pubs.acs.

org/jchemeduc Article

Experience-Based Learning Approach to Chemical Kinetics: Learning

from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Estefanía Sucre-Rosales,∇ Ricardo Fernań dez-Terań ,∇ David Carvajal, Lorenzo Echevarría,
and Florencio E. Hernań dez*
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ABSTRACT: Herein, we present an experience-based learning

approach that uses the COVID-19 pandemics knowledge about
virus spread and epidemics to establish an analogy between a
Downloaded via ETH ZURICH on February 5, 2021 at 12:57:08 (UTC).

simple epidemics modelthe SIR model (susceptible−infected−

removed), and a second-order autocatalytic reaction with
subsequent catalyst deactivation. Our approach provides a simple
and engaging way for students to learn chemical kinetics from a
current situation (the pandemic) while presenting them with
programming tools to numerically solve any system of differential
equations that may result from more complex chemical kinetic
schemes. We include the option to fit experimental data to extract meaningful rate constants. Following Kolb’s cycle, we first
establish the theoretical background of chemical kinetics and the SIR model and describe the analogy. Then, we propose the use of
MATLAB and Python to numerically solve the system of differential equations associated with this model and plot the results
showing the behavior of the system when changing the constants that describe the process, making the analogy with chemical kinetic
constants. Finally, we fitted experimental data from the COVID-19 pandemic (up to early June 2020) to test the model and discuss
the goodness of the fitting, the fitting parameters, and the utility of real kinetic data.
KEYWORDS: Upper-Division Undergraduate, Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary, Physical Chemistry, Kinetics, Mechanisms of Reactions,
Rate Law, Reactions, Programming, autocatalytic reactions

■ INTRODUCTION
The global outbreak of the COVID-19 disease (caused by the
concepts has been widely used in textbooks, including those
employed to teach chemical kinetics.5−7
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain) is undoubtedly a new Students often encounter difficulties when studying differ-
experience for humanity, which has impacted people’s lives ential equations used to understand the dynamics of a chemical
worldwide. Concepts such as epidemics, viruses, and virus spread system.8 Also, fitting of experimental data to complex kinetic
are now explained everywhere and became part of the daily news models (e.g., beyond simple first- and second-order reactions) is
and accessible knowledge. A way to connect, in a positive way, rarely discussed in standard chemistry curricula.9 In this regard,
the global COVID-19 experience with chemistry is to use the complex kinetic schemes are often simplified employing the
recently acquired knowledge about virus spread as an analogy to steady-state approximation, a concept commonly taught in
explain chemical kinetics in the classroom using an experience- introductory physical chemistry courses.10 Herein, we present
based learning (EBL) approach based on a simple epidemio- a general, analytical approach to the learning of chemical kinetics
logical model. EBL refers to teaching practices that take where such approximations are not needed, teaching the
previous, current, or arising experiences of the learner as the students how to deal directly with the kinetic models per se,
core of the teaching−learning process.1 This approach has the using numerical integration methods to solve them. Previous
advantage of being more participative and engaging, providing reports in this Journal9,11 have illustrated both the importance of
the students with a real-life event that relates to a new concept.2
developing coding skills, as well as going beyond the steady-state
This leads to building new knowledge connected to previously
learned ideas, which helps to understand the meaning of those
ideas beyond memorization.3 Special Issue: Insights Gained While Teaching Chem-
One way to link previous and current knowledge is by using istry in the Time of COVID-19
analogies. In this way, while comparing new notions with Received: June 16, 2020
familiar and relatable experiences, the students have the Revised: July 9, 2020
opportunity to give meaning to abstract ideas and remember Published: July 22, 2020
them more easily.4 The power of analogies to understand
© 2020 American Chemical Society and
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approximation in the analysis of kinetic models in the study of Here, A and B are the reactants. Y is an intermediate; C is the
chemical reactions. product, and a, b, c, and y are the coefficients for the elementary
A full understanding “beyond-paper” of the meaning and steps of the mechanism. The rate laws for the elementary steps of
behavior of the mathematically described system is desired, but this system can then be expressed as follows:
it is sometimes challenging to achieve in the classroom due to
d[A] d[B]
the abstract character of differential equations. The analogy = = −k1[A]a [B]b
between simple epidemiological models and mechanistic dt dt (2.a)
equations in chemical kinetics has been pointed out recently
d[Y]
in ref 12. Among the simplest epidemiological models, one of the = k1[A]a [B]b − k 2[Y] y
most popular is the susceptible−infected−removed (SIR) dt (2.b)
model, proposed by Kermack and Mc Kendrick in 1927.13
d[C]
This model explains the time evolution of populations belonging = k 2[Y] y
to these three “compartments” similarly as a mechanism of dt (2.c)
consecutive reactions. Here, k1 and k2 are the kinetic constants for the first and second
In this work, we present a new approach to the teaching of elementary steps of the mechanism.
chemical kinetics, offering the students the possibility to relate Note that eqs 2.a−2.c are coupled: that is, they need to be
their own experience during the worldwide outbreak of the solved as a system since the kinetic evolution of one chemical
COVID-19 pandemic with chemical kinetics. By creating an species affects that of all other species. The solution of this
analogy between the virus spread and the simulation of a second- system of ordinary differential equations yields the concen-
order autocatalytic chemical system in a programming language tration of the reactant, intermediate, and product at any given
of choice (in this paper, we present implementations in Python time, describing the evolution of the reaction, as the reactants are
and MATLAB), students can connect a real-life application of a consumed and the products formed. For further information, the
model. Students can also fit the available experimental data for interested reader can refer to ref 10.
COVID-19 with the SIR model, expanding their understanding The rate of the reaction can be changed by a catalyst, a species
of the different concepts involved in chemical kinetics. that participates in the reaction by increasing the reaction rate,
We provide a generally applicable framework for the without being consumed (i.e., the catalyst is recovered at the end
implementation, solution, and analysis of complex kinetic of the catalytic cycle).10
schemes in these programming languages, meaning the students Autocatalysis exists when a reactant, an intermediate or a
can later adopt these programs to their own needs. In this regard, product catalyzes a reaction.14 The simplest such example is a
we emphasize the importance of the development of coding second-order (or quadratic) autocatalytic reaction,15−18 where
skills and the use of scientific computing software for the two reactants, A and X, yield two molecules of X (eq 3a):
students in the chemical sciences to remain competitive with
other disciplines. k1

