This Chemcases.com unit links the
chemistry concepts that the
developers of Gatorade considered as they
developed the first sports drink. If you have a
basic knowledge of thermochemistry and
colligative properties such as osmosis, you can
follow the development of the beverage and help
evaluate three important questions the inventors
faced.
Athletes
exercise, their energy is depleted, they sweat.
How can chemistry reduce the impact of vigorous
exercise?
Start by clicking on any
of the concepts shown below. These concepts are
linked to capsules of information for you to
study. The concepts are linked to each other in a
concept map.
Chemists look at
the world in three distinct ways. The
macroscopic world faces us: water falls
as rain or snow, a diamond is hard, talc
is soft.
We burn fuel to heat air and
the hot air causes a balloon to rise. All
of these, the flexibility of an
automobile tire, the color of the paint
we stir, the effect of the alcohol we
drink, are a reflection in the world we
see, of the microscopic nature of the
unseeable atoms and molecules.
Every
step of the way, chemists need a symbolic or
representative language to indicate and describe
both the macro and microscopic.
None of these
representations is perfect, all have
flaws, we must learn to understand wht
they mean and apply and analyze their
message.
We will be observing how
scientists use basic chemical concepts to
introduce Gatorade, then share their experience
of evaluating real-world challenges in product
introduction. Issues like human testing of
beverages, product ownership and the role of
government regulation challenge us to recognize
the link between science and responsible
decisions.
Copyright 2000, Laurence I.
Peterson and Matthew E. Hermes
College of Science and Mathematics
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Rd.
Kennesaw, GA 30114
770-423-6160
We will be observing how
scientists use basic chemical concepts to
introduce Gatorade, then share their experience
of evaluating real-world challenges in product
introduction. Issues like human testing of
beverages, product ownership and the role of
government regulation challenge us to recognize
the link between science and responsible
decisions.