We present a novel first-year chemistry laboratory experiment that connects solubility, equilibrium, and chemical periodicity concepts. It employs a unique format that asks students to replicate experiments described in different sample lab reports, each lacking some essential information, rather than follow a scripted procedure. This structure is…

A microscale experiment is presented in which cyclohexene is dihydroxylated under three sets of conditions: epoxidation-hydrolysis, permanganate oxidation, and the Woodward dihydroxylation. The products of the reactions are determined by the use of thin-layer chromatography. Teams of students are presented with proposed mechanisms for each…

In this article a potentiometric method for reducing sugar quantification is described. Copper(II) ion reacts with the reducing sugar (glucose, fructose, and others), and the excess is quantified using a copper wire indicator electrode. In order to accelerate the kinetics of the reaction, working conditions such as pH and temperature must be…

An undergraduate biochemistry laboratory experiment that will teach the technique of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) while analyzing protein-induced DNA bending is described. The experiment uses the protein TATA binding protein (TBP), which is a general transcription factor that recognizes and binds specific DNA sequences known as…

For curriculum content-related reasons, inquiry activities can be difficult in classrooms unless the activities are approached in a manner that makes variations among student group findings understandable in the context of the study. Studies of individual animals and plant reactions to stimuli, such as insect exploratory behavior, allow the…

Using an easy-to-make cylindrical resonator, students can measure the speed of sound in a gas, u, with sufficiently high precision (by locating standing-wave Lissajous patterns on an oscilloscope) to observe real gas properties at one atmosphere and 300 K. For CO[subscript 2] and SF[subscript 6], u is found to be 268.83 and 135.25 m s[superscript…

Employment of a data-acquisition system for data collection and calculations makes experiments with antennas more convenient and less time consuming. The determined directional patterns of the dipole antennas of different lengths are in reasonable agreement with theory. The enhancement of the signal by using a reflector is demonstrated, and a…

A microscale classroom demonstration of the paramagnetic behavior of various samples of liquid oxygen with neodymium magnet is being presented. The experiment should be done with extreme caution, as liquid oxygen reacts violently with organic matters.

The study describes and compares the size-dependent optical properties of organic dyes with those of semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs). The analysis shows that mixtures of QDs contain emission colors that are sum of the individual QD components.

A commercially available Grignard reagent (3.0 M solution of phenyl magnesium bromide in ether) was used in a convenient Grignard synthesis in a second-year organic chemistry laboratory without any of the typical failures associated with the Grignard reaction. The reaction setup used oven-dried glassware and no extraordinary measures were taken to…

A laboratory experiment was conducted in which the students synthesized yellow colloidal silver, estimate particle size using visible spectroscopy and studied aggregation effects. The students were thus introduced to nanotechnology along with other topics such as redox chemistry, limiting and excess reactants, spectroscopy and atomic size.

A green laser pointer could be used in a flashy demonstration of laser-induced fluorescence in the gas phase by directing the beam of the laser through a cell containing [I[subscript]2] at its room temperature vapor pressure. The experiment could be used to provide valuable insight into the requirements for laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and the…

This article describes a simple and inexpensive laboratory exercise developed to understand the effect of pressure on phase equilibrium as described by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The only piece of equipment required is a pressure cooker adapted with a pressure gauge and a thermometer in the lid, allowing the measurement of the pressure and…

We are currently in the process of incorporating green chemistry throughout the chemistry curriculum. In this article we describe how we applied the principles of green chemistry in one of our first-semester general chemistry courses, specifically in relation to the determination of the formula of a hydrate. We utilize a copper hydrate salt that…

In this article, the authors describe a two-phase inquiry lesson in which students explore the catalytic activity of amylase on starch (Rungruangsa and Panijpan 1979). In the first phase, students' prior knowledge about the reaction is assessed through a set of directed prompts and small-group discussion, then challenged or reinforced as students…