■
A + X → 2X (3a)

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Examples of autocatalysis can be encountered in biology (e.g.,

DNA replication,19 and the Verhulst model15), and in chemistry
Chemical Kinetics and Autocatalytic Reactions (e.g., the phase transition from β-Sn to α-Sn when tin is exposed
The field of chemical kinetics refers to the study of the rates of to temperatures below −13 °C, the well-known “tin pest”).20
chemical reactions, which depend on a kinetic constant (which Autocatalytic reactions have also been hypothesized as the
quantifies the rate of the reaction, and is independent of reactant source of homochirality in biomolecules.21,22 In this regard, the
and product concentrations) and different powers of the autocatalytic amplification of the enantiomeric excess was
concentration of one or several reactants. demonstrated by Soai and co-workers, which provided the
A kinetic equation indicates the rate of change of experimental confirmation of this concept (Scheme 1).23−26
concentrations as a function of time and, as such, can be These examples serve to highlight the importance of both
described in terms of differential equations. As chemical studying and understanding autocatalytic reactions, illustrating
reactions are often very complex, a reaction is, at the same their relevance for the chemical education curriculum.
time, better described by a mechanism composed of elementary While an ideal catalyst will remain active indefinitely, a real
steps, each one involving a simple reaction at the molecular level. catalyst can be deactivated as the reaction progresses, leading to
When one elementary step is considerably slower than the rest, it an additional step in the mechanism (often called catalyst
is known as the rate-determining step. If a species formed in an poisoning or degradation):18
elementary step is unstable (has a short lifetime) and k2
decomposes to form a product, it is known as an intermediate, X→P (3.b)
and it is not the final product of the reaction. For example, let us Combining eqs 3a and 3.b, we obtain a system that undergoes
consider the following two consecutive reactions. second-order autocatalysis followed by catalyst poisoning (eqs
k1 4.a and 4.b); see Figure 1.
a A + bB → y Y (1.a)
k1
A + X → 2X (4.a)
k2
y Y → cC (1.b) k2
X→P (4.b)
These reaction steps give an overall conversion from species A
to C: It is through this prototype kinetic system that we establish a
direct analogy with the SIR model used in the mathematical
a A + b B → cC (1.c) modeling of viral spread, discussed next.
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Scheme 1. (a) Scheme of the Soai Reaction and (b) Simplified dS dI dR

