A laboratory experiment in which students recycle silver and platinum selectively from spent screen-printed platinum electrodes is described. The recovered silver in solution is used to show its spontaneous redox reaction with a copper sheet. The recovered platinum is electrodeposited onto a screen-printed carbon electrode to develop a sensor for…

Additive colors are interesting to young students. In this paper, we show a convenient and straightforward method to demonstrate this phenomenon by projector. It produces defocus blur and reduces imaging quality for color mixing. We believe this demonstration experiment can be performed in most classrooms.

Physics and chemistry students learn several methods to determine the density of materials. While measuring the mass of materials is usually simple, volume measurements are more complex. For simple shapes the volume may be determined by measuring its geometry; for more complex shapes students often use Archimedes' principle. However, neither of…

CRISPR-Cas9 is revolutionizing how we conduct scientific research, treat disease, and develop new crops. The widespread impact of this genome-editing technology makes it critical for undergraduate students to understand and engage with this new tool. In this article, we describe a multi-week lab module that teaches undergraduates how to design…

Recently, the physics education community has taken a keen interest in modernising physics education. However, while topics in modern physics have great potential to engage students, these topics are abstract and hard-to-visualise. Therefore, many students hold mistaken pictures and misconceptions, which can impede learning. In this article, we…

An iridium(III)-mediated C-H functionalization sequence involving a concerted cyclometalation-deprotonation/migratory insertion pathway is reported for the undergraduate chemistry laboratory. The air- and water-stable iridacycle intermediates are readily isolated and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Both steps of the experiment are performed at…

Thermogravimetry coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) is a useful technique for the thermal and structural characterization of materials at academic and research levels. This paper describes an experiment for chemistry students to understand the use of TG-FTIR for advanced qualitative and quantitative thermal analysis…

Providing exposure to the process and methods of science is a fundamental goal of any general education college science course. This is largely because most students taking such courses are generally "not" science majors, so they are likely to take few, if any, other science courses. Meeting this goal can be a challenge in courses such…

Systems thinking is highly desirable for re-imagining chemistry education, which will help in the development of an integrated and sustainable approach that takes into account the interdependence of a system under study with other components of the ecosystem rather than practicing a fragmented approach. Thus, to develop a systems' perspective into…

We discuss the use of a simple piece of equipment made of a 50 mL syringe attached to a 2 mL graduated pipet to demonstrate Boyle's law and Charles's law. A plot of the hydrostatic pressure against the reciprocal of the volume of the gas read from the equipment is linear as discussed in the paper and gives the atmospheric pressure at the…

This paper describes an upper-division undergraduate exercise involving the synthesis and iodometric and infrared spectroscopic analysis of the peroxide double salt [Zn(NH[subscript 3])[subscript 4]][Mo(O[subscript 2])[subscript 4]]. Here, iodometric methods are employed to determine the peroxide content of the compound, a procedure widely used…

The acoustic resonance in four glass Helmholtz resonators with diameters of 70, 52, 40, and 32 mm was detected in the frequency range of 360 to 1700 Hz using the simple experimental setup presented in this paper. The measured amplitudes of acoustic pressure required correction since the sound pressure amplitude of the loudspeaker used was not…

This laboratory experiment utilizes an exploration of the storage stability of beer to introduce basic aspects of electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Radicals formed upon aerobic forced-aging of beer samples are established by using a spin-trap. The students are introduced to basic principles of EPR spectroscopy and food and…

The MicRoboCop project introduces chemistry students to the concepts and protocols of synthetic biology. MicRoboCop is a biosensor that has been designed for unique applications in forensic chemistry. The lab is carried out in collaboration with an instructor teaching a genetics course. Students in the biology course synthesize biosensors using…

DNA structure has been leveraged in a variety of facets that allow scientists to perform a range of assays, including ones for identification of species, establishing evolutionary relationships between taxa, or even identifying individuals. Here, we present a DNA barcoding method as practical, hands-on approach that connects several experimental…