Phase Diagrams

Joseph Smyth

University of Colorado at Boulder

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection. (view details)

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Scientific Accuracy
Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
Pedagogic Effectiveness
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Initial Publication Date: July 8, 2009 | Reviewed: December 29, 2014 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

Students are given a simplified temperature-composition phase diagram for the system enstatite (Mg₂Si₂O₆) - diopside (CaMgSi₂O₆), and asked to interpret it by answering a series of questions.

Phase Equilibria/Thermodynamics, Geology | College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)

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Context

Audience

This problem set is designed for an undergraduate course in mineralogy for majors.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students should have a general understanding of phase diagrams and how to interpret them.

How the activity is situated in the course

This is a stand-alone exercise used as a homework assignment.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

This problem set is designed to help students understand and interpret phase diagrams

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Other skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

This problem set challenges students to interpret a simplified temperature-composition phase diagram for the system enstatite (Mg₂Si₂O₆) - diopside (CaMgSi₂O₆), which are common constituents of peridotites, gabbros, and basalts. Students are provided with the phase diagram and asked to answer 13 questions about it.

Determining whether students have met the goals

Students have successfully met the goals of the assignment if they answer the problem set thoroughly and accurately.

More information about assessment tools and techniques.

Teaching materials and tips

Activity Description/Assignment (Acrobat (PDF) 26kB Jul7 09)

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Solution Set (Acrobat (PDF) 28kB Jul7 09)

Other Materials

Supporting references/URLs

This problem set is the 10^th of 10 homework assignments used in a Mineralogy course.
You can also access the course syllabus ( This site may be offline. ) which includes lecture Powerpoints, practice exams, and links to the other problem sets used in this course.

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