Thermodynamics
What property measures the average kinetic energy of the particles in a substance, rather than the total energy it contains?
Temperature
What renewable fuel is made by reacting plant oils or animal fats with methanol in a process called transesterification?
Biofuel
Mix baking soda and vinegar — instant fizz! What kind of reaction is that?
Acid-Base Reaction
I make reactions go faster but don’t get used up myself.
Catalyst
Where on campus can you go to enjoy tea time with chemical engineering professors?
Cullinane Hall
In which direction does heat spontaneously flow between two objects at different temperatures?
Regions of high temperature --> low temperature
In beverage production, controlling temperature and pH during fermentation is crucial for producing what popular drink made from yeast and malted grains?
Beer
Hydrogen meets oxygen, big boom, lots of water. What reaction type?
Combustion
I am a process that uses membranes to separate particles from fluids.
Filtration
How many combined ChemE majors can you take at Northeastern? Bonus 100 if you can name 3.
7
During an isothermal expansion of an ideal gas, energy leaves the system as what type of energy transfer?
Work
In desalination plants, salty water is forced through semi-permeable membranes to separate out fresh water. What is this process called?
Reverse Osmosis
You pop a cold pack and it gets colder. What kind of reaction is happening?
Endothermic Reaction
I separate mixtures based on boiling points. The light stuff goes up, the heavy stuff stays down.
Distillation Column
Nu ChemE students can learn chemical engineering concepts from comics created with guidance from this professor.
Luke Landher
Which law of thermodynamics states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant, although it can change forms between heat and work?
First Law of Thermodynamics
Inside electric vehicle batteries, materials like lithium cobalt oxide store and release ions during charge and discharge. What kind of chemical process makes this possible?
Redox Reactions
Drop hydrogen peroxide on a wound and it fizzes like crazy — it’s breaking down into water and oxygen. What kind of reaction is this?
Decomposition
When my value gets too high, flow goes from smooth to chaotic.
Reynolds Number
When did Chemical Engineering program begin at Northeastern? 10 extra points if you can guess how many students were enrolled in the first batch?
1909
1 student
When ice melts at 0 °C, what thermodynamic quantity increases because the molecules have more possible arrangements in the liquid phase?
Entropy (ΔS > 0)
Aboard spacecraft, carbon dioxide is converted into oxygen and methane using hydrogen in a process that helps sustain life on long missions. What is this reaction called?
The Sabatier reaction
A car’s catalytic converter breaks down harmful gases into CO₂, nitrogen, and water with the help of Platinum. What is the platinum referred to as?
Catalyst
I act like pressure but correct for non-ideal behavior.
I tell you how much a real gas wants to escape compared to an ideal one.
Engineers use me in phase equilibrium instead of raw pressure.
Chemical Engineers hate me
Fugacity
Which fluid flow regime best describes Neil's new perm?
Turbulent Flow