Hoberman Switch Pitch Ball

Name: Hoberman Switch Pitch Ball
Brand: Teacher Source
SKU: GR-HOB-300
Price: 9.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5.00 (4 reviews)

(4 reviews)

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Hoberman Switch Pitch Ball - Single
Item #: HOB-300
$9.95

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Pair of Hoberman Switch Pitch Balls
Item #: HOB-315
$17.95

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Toss the ball in the air and watch the colors magically flip!

Description

Toss the ball in the air and watch the colors magically flip! These fascinating balls transform back and forth between two colors. Amazing!!! Colors may vary. Chemistry teachers - for a great Activation Energy Demo, see the Pair of Switch Pitch Balls listed below.

Pair of Switch Pitch Balls:

Gently toss one in the air without spin and notice no change. Repeat with increasing energy until a change occurs. A beautiful lesson in activation energy! Point out the activated complex. Show the difference between translational and rotational energy. Use to demonstrate the activation energy needed for a reaction when two particles collide. Relate to the Arrhenius equation: k=Ae^-Ea/RT. Demonstrate isomerization.

Lesson plans (included with pair) offer suggestions on teaching chemistry from middle school to graduate p-chem courses.

Includes two Switch Pitch balls with the same color combination and lesson plans.

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Lesson Ideas

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Reviews

4 reviews

Hoberman Switch Pitch Balls

May 22, 2019

I first saw this demonstration at the 2006 BCCE as one of the seminars about demonstrations and how the presenters used them in the classroom to promote understanding of the chemical concepts underlying the demonstrations. Jeffrey E. Fieberg, Ph.D., Centre College, Danville, KY, showed how he used the Hoberman Switch Pitch Ball as means to help students with their understanding of chemical kinetics: activation energy, modeling isomerization reactions, unimolecular reactions, role of vibrational & rotational energies, structure of transition states, and reaction coordinates. The ball can be expanded completely to show the transition state. At this point the ball can then collapse back into its original state (color) or change into its new state (new color). When the ball is given rotational energy the change is more likely. One can also use two balls, having them collide with one another, showing that in this case an off center collision is more likely to produce a change. As simple as the balls are, they can be used to demonstrate much, helping the students understand the underlying concepts and what is happening at the molecular level. We use these every year in the instructional program at Duke. We do not, as of yet, use these in our chemistry outreach program. PS: If you can find a "Switch Kick Ball", which are no longer produced, you can also demonstrate the difficulties of collision when the molecules are of different sizes. If you teach chemical kinetics, I highly recommend purchasing at least one of these Hoperman Switch Pitch balls.

Kenneth Lyle

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looks cool

Oct 16, 2014

Very good visual on this, kids of all ages loved this and it was easy for them to use.

Paula

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addictive!

Apr 10, 2014

Addictive for students and a great tool to learn about force, motion, and other newton related topics.

Patty

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Awesome

May 16, 2012

Great teaching tool. I use it to demonstrate activation energy in chemical reactions.

Roberta

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