Chemical Formulae

Crash

Rosetta McLeod

CRASH COURSE By Rosetta McLeod SOMETHING FOR THE GROWN-UPS TOO If you are between the ages of 3 and 65. Crash Course this month has something for you! Usually in this column, the software under review is aimed at children and young people, but the two Collins Soft programs Entrepreneur and Numbers At Work are specifically directed at adults embarking on the business world. These are two in the Brainpower series of programs which offer the user the scope to learn and apply new skills. The adult market is an area which has not yet been fully explored by educational software producers, but the two programs reviewed here must surely set the standard for others to emulate. There must be a large number of learning situations applicable to adults, and the structured interactive approach of the Collins Soft packages, each of which contains a detailed textbook as well as the computer program, provides a thorough and comprehensive course. At last a publisher has succeeded in bringing out packages in which the computer and the textbook have complementary roles to play, and which are straight-forward and easy to follow. It will, of course, take the user quite some time to work through a package, but the major advantage is that each user can set the pace, and can choose the areas to concentrate on. The programs are constructed in such a way that it is easy to see explanations again and again if need be, or to 'turn the page' to the next section. The facility for applying the knowledge learned to personal mathematical or business problems is particularly relevant, and the user can build up confidence through increased knowledge. I hope that other publishers will take note of, and learn from, these sophisticated packages! CHEMICAL FORMULAE Producer: Eclipse Retail Price: £9.95 Age Range: For all levels of chemistry student By providing detailed information about ions, this program allows the user to calculate the formula for any one of over 7,000 different compounds using a list of 136 positive and 53 negative ions. As well as calculating the formula, the computer displays information about each ion and about the compound calculated. When the program has loaded, the menu provides the following options: Calculate a formula: Display data on a positive or negative ion; List or print ions held on file and Use the periodic table. This is a data retrieval type of program allowing access to a large amount of information. If, for instance, the first option on the menu is selected, the following informations is given: the name and formula of the compound; the name, number, symbol, valency, and RAM/RMM of the positive/negative ion; the RMM of the compound together with its percentage content of positive and negative ions. An extremely comprehensive booklet accompanies the program giving detailed instructions on its use and information on chemical formulae. A useful glossary of chemical terms is also included. A vast amount of data can be accessed in this program, though it seems to me that its appeal will be very limited. It is obviously aimed at the serious student of chemistry, particularly O and A level pupils as well as college students. Its main advantage, of course, is that all the necessary information about the ions has been brought together, so that the student does not have to research the information for himself in books, before being able to calculate the formulae COMMENTS Control Keys: kept to a minimum. The program is menu-driven, so that the pressing of any key highlights the option chosen, while 0 confirms the choice Keyboard play: very fast Use of colour: good Graphics: hardly any

The front screen from CHEMICAL FORMULAE, a program from Eclipse that should make any chemistry student's life more fulfilling.