Biology by Bradford
Kinetics escape room
The Fireworks Factory
A storm has knocked out the power at a fireworks factory, and the safety system has sealed your team inside the mixing hall. Two rooms away, a slow fuse is smoldering toward a crate of shells packed for tonight's harbor show. The backup panel will open each door only for a team that understands how fast reactions go, and why. Five locks stand between you and the loading dock. Each lock poses four questions, and your answers decode into its combination. Crack all five before the fuse burns down and the night sky lights up early.
- 5 locksfour multiple-choice questions at each, 20 in all
- About 45 minutesfor a team of three or four
- Online or on papera link to play, or the pack to print
- ForAP Chemistry classes, every value a question needs given (calculations on the AP equation sheet and periodic table)
- Play linkbiologybybradford.com/escape/apc5
The five locks
Each lock’s four answers are decoded with its puzzle into a four-digit combination, so one wrong answer keeps it shut. The questions climb from recall to evaluating evidence.- Lock 1 · Recall
Mixing Hall Door
Symbol grid Easy
Find the row for the question and the column for your answer. Swap the symbol for its number using the key.
- Lock 2 · Understand
Powder Store
Symbol sums Easy
One symbol's value is given. Use it to unlock the others, then swap your letters for symbols.
- Lock 3 · Apply
Fuse Room
Lock dials Medium
The dials have no numbers. 0 is the pink notch at the top; count ticks clockwise to the needle.
- Lock 4 · Analyse data
Test Range Gate
Patterns Medium
The rule might multiply, or alternate between two steps, or the gaps might grow. Find the missing number; your digit is its last digit (47 gives 7).
- Lock 5 · Evaluate
Loading Dock Gate
Logic clues Hard
A, B, C and D are four different digits. Some clues only compare them, so test the possibilities.
Lock 1, as a team sees it
The first four questions and their decoder. The answers, and the reason for each, are in the teacher pack.According to the collision model, which two conditions must a collision between reactant particles meet for it to lead to a reaction?
- A Energy at least equal to the activation energy, and an orientation that lets new bonds form
- B Energy at least equal to ΔH of the reaction, and any orientation, since the particles touch
- C A temperature above 273 K, and two particles of equal mass meeting each other head-on
- D A catalyst in the container, and energy equal to the total enthalpy of the products
The elementary step NO(g) + O₃(g) → NO₂(g) + O₂(g) is bimolecular. What is the rate law for this step?
- A rate = k[NO₂][O₂]
- B rate = k[NO]²[O₃]
- C rate = k[NO][O₃]
- D rate = k[NO][O₃]²
How does adding a catalyst increase the rate of a chemical reaction?
- A It raises the average kinetic energy of the reactant molecules
- B It provides an alternative pathway with a lower activation energy
- C It shifts the equilibrium position toward the products of the reaction
- D It makes the enthalpy change, ΔH, of the reaction more negative
A reaction is second order overall. With concentration in M and time in s, what are the units of its rate constant k?
- A s⁻¹
- B M·s⁻¹
- C M⁻²·s⁻¹
- D M⁻¹·s⁻¹
Symbol grid
EasyFind the row for the question and the column for your answer. Swap the symbol for its number using the key.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ||||
| Q2 | ||||
| Q3 | ||||
| Q4 |
Running it
- Online: send teams the play link. They answer a lock’s four questions, decode the letters and enter the combination; after lock 5 they get a completion code to show you. Nobody needs an account.
- On paper: sign in (free) and print the teacher pack: question cards, the five decoders, a guide and the answer key with a reason for every answer.
- Your version: Edit a copy from the library to change any question, then play and print it by its own code, or build a room from the topics your class has covered.