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Self Assembly Experiment - Student

1.Please identify the school at which you performed the performed the Self-Assembly laboratory:(Required.)
2.In what grade are you currently enrolled?
3.After performing this hands-on activity, please rate how well it helped you understand the following:
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A system at equilibrium is still highly active, dynamic, and constantly making perturbations at the molecular level.
A spontaneous reaction is a direct consequence of molecular level processes trying to minimize its overall energy (i.e. reaching equilibrium)
A spontaneous reaction usually leaves a system less orderly. However, a system can become more orderly (e.g. self-assemble) if it can lower its overall energy by forming a regular pattern.
Please offer your explanation to the following questions:
4.How come nano objects (e.g. molecules) can spontaneously self-assemble into orderly structures, whereas big objects would not normally self-assemble, for instance, fallen leaves forming an orderly pattern on the ground?
5.In the penny challenge experiment: what parameter(s) is/are we trying to minimize?
6.In the floating magnets experiment, would the magnets self-assemble if they were on your table and not floating on water, yes or no? Please explain your answer.
7.If you discover how to make the latest automobile through a self-assembly process, what advantage(s) do you have over other car-makers (whose cars do not self-assemble)?
8.Identify any concepts that you might have better understood after performing this activity:
9.Please rate the following:
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A Little
Some
Very Much
Did you find the science you learned in this activity interesting?
Do you want to learn more about self-assembly or how molecules arrange into complex patterns and structures, such as crystals or viruses?
How well can you explain how molecules self-assemble, to someone who doesn’t know (perhaps a younger sibling)?
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