Collaborative experiences have been widely integrated into the classroom and laboratory, with goals to build time management, communication, and team-working skills. Most reported laboratory collaborations occur between students within the same lab section, which could limit the potential benefits of these experiences. Presented herein is an…

Implementing smartphones with their internal sensors into physics experiments represents a modern, attractive, and authentic approach to improve students' conceptual understanding of physics. In such experiments, smartphones often serve as objects with physical properties and as digital measurement devices to record, display, and analyze…

Multicomponent solution calculations can be complicated for students and practiced chemists alike. This article describes how to simplify the calculations by representing a solution's composition as a point in a "concentration space," whose axes are the concentrations of each solute. The graphical representation of mixing processes in a…

This study developed a complexometric titration simulation program based on LabVIEW. With built-in approximation and rigorous algorithms, the program can easily simulate and plot a single or a group of complexometric titration curves. On the basis of this program, we developed and implemented an online course to guide undergraduates to (i) compare…

An emergent theme from the past spring during COVID-19 remote learning was the difficulty of providing meaningful, relevant, hands-on, wet chemistry experiences at home and the potential impact of their absence upon student learning and engagement. This article shares the process and results of developing an appropriate, easy, inexpensive, safe,…

Asian American women occupy a paradoxical space within the context of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, simultaneously overrepresented as Asian Americans and underrepresented as women. For Asian American female doctoral students, the complex layering and weaving of these intersections involves the constant negotiation of…

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is the most popular electrochemical technique for the study of electrode processes. One of the reasons for its popularity is its adjustable timescale which can vary several orders of magnitude simply by varying the rate at which the potential is scanned. Changing the scan rate affects CV features including the current,…

A simple measurement of the refractive index of a liquid has been performed using a spherical lens. This lens is a spherical shape flask containing the liquid under study. Parallel pointer laser beams are directed to the lens to obtain the back focal length of the lens. The focal point is determined visually or using the Tracker software to…

Science and engineering students in the second semester of a calculus-based physics sequence typically study and measure the on-axis magnetic field for a multiple, circular turn coil. There are four benefits to this approach: 1) an analytical solution is easily obtained, 2) the coil is easily constructed using tightly wound, high-gauge wire where…

We present a simple experiment that allows us to demonstrate graphically that the intensity of sound waves is proportional to the square of their amplitude, a result that is theoretically analyzed in any introductory wave course but rarely demonstrated empirically. To achieve our goal, we use an audio signal generator that, when connected to a…

The question from the title is raised because in almost all introductory physics courses/textbooks the atmospheric pressure has been attributed to the weight of the column of air from a given level in the atmosphere up to its top. "Air is pressing on air." However the same textbooks, in the chapter on the kinetic theory of gases, tell…

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic results in the suspension of universities' academic laboratory activities. This brought a difficult time for graduate students majored in molecular biology and their mentors, since the student's thesis progress relies on the data from wet experiments in the lab. Even facing the challenges during the pandemic,…

General chemistry laboratory curriculum reform is underway at a midsized state university through a collaborative, inclusive, and iterative approach. Using a backward design approach, faculty collaborated to actualize a shared vision, define laboratory learning objectives, and outline considerations for inclusivity during summer workshops that…

Large, multisection laboratory courses are particularly challenging when managing grading with as many as 35 teaching assistants (TAs). Traditional grading systems using point-based rubrics lead to significant variations in how individual TAs grade, which necessitates the use of curving across laboratory sections. Final grade uncertainty…

Photoacoustic imaging is a state-of-the-art technique that combines light excitation with ultrasound generation via the photoacoustic effect. Since sound waves at clinically relevant frequencies undergo minimal perturbation as they pass through the body, photoacoustic imaging is ideal for deep-tissue imaging applications in vivo. Despite its…