Sweet 16 Chemistry Compound Tournament

With spring just around the corner, your students’ thoughts will soon be turning to sunshine, prom and the NCAA basketball tournament. This clever activity combines the ever-popular March Madness basketball pool with a review of chemical formulas, the structure and charges of ions, and molar mass calculations. The result is the Sweet 16 Chemistry Compound Tournament. Hopefully, your students will enjoy playing the “Tournament” while reviewing these important topics.

The rules for filling out the Tournament brackets are simple: For the first round, the student determines the chemical formula for the compound and counts the total number of atoms in the formula unit. The compound with the greater number of atoms in the formula unit wins and moves on to the second round. In the second round, the compound with the greater number of ions in the formula unit is the winner and advances to the semifinal round. In the semifinals, the compound containing the anion with the higher charge wins the contest and moves on to the finals. In the final round of competition, the compound that has the larger molar mass is declared the winner of the tournament.