Surface modification has been considered as a fundamental item in upper-division undergraduate and master courses. Thus, the development of experiments regarding processes and characterization of surface-modification phenomena is highly desired. In this article, we propose an electrochemical and computational study of widely used…

Much data, both published and anecdotal, have shown that students grasp scientific concepts more easily when they are directly involved in the learning via lab experiments or other hands-on activities. Hands-on or experiential learning also appears to aid in students' ability to retain scientific theory. One way to engage students in a first-year…

A laboratory experiment to determine the concentration of the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen in liquid gelatin capsule dosage forms, suitable for undergraduate chemistry or pharmacy students, is described. Either individually, or in small teams, the students digest two 200 mg capsules in a KOH solution. While the capsules are digesting the…

A simple inductive gravimeter constructed from a rigid plastic pipe and insulated copper wire is described. When a magnet is dropped through the vertically mounted pipe it induces small alternating voltages. These small signals are fed to the microphone input of a typical computer and sampled at a typical rate of 44.1 kHz using a custom computer…

A high-school third-year or undergraduate first-semester general chemistry laboratory experiment introducing simple-cubic, face-centered cubic, body-centered cubic, and hexagonal closest packing unit cells is presented. Latex balls and acrylic resin plates are employed to make each atomic arrangement. The volume of the vacant space in each cell is…

This laboratory exercise introduces undergraduate chemistry majors to the spectroscopic and theoretical study of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), corannulene. Students explore the spectroscopic properties of corannulene using UV-vis and Raman vibrational spectroscopies. They compare their experimental results to simulated vibrational…

An experiment for analytical chemistry is presented that utilizes simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to characterize colorless, hydrated salts with anhydrous melting points less than 1100 degrees C. The experiment could be used to supplement the lecture discussing gravimetric techniques. It is…

The interference fringes produced by a diffraction grating illuminated with radiation from a TV remote control and a red laser beam are, simultaneously, captured by a digital camera. Based on an image with two interference patterns, an estimate of the infrared radiation wavelength emitted by a TV remote control is made. (Contains 4 figures.)

This paper describes a method and setup to quickly and easily measure a model rocket engine's thrust curve using a computer data logger and force probe. Horst describes using Vernier's LabPro and force probe to measure the rocket engine's thrust curve; however, the method of attaching the rocket to the force probe is not discussed. We show how a…

This article describes an activity done by eighth grade students using data that was gathered from sun-shadow observations. (Contains 5 figures.)

We developed educational software to show graduate students how to plan molecular marker experiments. These computer simulations give the students feedback on the precision of their experiments. The objective of the software was to show students using a hands-on approach how: (1) environmental variation influences the range of the estimates of the…