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Deflategate and the gas laws

3/12/2016

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I hope March is going well for you!
 
Most school budgets are depleted for the 2015-2016 class year.  They book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that could be useful.  You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. Check it out!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now!
 
*Some of you have purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
Last year’s blog post dated 01/21/2015 was titled Gay-Lussac's law demonstration and discussed the relationship of Pressure and Temperature in a gas sample.  At the end of the post, it mentioned “Deflategate” as an area for students to research.
 
“Deflategate” involved the claim that the New England Patriots deflated the balls used in the 1/18/15 Superbowl to make them easier to grip.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflategate
 
“The NFL spent millions trying to nab Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Deflategate saga. They should've just called [Ben] Goodell.
The 7th-grader from Lynn, Boston (not related to the NFL Commissioner) decided the punishment given Brady (four games, still racking up dollars in the court system) wasn't fair, so he created a science project to figure out if weather affected the PSI of footballs.”
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25510170/a-7th-grader-named-goodell-used-a-science-project-to-solve-deflategate
 
Ben Goodell, a 7th grade student, completed a science fair project examining the pressure of the football inflated at room temperature and then exposed to the outdoor conditions.
 
“[Ben] Goodell began his experiment with a football inflated to the NFL standard and then exposed it to different weather conditions, including humidity, snow, wind chill, cold and ice.
‘Every time, it dropped two PSI [pounds per square inch],’ [Ben] Goodell, a Patriots fan, told the Item. ‘The lowest PSI recorded during deflategate was 2 PSI under proper inflation.’ ”
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/09/469803287/goodell-disproves-deflategate-no-not-that-goodell
 
 “MIT professor John Leonard [states] ‘As someone who’s sort of studied every experiment, every data posting I can find, Ben Goodell’s experiment, as sort of straightforward as it was, just adds to the evidence in my own mind that the Ideal Gas Law is pretty tried and true,’ Leonard says. ‘And if you believe it, which I do, there was no deflation.’
… This whole saga arose from the NFL and its staff having no knowledge of the Ideal Gas Law.”
http://onlyagame.wbur.org/2016/03/12/deflate-gate-science-goodell
 
Here is a very simple experiment showing that as the temperature is changed on the football, the pressure changes directly:

This is an example of the power of the Scientific Method in answering a question; and, the importance of testing hypotheses versus acceptance of ideas without proof. 
 
There are many ideas presented in this world, and your students need to be critical thinkers and seek out evidence based on scientific testing that proves a  claim.
 
*Remember, this Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Enjoy your weekend!

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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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