Biology  by Bradford
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Free · IB Chemistry · Structure 1

Particles and the mole escape room

The Pressurised Gas Vault

A cracked valve in the gas cylinder vault beneath the chemistry building has tripped the safety system, and every door has sealed with your team inside. Nitrogen is hissing slowly into the room, pushing out the air you breathe, and the extractor fans will only restart once the vault's controller is satisfied you understand matter at the level of its particles. Five locks lie between you and the stairwell. Each lock poses four questions, and your answers decode into its combination. Work fast and check every calculation: the oxygen meter on the wall is already falling.

Play it onlineTeacher pack (PDF)
  • 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
  • ForIB Chemistry SL and HL classes, every value a question needs given (calculations on data-booklet constants)
  • Play linkbiologybybradford.com/escape/c-s1

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.
  1. Lock 1 · Recall

    Cold Store Door

    Bar chart Easy

    Each letter is a bar. Read its height off the scale.

  2. Lock 2 · Understand

    Spectroscope Bench

    Light panel Easy

    Add up the numbers above the shaded squares.

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    Weighing Room Gate

    Overlay Medium

    Only segments lit on BOTH panels count. Read the number they make.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    Prep Room Hatch

    Number pyramid Medium

    Each brick is the sum of the two bricks directly below it. Fewer bricks are filled in, so plan your route.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    Cylinder Bay Exit

    Dice Hard

    Multiply the two white dice, then subtract the pink die. A blank face counts as 0.

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.

  1. What is the name of the change of state in which a gas turns directly into a solid, without passing through the liquid state?

    1. A Sublimation
    2. B Deposition
    3. C Condensation
    4. D Freezing

  2. The thermometer on the cold store reads −23 °C. What is this temperature in kelvin?

    1. A 250 K
    2. B 296 K
    3. C −250 K
    4. D −296 K

  3. What is the maximum number of electrons that the third main energy level (n = 3) can hold?

    1. A 8
    2. B 10
    3. C 9
    4. D 18

  4. Sulfur has atomic number 16. How many neutrons and how many electrons are there in one ³²S²⁻ ion?

    1. A 32 neutrons and 18 electrons
    2. B 18 neutrons and 16 electrons
    3. C 16 neutrons and 18 electrons
    4. D 16 neutrons and 14 electrons

Bar chart

Easy

Each letter is a bar. Read its height off the scale.

0123456789ABCD

Running it

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

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