+ + =0
Scheme Outlining the Autocatalytic Step in Soai’s Reactiona dt dt dt (6)
In Figure 2, we can observe that the parameters β and γ drive the
“rate” of the evolution of the system, analogous to a kinetic
constant in a chemical reaction. Now, according to the definition
of the S, I, and R subpopulations, when a susceptible individual
(S) “reacts” with an infected (I) one, S becomes infected (I) as
well (eq 7.a). Then, all the infected individuals (intermediate,
catalyst) will eventually overcome the disease so that they will
transform into removed individuals (“product”, eq 7.b). These
two equations comprise the following mechanism:
β
S + I → 2I (7.a)
γ
I→R (7.b)
From this mechanism, we obtain the following system of
differential equations:
d [S ] β
= − [S ][I ]
dt N (8.a)

d [I ] β
a = [S ][I ] − γ[I ]
Part a was adapted with permission from ref 26. Copyright 1996 dt N (8.b)
American Chemical Society.
d [R ]
= γ [I ]
dt (8.c)
Here, the rate of consumption of S (eq 8.a) depends on the
product of S and I species (resembling a second-order reaction),
and the rate of production of R is described by a first-order decay
Figure 1. Graphical scheme of a second-order autocatalytic reaction,
showing the pathways (arrows) and states (boxes) through which the
of I (eq 8.c). The constants β and γ represent, respectively, the
chemical system evolves. per-capita transmission rate and the removed rate (“product
formation”). The units for β/N are [population−1 time−1], which
SIR Model
are equivalent to the units of a second-order rate constant [M−1
s−1]; and the units for γ are [time−1], which are equivalent to the
The SIR model divides a host population (N) into three units of a first-order kinetic constant [s−1]. The inverse of γ has
sections: susceptible (individuals that are prompt to acquire the the units of time, and it is known as the mean infectious period, μ,
disease upon contact with sick individuals, S), infected the period during which an infected person can spread the
(individuals that are currently affected and can spread the disease.
virus to healthy individuals that they come across, I), and The system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs)
removed (individuals who are no longer able to contract the associated with the SIR model does not have an analytical
disease and spread it, R). Figure 2 summarizes the relationship solution in terms of elementary functions.27 Still, approxima-
between S, I, and R. tions and iterative solutions have been previously reported.28 It
is often the case that realistic chemical systems lead to systems of
ODEs which do not have analytical solutions. In such cases, the
recommended approach is to numerically integrate the ODE
system using the methods available in several software packages,
such as MATLAB29 or Python.30,31 Some of us have adapted this
Figure 2. Graphical scheme of the SIR model, showing the approach in the examination of realistic, more complex kinetic
interconversion pathways (arrows) between the three different schemes involved in proton-coupled electron transfer,32 and
compartments (boxes). See the text for further details. photocatalytic water splitting.33 Other numerical methods can
be used to solve kinetic models in spreadsheet software like
Microsoft Excel, as exemplified in ref 34.
In essence, numerical integration of differential equations
Through Figure 2, we can establish the analogy between the consists of calculating the time-dependent functions, in our
SIR model and the second-order autocatalytic process described system, S(t), I(t), and R(t), which evolve from the initial state at
earlier (cf., Figure 1). Altogether, these three categories t = 0, based on discrete changes in successive, small-time
comprise the entire host population, N: intervals (as given by the differential equations themselves). The
S+I+R=N (5) interested reader can refer to more specialized literature reports
on the topic for further details.35−38 Nevertheless, this approach
This model assumes that the host population remains constant is straightforward to implement and is illustrative of more
(no deaths or births take place), leading to a population that general situations, and the code presented here can be adapted
does not change in time (eq 6): accordingly.
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■
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article

