Let’s make thermodynamics interactive with the Phase Diagram Explorer!

Principal Investigator
Prof. Rafael Jaramillo and Prof. Dr. Jessica Sandland, Materials Science and Engineering
Fund: Alumni Class Funds
Funding Period: AY2023
Department/Lab/Center: Materials Science and Engineering

We propose to develop a core concept in materials thermodynamics – the convex hull construction - into a simulation tool. The Phase Diagram Explorer will be broadly available for all departments (at least 8 at MIT) that teach thermodynamics. The tool will condense the resource-intensive calculation of phase stability in binary systems into a simulation that is fast enough to be used interactively in the classroom and reliable enough to be used independently by students. It will animate a concept that today is taught almost exclusively via discrete, canonical examples. Being able to animate a diversity of examples will enable interactive classroom learning and will build intuition for a concept that is important, useful, yet also abstract.