Fostering Basic Problem-Solving Skills in Chemistry

A triangle divided in three parts was used to relate three variables, or two variables and a constant. Students learned to manipulate a given equation so that one of the variables is a product of the other two variables. Problems relating density, mass, and volume; speed of light, frequency and wavelength; gram, mole, and molar mass, molarity, moles and liters; and number of particles, Avogadro’s number, and mole were attempted using triangles. In addition, a special triangle was constructed to relate the variables and a constant of the ideal gas law equation, and was used to solve ideal gas law problems. This visual representation of the problem helped students to understand the factors that need to be considered and the operations that needed to be performed in the problem-solving process. Over the course of two years, the method was used in four different introductory chemistry classes that had a total of 87 students. More than 80% of the students who use triangles were able to arrive at the correct answers. A big percentage of students also liked using triangles to solve simple problems.