METHODOLOGY Data Selection

Experience-Based Learning Approach Using the data reported in the COVID-19 Data Repository by
the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at
According to Kolb’s experiential learning theory, experiential-
Johns Hopkins University,42 we analyzed and fitted the time
based learning can be described in a cycle that initiates with a
evolution of the number of active cases (defined as total
concrete experience, followed by a reflective observation that
confirmed cases − recoveries − deaths) for countries which
leads to abstract conceptualization, finally achieving active
satisfied the following criteria. First, given the educational nature
experimentation.39,40 A previous illustration of an application of
of this paper, we focused on countries that had already
Kolb’s experiential learning theory to chemistry (reported in this
experienced a maximum in the number of cases as per the
Journal) can be found in ref 41. In our didactic proposal (Figure
preparation of this manuscript (early June 2020). Second, we
3), the real experience is the COVID-19 pandemic (concepts
investigated the countries which had the best fit for the simple
SIR model. With these two criteria, we selected nine sample
countries: Austria, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Japan, Lithuania,
New Zealand, South Korea, and Switzerland. For the previously
stated reasons, we did not consider the more recent outbreaks in
America and Africa, because they had not reached a maximum of
infections when this manuscript was prepared.
Parameter Initialization
The parameters provided for the numerical solution of the ODE
system concerning the SIR model are β, γ, and the initial
populations of each section: S(0), I(0), and R(0), respectively.
Under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, on
our current analysis, we have taken R(0) = 0, as no individuals
had ever experienced the disease before, and I(0) = 1, since most
countries started reporting cases when the first infection took
place. These two parameters were fixed for both simulations and
fits.
The initial number of susceptible individuals, S(0), was taken
as a fit parameter, with an initial guess provided by the maximum
number of total confirmed cases in the last day of analyzed data.
This choice is not arbitrary and can be rationalized as follows:
The value of S(0) depends deeply on conditions such as the
unknown fraction of the population that remained highly
susceptible to get the infection after the worldwide quarantine
Figure 3. Kolb’s cycle of the didactic proposal in this work. and social distancing measures, as well as the presence of
asymptomatic cases and positive cases that are not being tested.
related to virus spread, “flattening the curve”, “social distancing”,
etc.). Then, a reflective observation of chemical kinetics and the
theory behind the SIR model leads to an analogy between the
■ RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
SIR Model and the Role of the “Kinetic” Constants:
two concepts, which ultimately paves the way to a deep Flattening the Curve
understanding of kinetic modeling and solving. In the end, the
active experimentation is carried out using the computer codes, To test the effect of changing the constants β and γ in the
by testing the effect of the kinetic constants on the behavior of evolution of S, I, and R, the students can change those
the plots and their meaning, and by the application of the model parameters in the simulated data, with some examples shown in
to fitting real data of the pandemic, which offers up new Figure 4. The students are encouraged to try varying the
experiences. parameters, exploring the behavior of the solutions.
It has been shown43 that the number of susceptible individuals
General Computational Aspects
remaining at infinite time, S(∞), is the unique root in the
In this work, we used MATLAB R2020a (The Mathworks, Inc.) interval (0, Nγ/β) of eq 9. This equation can only be solved
and Python 3.7 to numerically evaluate the solutions of the

γ i S(∞) yzz
numerically.

S(∞) − N lnjjjj
kinetic models described herein, using the inbuilt ode23t29 and
z = S(0) + I(0)
β k S(0) z{
odeint30,31 routines, respectively.
We divided the code into two sets: the first one used as a (9)
“testing” routine to evaluate the effects of changing different
parameters in the evolution of the kinetic model. The second From this, we conclude that the ratio between the two kinetic
part contains a routine used to fit the SIR model to the current constants is significant in determining the global evolution of the
COVID-19 cases. Both routines can be easily adapted to more system, as will be discussed in the following. The ratio β/γ, often
general cases where data gathered in a laboratory experiment denoted 0 , represents the reproductive number of an epidemy.
following a different kinetic scheme can be analyzed and/or As can be observed, setting β constant and changing γ (Figure
simulated. The code is provided in the Supporting Information, 4a,b) affect both the infected and removed sub-populations.
along with detailed explanations on its implementation, use, and Turning to the plots shown in Figure 4, we shall now discuss the
adaptation. Throughout this paper, we have used the SIR model effect of varying the ratio between β and γ, as well as their
(eqs 8.a−8.c) as the kinetic scheme of choice. absolute values.
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Figure 4. Effect of the kinetic constants β and γ in the simulated evolution of the susceptible (S), infected (I), and removed (R) subpopulations. (A) β =
1; γ = 0.01; (B) β = 1; γ = 0.01; (C) β = 0.01; γ = 0.01; (C) β = 0.05; γ = 0.01. In all cases, N = 10−6; S(O) = 106 − 1; I(O) = 1; and R(O) = 1.

