CHEM-1010-403

Holcomb-Illes
Sterling Hite
Reflection

Reflection
This assignment helped me to apply different aspects of chemistry to achieve a singular goal.
The freezing beer trick was fun to watch, but I find it more enjoyable now because I understand what is
happening. After finding the energy involved in freezing a beer, using dimensional analysis, I decided to
make a comparison between Joules and Watts to try to put the amount of energy into perspective.
Discovering how much energy that is involved was illuminating (ha, ha) enough that it made me want to
calculate a 12 pack. I used the equation P_W = E_J / T_s to calculate the amount of time that an amount
of Joules could power a particular Watt bulb. It was very interesting to think of the processes involved in
freezing a beer like how it is an exothermic reaction, how energy is flowing out of the system. This paints
a great picture in my mind as an example of thermodynamics. This project also helped me to better
grasp what is happening during molecular bonding by thinking of and trying to explain what is going on
during the freezing process (the slowing of the molecules and hydrogen bonding.
All in all, this project was a great way for me to see different mechanisms of chemistry working
together as a whole system to produce a calculable result.