We have developed a new foundation-level course at our institution that links the concept of chemical equilibria from four of the traditional subdisciplines (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, and physical). The course, entitled Solution and Solid State Chemistry (CHEM 210), is designed to serve our chemistry and biochemistry majors, as well as…

This laboratory experiment introduces upper-division undergraduate analytical chemistry students to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in a forensic application: the analysis of cocaine and metabolites of cocaine in simulated serum ostensibly from drug overdose victims. For this investigation, students developed the…

We propose an apparatus that emulates the experiment used by Geiger and Marsden in 1913 to investigate alpha particles (Rutherford) scattering. Using a widely available fused deposition modelling 3D-printer, we built a compartmented and easily assembled educational instrument. The whole apparatus is composed of a 3D-printed chamber and an…

This three-part laboratory experiment investigates key aspects of the Buchwald-Hartwig amination cross-coupling reaction through guided-inquiry learning strategies. The first part of this experiment utilizes high-throughput experimentation techniques to reinforce, explore, and extend fundamental concepts that are represented in the classroom,…

A traditional laboratory course with the primary learning outcome of improving students' theoretical knowledge has received much criticism over the years due to the lack of evidence that these goals have achieved. We report our efforts to redesign a traditional first-year organic and inorganic (also known as synthetic) laboratory course from…

The Making Introductory Courses Real while Online (MICRO) laboratory project was developed to meet the need for hands-on experiments, focused on topics in analytical chemistry, to be delivered safely remotely or in a socially distanced in-person lab. Unlike more traditional lab experiments, MICRO laboratories use only microgram or nanogram amounts…

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique useful in chemical, pharmaceutical, and forensic sciences. It is essential to identify chemicals for reasons spanning from scientific research and academic practices to quality control in companies. However, in some university degrees, graduate students do not get the proficiency…

In this laboratory experiment, students explore the aquatic photochemical fate of ranitidine and cimetidine, two common pharmaceutical pollutants found in wastewater. It provides an engaging environmental context for students to develop knowledge of reaction kinetics and photochemistry as well as skill in using analytical instrumentation. This…

In this study, it is aimed to develop practical teaching activities that can be used in optics teaching. For this purpose, a virtual laboratory environment was created in RayLab which is an application for design and simulation of optics on the iPad/iPhone. In this context, the dispersion of white light in the prism, the relationship between the…

George M. Hopkins (1842-1902) wrote a series of articles on demonstrating physical phenomena in the "Scientific American" during the last years of the 19th century. These were collected in a book, "Experimental Science," that was first published in 1890, with revisions in 1892 and 1902. It must have been well received, for the…

A remote laboratory that measures the enthalpy of vaporization ([delta]"H"[subscript vap]°) and the entropy of vaporization ([delta]"S"[subscript vap]°) of "n"-octane was designed, constructed, and offered to second-year physical chemistry undergraduates at the University of New England (UNE) and Curtin University.…

Nowadays, novel Biochemistry lab techniques are being introduced at a very fast pace in scientific research. This requires development of new labs for undergraduate Biochemistry courses to equip the students with up-to-date techniques. However, the time limit of Biochemistry labs for undergraduate students represents a major obstacle. This article…

Conventional mobile phone colorimetry usually utilizes the RGB color mode to measure concentration of solutions, but the paper entitled "Determining the Amount of Copper(II) Ions in a Solution Using a Smartphone" proposes the use of hue ("H") to measure the concentration. It is pointed out that the "H" value increases…

Gravity bends light. One can argue this by reasoning that a beam of light should travel in a curved path when viewed from within an accelerating frame of reference, and then invoking Einstein's principle of equivalence, which asserts that the effects observed in an accelerating frame of reference are indistinguishable from the effects observed in…

What happens when a perfectly elastic ball collides with a completely inelastic ball? It is shown that the outcome depends on the stiffness of each ball. A standard textbook problem in mechanics is to calculate the outcome of a head-on collision between two balls using conservation of momentum and kinetic energy. It is easily shown that the…