Nanotechnology has been recognized as an important driver of the future economy, and so nanoscience is increasingly being incorporated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. This experiment includes the chemical synthesis, optical and chemical testing, and microscopic imaging of gold nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles are too small to…

There currently exists a significant deficiency in the nuclear chemistry workforce within the United States, despite its importance in areas of medicine, national security, and energy. Poor coverage of this topic across many chemistry departments at the undergraduate level likely contributes to this shortage. Increasing interest and hands-on…

The research presented in this dissertation looks at how students in general chemistry reason about atomic emission spectroscopy. Situated within the context of a transformed general chemistry curriculum called "Chemistry, Life, the Universe, and Everything" (CLUE), the goal of this study was to (1) characterize the various ways in which…

Although infinite potential 'particle in a box' models are widely used to introduce quantised energy levels their predictions cannot be quantitatively compared with atomic emission spectra. Here, this problem is overcome by describing how both infinite and finite potential well models can be used to calculate the confined energy levels of…

This study reports the development of a 19-item Flame Test Concept Inventory, an assessment tool to measure students' understanding of atomic emission. Fifty-two students enrolled in secondary and postsecondary chemistry courses were interviewed about atomic emission and explicitly asked to explain flame test demonstrations and energy level…

We present a new teaching and outreach activity based around the construction of a three-dimensional chart of isotopes using LEGO® bricks. The activity, "binding blocks", demonstrates nuclear and astrophysical processes through a seven-meter chart of all nuclear isotopes, built from over 26000 LEGO® bricks. It integrates A-Level and GCSE…

The "atoms first" philosophy, adopted by a growing number of General Chemistry textbook authors, places greater emphasis on atomic structure as a key to a deeper understanding of the field of chemistry. A pivotal concept needed to understand the behavior of atoms is the restriction of an atom's energy to specific allowed values. However,…

The Billotron is a device designed and built by the LPC Caen to illustrate the methods with which physicists are able to study the basic structure of matter, in particular the nucleus of the atom.

A rationale for the removal of the hybrid atomic orbital from the chemistry curriculum is examined. Although the hybrid atomic orbital model does not accurately predict spectroscopic energies, many chemical educators continue to use and teach the model despite the confusion it can cause for students. Three arguments for retaining the model in the…

Graduate students in chemistry, and in biological and biomedical fields must learn the fundamentals and practices of peptide and protein chemistry as early as possible. A project-oriented approach was conducted by first-year M.Sc and Ph.D students in biological sciences. A blind glass slide containing a cellular smear and an aqueous cellular…

Laboratory experiments develop students' skills in dealing with laboratory instruments and physical processes with the objective of reinforcing the understanding of the investigated subject. In nuclear engineering, where research reactors play a vital role in the practical education of students, the high cost and long construction time of research…

The understanding of electronic structure of atomic and molecular term states involved in spectroscopic transitions is aided by projecting combinations of micro-configurations to multi-electron states with "good" quantum numbers of angular momenta. In rare-earth (RE) compounds, atomic term labels are justifiably carried over to compounds, because…

In this laboratory module, introductory biochemistry students are exposed to two-dimensional [superscript 1]H-nuclear magnetic resonance of glycerophospholipids (GPLs). Working in groups of three, students enzymatically synthesized and purified a variety of 2-acyl lyso GPLs. The structure of the 2-acyl lyso GPL was verified using [superscript…

A systematic procedure is developed to obtain the electron angular momentum coupling (jj) spectroscopic terms, which is based on building microstates in which each individual electron is placed in a different m[subscript j] "orbital". This approach is similar to that used to obtain the spectroscopic terms under the Russell-Saunders (LS) coupling…

The Rutherford scattering experiment plays a central role in working out atomic models in physics and chemistry. Nevertheless, the experiment is rarely performed at school or in introductory physics courses at university. Therefore, we realized this experiment as a remotely controlled laboratory (RCL), i.e. the experiment is set up in reality and…