This communication describes an activity where upper-level chemistry students explore the determinability of rate constant values without concentration dependences (k[subscript true]) related to a solvent-ligand exchange in a transition metal carbonyl complex. By performing a series of multivariable linear regression (MVLR) analyses of…

Thomas Graham discovered the law that bears his name while studying gas diffusion into air and other gases. He also found that the same relationship held with gas effusion, the movement of gases through a pinhole into a vacuum. Modern understanding of diffusion and effusion is based on kinetic-molecular theory, and it is generally accepted that…

Presented is a guided inquiry activity designed to be conducted with prenursing students using an analogous system to help develop a conceptual understanding of factors impacting enzyme kinetics and the various types of enzyme inhibition. Pre- and postconceptual understanding evaluations and effectiveness of implementation surveys were given to…

In this exercise, an actual chemical reaction, oxidation of iron in air, is studied along with a related analogue simulation of that reaction. The rusting of steel wool is carried out as a class effort. The parallel simulation is performed by students working in small groups. The analogue for the reacting gas is a countable set of discrete marble…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) challenges science teachers to think beyond specific content standards when considering how to design and implement curriculum. This lesson, "Windmills by Design," is an insightful lesson in how science teachers can create and implement a cross-cutting lesson to teach the concepts…

In the group exercise described, students are guided through an inductive justification for the spin conservation selection rule ([delta]S = 0). Although the exercise only explicitly involves various states of helium, the conclusion is one of the most widely applicable selection rules for the interaction of light with matter, applying, in various…

Introduces the activity of making ice by boiling water with no external heat applied. Uses a vacuum chamber for the activity and explains the kinetic molecular theory of matter. (YDS)

Presents an inquiry-based science activity in which students collect data to determine whether flipping pennies and burning candles follow zero- or first-order rate laws. (KHR)