Repository: Simulations and Models for Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jason Kahn, University of Maryland College Park

Excel spreadsheets, Matlab programs, and interactive browser simulations for modeling simple chemical and biochemical principles.

Interactive browser simulations (done in collaboration with Claude, with coding by Claude)

The Einstein model for a solid
A → B → C kinetics. Watch the intermediate B rise and fall as the rate constants change, and see when the steady-state approximation for B holds.
Distinguishing reactant orders
The behavior of the Arrhenius equation. See how the rate constant and half-life depend on temperature, activation energy, and the pre-exponential factor, for first- and second-order reactions.
Demo of Lechatelier's principle and Q going to K. Perturb the equilibrium 2A ⇌ B and watch the reaction quotient Q return to K.
Temperature and activation energy. Compare the fraction of molecules with energy above E_a at two temperatures, and see why that ratio gives the Arrhenius temperature dependence.

Descriptions of the spreadsheets. Download a file and open it in Excel.