Abstract. In order to provide life science (prepharmacy) students the opportunity to acquire a mathematical understanding of the basics of kinetic modeling, I have developed a completely computer-based, interactive text "Calculus for Kinetic Modeling." Relying heavily on the introduction of concepts through visualization, several motivating applications drawn from reaction kinetics, enzyme kinetics, and pharmacokinetics have been integrated into the primary content of the course.

In this talk, I will demonstrate how one can visually introduce solution functions for Michaelis-Menten rate equations, using Maple animations and interactive texts. Through these visualizations the beginning student can obtain a qualitative understanding of the properties of these solution functions, including the conditions necessary for the quasi-steady state assumption to hold, and what happens when one rate constant is allowed to vary while the other parameters are kept fixed.

In addition, Lambert's W function (the composition inverse of ewp(t)=t*exp(t)) is introduced and used to construct explicit solutions to the Michaelis-Menten uptake equations under the quasi-steady state assumption. Using these solution functions, data is generated to create animations illustrating the "half maximal V" estimation of the Michaelis-Menten constant Km.