Required practical: Temperature changes in reactions
What the simulation does
What the simulation does
It models the GCSE required practical on temperature changes. Pupils pick one of three reactions from the tabs (neutralisation, displacement, or an endothermic reaction), set up an insulated polystyrene cup inside a beaker, read the starting temperature on the thermometer, add the second reactant, then watch the temperature rise or fall in real time before reading off the change. A results panel reports the start temperature, the highest or lowest temperature reached, and ΔT, and states whether the reaction is exothermic or endothermic.
It runs in the ClassAdapt house style with the full accessibility suite (light default, dark navy toggle, colour overlays, reading ruler, text sizing, buttons only mode, reduced motion, colour vision filters) so it works on a projector and for SEND pupils.
Suggested class activity (30 to 40 mins)
Predict, run, explain. Before touching the simulation, pupils write a one line prediction for each of the three reactions: will the temperature go up or down, and why in terms of energy.
Then they run all three, recording start temperature, final temperature and ΔT in a simple table. They classify each as exothermic or endothermic and check it against their prediction.
To finish, pose two exam style questions for pupils to answer in their books: why is a polystyrene cup used instead of a glass beaker, and why does a lid reduce heat loss. Higher attainers can add an energy level diagram for one exothermic and one endothermic reaction, and explain the answer in terms of energy transferred to or from the surroundings.
A quick plenary is to ask which reaction gave the biggest temperature change and to suggest one reason the real classroom result might differ from the simulation, drawing out ideas about heat loss and measurement accuracy.