature over time. Can export data as csv.

Measurement or Problems

None yet, but if you think of some that might be good, let me know.

Diagram Makers

Sometimes it’s easier for me to make an app once rather than make 100 versions of a diagram.

Reaction PE - PE - Make diagrams showing PE of a reaction. Change energy of the reactants, products, and activation energy. Add and edit labels. Save clean looking PNG images. Locally auto-saves your last diagram on reloading. Made on commission.

Check back soon for more. Support ongoing development on patreon. whscienceteacher at outlook. com