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Patterns, Motion, Color, and Geometry from Nucleation and Growth
We begin by observing patterns, motion, colors, and geometry in a series of chemical experiments ranging from plant pigments under the influence of atmospheric pollutants to microtornadoes. A common theme of these experiments is that they involve nucleation from the vapor or liquid phase of solid nanoparticles, and subsequent growth of those nanoparticles. Applications of size-controlled, uniform nanoparticles are vast. Yet the chemical mechanisms and how to control particle size distributions have remained an unsolved mystery in materials chemistry. We introduce ‘Bayesian-enabled mechanism-enabled population balance modeling’ (BE-MEPBM), which allows us to determine previously unavailable chemical mechanisms from particle size distributions. BE-MEPBM becomes an integral component of models to understand the patterns observed in our experiments. Many of these experiments originated in discussions on bringing engaging activities into applied mathematics courses. We close with ruminations on this pedagogical endeavor.
Speaker will be in-person!
Place: Zoom: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/81337180102 Password: applied