Figure 5. Number of active cases and fit results for several countries using the SIR model as discussed in the text. The raw data is shown as empty
circles, and the fits are denoted with solid red lines.

If β ≤ γ (0 ≤ 1), the system will not show a significant evidenced by a faster decay of I(t) for the case in Figure 4b. This
evolution over time, and the number of infected individuals will is analogous to a situation where, in a quadratic autocatalytic
always be very close to I(0). In kinetic terms, this means that the chemical mechanism (as mentioned above), the first step
autocatalytic species decomposes faster than it is produced, (second-order autocatalysis) is fast and the second one (catalyst
leading to a negligible intermediate (catalyst) population, and deactivation) is slow, so we can say that the second step of the
essentially indicating that the reaction never proceeds SIR mechanism (eq 7.b) is the rate-determining step of the entire
significantly beyond the initial conditions. process.
We now turn to more realistic cases with β > γ (0 > 1), The kinetic constant γ (and hence its inverse, μ) is disease-
analyzing the first two cases with identical β but different γ values specific, and the only way it can be altered is by the introduction
(Figure 4a,b). In Figure 4a, with β = 100γ, the conversion from I of a medical treatment, which accelerates the recovery.
to R is not as efficient as in case Figure 4b (where β = 10γ), which Analogously, in our simplified autocatalytic model, the
causes I to accumulate. The quantity μ = 1/γ, as previously decomposition rate of the autocatalytic species depends on
defined, represents the mean infectious period. In Figure 4a, μ = the chemical nature of the substance itself. In this way, by
100 days, while in Figure 4b, μ = 10 days. This change in μ can be keeping γ constant but changing β (Figure 4c,d), it is possible to
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observe that the two processes in the mechanism are affected. If A graphical summary of the obtained results is given in Figure
we follow the mechanism, one infected person “reacts” with a 6. We observe that the values of β and μ are within the same
susceptible person and spreads the infection, as in an order of magnitude in a comparison across the studied countries.
autocatalytic process, in which the autocatalytic species (Y in
eqs 2.a−2.c, or I in eqs 8.a−8.c) is regenerated. In addition, the
time at which the maximum of I(t) occurs is very sensitive to
changes in β. From this, we conclude that the value of β is critical
for the development of the epidemy. If we analyze the meaning
of the constants β and γ in the context of an epidemy, the real
value of γ depends on the main characteristics of the disease
(duration of the sickness, duration of the infection period, and
lethality). In contrast, as the β value is related to the spread of the
disease, the measures of quarantine and social distancing, which
can reduce this value, are certainly capable of “f lattening the
(infected) curve”, as observed in the case of Figure 4c when
compared to Figure 4d. Moreover, as noted in Figure 4c, if the
spread is not so efficient, not all of the population will catch the
disease (in this example, ca. 200,000 people remained healthy at
the end), analogous to the chemical situation where not all of the
reactant S produces the intermediate I. This can be quantified by
using eq 9, yielding the expected number of remaining
susceptible individuals at infinite time. Figure 6. Constants β and μ (= 1/γ) from the fits of the studied
If we move to our chemical analogy, we started with an excess countries to the SIR model.
of the reactant S and an almost negligible quantity of I (a
“catalytic” amount), which in all the cases shown is enough to
start the reaction. Nevertheless, if β ≤ γ, the production of I (the The students can note that the model fits better with some
catalyst) is not enough to considerably accelerate the reaction. experimental data than with other data, leading to higher relative
When β is large enough to ensure the formation of I in a errors in a few cases. Nevertheless, the limitations of the model
reasonable time (β > γ, or equivalently 0 > 1), the rate of the have to be taken into account to evaluate the results of any
fitting: in our case, the SIR model does not consider the change
first reaction (eq 7.a) certainly affects the performance of the
in the conditions before and after the quarantine and social
entire reaction: if we increase the rate of the autocatalytic distancing measures, that results in a time-dependent β(t) and
reaction, more I will be produced, and it will continue to γ(t), which is beyond the scope of this paper.
accelerate the reaction, up to a point in which all the equivalent This last aspect of the pandemic data contrasts with what one
reactant S will be consumed and transformed into I (cases a, b, would expect from a chemical system, where the kinetic
and d, when compared to c in Figure 4). At this point, the constants are only dependent on the temperature according to
concentration of I will reach a maximum, and the rate of the the Arrhenius equation.10 When encountering a similar
