Humor and Music in Physical Chemistry J. G. Eberhart University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO 80933 After many years of teaching Physical Chemistry I've come t o t h e following conclusions: (1) i t i s a tough course, (2) students struggle with it, and (3) anything the professor can do to create a positive classroom environment is well worth the effort. I n my experience, a little humor goes a long way in accomplishing these goals, and helps to overcome the anxiety of the student who h a s been intimidated by t h e "Honk If You Passed P Chem" bumper stickers. Appropriate classroom humor can include jokes, limericks, cartoons, and songs. We have two mottoes i n our physical chemistry class. The first i s introduced during our very brief review of the Metric System and is "Go Metric, You'll Be Miles Ahead!" The second i s repeated on the many occasions where nonlinear data i s transformed so a s to yield a linear plot, and is "Linearity Or Bust!" Sidney Harris' marvelous collections of cartoons on science a n d mathematics are a rich source of classroom humor. My favorite addresses a continuing problem i n everv ohvsical chemistrv course. namelv. ., t h e imnortance of not only knowing certain key formulae, hut also t h e assumutions noon which thev a r e based. Harris illustrates t h ~ nelTecr~velvtl,w ~ t ha cartoon shoumg two orofessors in front ol a blackboard filled urlth eauatlons ieadiug to a n important result. One of t h e prbfessors asks, "Does this aoolv alwavs, sometimes. or never?" ~ o k e can s he usidto makiascientific ormathematical ooint, a s well a s to relieve classroom tension. They are best when they fit the classroom topic. For exampie, on any of the many occasions when a mean or average is discussed, t h e teacher can a s k if t h e students heard about the guy who drowned i n a lake with a n average depth of six inches? Or there's the one about the statistician who was drafted into the Army. While i n combat he tried to shoot a n enemy soldier, first with a shell t h a t burst to the soldier's right, followed by another to his left. He then turned to his comrade and said, "Well, on the average I killed him." Sones are mv favorite vehicle for iniectin~rhumor i n t h e clksroom: No introduction to thermodGnamies i s comulete without t h e e x ~ e r i e n c eof h e a r i n e Michael e landers a n d Donald ~ w a n nsing t h e i r composition First an,d Second Law (2).Tom Lehrer's The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be (3, 4) is excellent for rounding out a discussion of radioactive decay a n d nuclear weauons testing, while his The ~ l e m e n t ;(4, 5)i s perhaps better suited to discussions of the periodic table i n ~ e n e r a or l inorganic chemistry . There i s a n a p p a r e n t void i n t h e music of science which I believe needs to be filled. As far a s I know there was (until now!) no song acknowledging t h e struggle t h a t all students go through i n trying to master physical chemistry The lyrics below a r e a n attempt to remedy t h i s deplorable situation. They a r e sung to a melody which has been a favorite of bluegrass and old time musicians for over 50 vears. Brown's Ferrv Blues(6. ~. 7). . The new version is, of course, the lament of a physical chemistrv student. The meter won't allow for the more formal title The Physical Chemistry Blues, so I call i t simply The Old P-Chem Blues.
The Old P-Chem Blues (Sung to the Melody of Brown's Ferry Blues) 1. Carnat, Kelvin, and Gibbs I'm told, Started Thermodynamics in days of old.
Lord, Lord, I've gat The Old P-Chem blues. Even though these guys are dead and gone, I study this stuff 'ti1 the break of d a m . Lard, Lard, I've got The Old P-Chem Blues. 2. The first and the second and the third law too, So many laws I don't know what to do. Lord, Lord, I've gat The Old P-Chem Blues. There's energy, entropy, heat, and work, It's all getting to me, I'm goin'berserk. Lord, Lord, I've gat The Old P-Chem Blues. 3. These exact differentials of functions of state, With their Euler relations are my awful fate.
Lard. LaFd. I've eot The Old P-Chem Blues.
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1076
Journal of Chemical Education
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