Elemental Chemical Puzzlers

摘要

Some students enjoy puzzles, and their reward is simplytackling and solving the problem, while other students may haveto be "bribed" by offering bonus points. Either way, interestingpuzzles and problems that focus on some area of chemistry aregood mental exercises. Here are nine interesting chemicallyrelated puzzles that are mostly appropriate for high school stu-dents, although some are a little more challenging. Density, theperiodic table, volume measurements, and acid-base reactionsare principles illustrated by these puzzles. Problems 2, 7, and 9could even be demonstrated in class or given to students to testduring a laboratory. Solutions are provided below.