deactivation of the catalyst will depend on the magnitude of the situation, in which the given kinetic model does not fit the
kinetic constant for the second reaction (γ), the rate- data to an acceptable level, the chemical researcher can refine the
determining step. initial guess parameters or evaluate the limitations of the model.
Having discussed the general effects of the variation in the In the first case, it is important to note that the solutions found
kinetic constants, we now move on to a real-life application of through the fitting routine are obtained according to the
the SIR model to fit the data of the COVID-19 pandemic. imposed degrees of freedom of the model. Depending on the
Fitting of COVID-19 Case Data initial conditions, one can encounter different solutions.
To choose the best initial guess for a given system, the
The results of the fits of the number of active cases (defined as researcher should refer to previously reported similar results in
total confirmed cases − recoveries − deaths) for the selected the literature, or experiment using different initial guesses
countries are shown in Figure 5. Note that, despite the fact that spanning a range of acceptable values. Notice that if a given
the SIR model defined previously does not account for deaths, initial guess for a parameter is several orders of magnitude
we consider the deaths and recoveries as part of the “removed” different from the optimal value (predicted by the model), more
population group, since they are unable to contract the disease. iterations will be needed to converge to a reasonable value. If not
We fitted the number of active cases (corresponding to I(t) in enough iterations are allowed in the fitting routine (or
the SIR model) because it is the experimental observable that inappropriate convergence criteria are used), the results
contains the most information (i.e., I(t) depends explicitly on obtained from a suboptimal solution could lead to the wrong
both β and γ). In this regard, when evaluating the kinetics of a impression that the data does not adjust to the model at all.
chemical system, it is preferred and recommended to monitor When evaluating the limitations of the model, the researcher
the species linked with the highest number of parameters. can even propose a new reasonable mechanism to achieve a
Ideally, a global fit, including all the species, is preferred but better fitting, using an improved description of the observed
often precluded by the technique used to monitor the reaction. kinetics. In this regard, the SIR model discussed throughout this
As illustrated in Figure 5, we observe an excellent agreement paper assumes that no deaths or births take place (N is
between the data and the fits to the SIR model. The kinetic constant), which is clearly not the case in a real-life pandemic
constants and their errors can be found in the Supporting such as COVID-19. To overcome this limitation, the kinetic
Information (Table S1). model (eqs 8.a−8.c) can be modified to include deaths and
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births, which enter as additional terms in the equations for S and Lorenzo Echevarría − Department of Chemistry, University of
I. The number of removed individuals (R) is then back- Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, United States;
calculated from N, the total population (using the relation S + I + ́
Departamento de Quimica, ́ Caracas
Universidad Simón Bolivar,
R = N), which is now time-dependent, including both birth and 1080-A, Venezuela
death rates. These models, however, are mathematically much Complete contact information is available at:
more complex and outside of the scope of this work. The https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00698
interested reader can refer to refs 27 and 28 for a more in-depth
treatment of these systems. Author Contributions
In any case, in our chemical analogy, no reactants/products ∇
escape the reaction vessel, and thus, the SIR model with constant E.S.-R. and R.F.-T. contributed equally to this work.
population best serves the purpose of an analogy between Notes
chemical kinetics and epidemiological models. The authors declare no competing financial interest.

■ CONCLUSIONS
Following Kolb’s cycle, we present an engaging approach to
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank our students for being our source of inspiration,
teaching a chemical kinetics class that uses the experience of the
through their insight and valuable questions during our
students with the COVID-19 outbreak to establish an analogy
experiences while teaching chemical kinetics and related topics.
between the kinetics of a chemical system that follows second-
We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Melania
order autocatalysis with subsequent catalyst deactivation. As
Mazzaglia in the design of the TOC graphic.

■
active learning, we provided the students with tools to
understand how to predict the behavior of a kinetic system
and fit experimental data to a “kinetic” model (in our case, the REFERENCES
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