Senkbeil Published in Journal of Chemical Education

SALISBURY, MD---Dr. Edward Senkbeil, professor of chemistry in the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology, recently published the article, "Combustion Demonstration Using Updated Flame Tornado," in the Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 77, No. 11, pp 1449-1450, 2000, which describes an inquiry-based approach to demonstrating the properties of combustion.

"The demonstration is both informative and fun, and can be used to describe the combustion process to science students at both the high school and university level," said Senkbeil.

The objective of the demonstration/experiment is to illustrate the factors affecting the speed of a combustion reaction and to demonstrate the factors affecting the production of a flame by using a "Flame Tornado," a three-four foot cylinder of flame produced by burning of a small volume of lighter fluid in a simple apparatus. The demonstration is one of several that Senkbeil uses in both his classroom presentations and workshops to "spark" student interests in understanding science.