18 classroom hours · independent lab practice
Equilibrium calculations
with evidence.
Each 3-hour session centers on one question and one core lab, with 70 minutes for student pair work. The 12-slide classroom decks introduce the essentials. Appendices and optional labs support further study.
Each 180-minute class
| Activity | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Opening question and essential concepts | 30 |
| One hand calculation | 20 |
| One lab demonstration | 20 |
| Break | 10 |
| Student pair investigation | 70 |
| Discussion and exit question | 30 |
The 180 minutes include a 10-minute break. This is a teaching sequence, not a calendar or a change to the registered assessment scheme. Required practice takes about 45–60 minutes per session, including one hand checkpoint. Continue from the classroom case. Optional extensions take additional time.
Session 1 · 180 minutes
VLE and flash calculations
Main question: How does pressure change the phase split at fixed temperature?
Before class: Review chemical potential, fugacity and activity standards in Modules 2–3.
Outcome: Predict a two-phase state, solve it, then check both component balances.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 01 · VLE and TP flash
Optional extension: 09 · Virial vapor correction · 07 · Adiabatic flash
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 01, save one ideal two-phase baseline and one changed pressure at the same T and z. Predict the change, report phase amounts and check one component balance by hand.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: compare liquid activity models, examine zero versus nonzero virial coefficients in Lab 09, or add the energy balance in Lab 07.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Session 2 · 180 minutes
Experimental VLE, consistency and fitting
Main question: Does a small fitting error mean the data and model are trustworthy?
Before class: Bring T, P, x1, y1 data or use the explicitly synthetic example; obtain Antoine equation forms, units and validity ranges.
Outcome: Separate vapor-pressure inputs, consistency evidence and fitted-model error.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 08 · Your experimental VLE
Optional extension: 03 · Consistency tests · 02 · Experimental case study
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 08, validate the supplied synthetic example and compare one-parameter Margules with NRTL at alpha=0.3 on the same observations. Report one residual pattern and verify one activity coefficient by hand.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: a controlled consistency defect in Lab 03, a fixed held-out comparison, bootstrap fit spread, or your own sourced VLE data. Exact synthetic bootstrap spread does not quantify real measurement uncertainty.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Session 3 · 180 minutes
Liquid stability, LLE and VLLE
Main question: When does a calculated liquid split represent stable equilibrium?
Before class: Review gmix, local curvature and the distinction between stationary and globally stable states.
Outcome: Use global Gibbs-energy support to assess candidate liquid phases.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 04 · Stability and LLE
Optional extension: 05 · LLE fitting · 06 · VLLE
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 04, retain one supported tie line and compare two overall compositions inside it. Verify the lever rule by hand and explain the global stability check.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: NRTL tie-line fitting in Lab 05, paired bootstrap from independent replicates, or feasible three-phase amounts in Lab 06.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Session 4 · 180 minutes
Solid equilibria and adsorption
Main question: What happens to gas pressure when the solid inventory runs out?
Before class: Review chemical potentials, fusion/sublimation data and absolute versus excess adsorption.
Outcome: Distinguish pure-solid SLE, bulk sublimation and surface adsorption.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 10 · SLE and gas–solid equilibrium
Optional extension: 11 · Adsorption
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 10, compare inventories above and below the solid-depletion boundary at fixed T and V. Check the inventory balance and explain the resulting gas pressure.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: compare Henry and Langmuir in Lab 11, check a closed adsorption vessel, or explore pure-solid solubility and the eutectic assumptions in Lab 10.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Session 5 · 180 minutes
Chemical equilibrium and routes to K
Main question: Why can composition change while the equilibrium constant stays the same?
Before class: Review formation Gibbs energies, reaction enthalpy/entropy and integration of heat capacity.
Outcome: Reconcile independent thermodynamic routes to K and then solve composition.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 12 · Chemical equilibrium
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 12, compare the supplied Gibbs-energy and H−TS routes at the reference temperature. Change pressure at fixed T and compare K with equilibrium extent. Check one balance.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: vary temperature with and without a heat-capacity correction, reverse the reaction, or scale its coefficients consistently.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Session 6 · 180 minutes
Electrochemical equilibrium
Main question: What determines the sign of a concentration-cell potential?
Before class: Review reaction stoichiometry, ΔrG and dimensionless reaction quotients.
Outcome: Connect balanced half-reactions, activities, potential and Gibbs energy.
Classroom slides · 12 pages · Slides PDF · Module reference deck
Required lab: 13 · Electrochemistry
Assessment and independent checkpoint
Required practice · 45–60 minutes: In Lab 13, compare a concentration cell with the activities exchanged. Predict and explain the sign of E, then independently check deltaG=−nFE.
Optional practice: Choose one extension: scale the balanced reaction and electron count, examine activity corrections within the supported model, or explain why equilibrium voltage differs from voltage under load.
Submit or retain a brief explanation with the exported inputs/results, one comparison table or plot, and a check you calculated independently. Follow the instructor’s announced submission arrangements; this site does not collect assignments.
Evidence checklist
- Reproducible inputs: component order, equation form, units, temperature, source and standard states.
- Controlled comparison: identify what changed and what was held fixed.
- Verification: report a balance, residual, limiting case or independent calculation.
- Interpretation: explain the physical direction and the domain where the conclusion is supported.
These are feedback criteria, not announced grading weights. A small residual is not evidence that the chosen physical model is valid.
Implementation boundaries
Lab 08 uses ideal vapor for experimental VLE fitting. Lab 09 compares ideal and second-virial vapor descriptions; PR/SRK are discussed in the reference slides but are not implemented as lab solvers. Lab 07 uses synthetic caloric data. Lab 12 solves one neutral ideal-gas reaction extent. Lab 13 predicts reversible equilibrium potentials with zero junction potential, not operating cell voltage.