The aryl sulfonate ester, menthyl N-acetylsulfanilate, is synthesized from N-acetylsulfanilyl chloride and menthol in pyridine, then pyrolyzed (thermally decomposed) at reduced pressure. The volatile (elimination) products of the reaction are analyzed using gas chromatography, and the resulting product distribution is used to determine whether the…

Headspace (HS) gas chromatography (GC) is commonly used to analyze samples that contain non-volatiles. In 1996, a new sampling technique called single drop microextraction, SDME, was introduced, and in 2001 it was applied to HS analysis. It is a simple technique that uses equipment normally found in the undergraduate laboratory, making it ideal…

To promote understanding of the authority of the primary literature in students taking our biochemistry laboratory courses, a biochemistry laboratory exercise on the determination of an acceptable molar absorptivity value of 2-nitrophenol (2-NP) was developed. This made the laboratory course much more relevant by linking to a thematic thread,…

An experiment is described involving the nitration of ortho or meta monosubstituted benzoic acids (XC[subscript 6]H[subscript 4]CO[subscript 2]H, X = Halogen, Me, OH, or OMe) and monochlorinated acetanilides with nitric acid to determine the regioselectivity of addition by [superscript 1]H NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling. Students were…

A sorption experiment using a gas chromatograph is described that can help students understand the "molecular-shape selectivity" behavior of zeolites in the subnano regime. Hexane isomers are used as probe molecules to demonstrate the sorption phenomena. In the experiment, a zeolite adsorbs certain hexane isomers with molecular sizes smaller than…

Thermodynamic quantities such as the average energy, heat capacity, and entropy are calculated using a Monte Carlo method based on the Metropolis algorithm. This method is illustrated with reference to the harmonic oscillator but is particularly useful when the partition function cannot be evaluated; an example using a one-dimensional spin system…

A low-cost portable fluorimeter was constructed using a 360 nm LED for excitation and a silicon photodiode for detection. The instrument is simple to operate and has been used to investigate fluorescent whitening agents extracted from various brands of paper, to determine the linear range and limit of detection of quinine in various commercial…

This open-ended practical series titled "Molecular Identification of Unknown Food Bacteria" which extended over a 6-week period was designed with the aims of giving students an opportunity to gain an understanding of naturally occurring food bacteria and skills in contemporary molecular methods using real food samples. The students first isolated…

The current research article is based on a simple and practical way of employing the computational power of widely available, versatile software MS Excel 2007 to perform interactive computer simulations for undergraduate/graduate students in biology, biochemistry, biophysics, microbiology, medicine in college and university classroom setting. To…

Over the past two decades governmental agencies have played an integral role in the advancement of renewable energy education by providing useful information for educators and students. The effect of such efforts has encouraged primary and secondary educational institutions to introduce the subject of renewable energy within their science…

Described is a simple low cost home-made device that converts the radio wave energy from a mobile phone signal into electricity for lighting an LED. No battery or complex circuitry is required. The device can form the basis of a range of interesting experiments on the physics and technology of mobile phones. (Contains 5 figures.)

We present a unit comprising theory, simulation and experiment for a body oscillating on a vertical spring, in which the simultaneous use of a force probe and an ultrasonic range finder enables one to explore quantitatively and understand many aspects of simple and damped harmonic motions. (Contains 14 figures.)

Ask any physicist what the preeminent journal in the field is, and I think the almost unanimous answer will be "Physical Review Letters" ("PRL"). This weekly journal of the American Physical Society publishes high-impact research from all the major subdisciplines of physics. This journal is not the one you would think is the first place a high…

A great deal has long been known about student difficulties connecting real-world experiences with what they are learning in their physics classes, making learning basic ideas of classical physics challenging. Understanding these difficulties has led to the development of many instructional approaches that have been shown to help students make…

This laboratory activity is a mechanistic exploration of the interactions between electronically deficient organometallic compounds and solvent molecules. Simple kinetics experiments designed to explore the mechanism of C[subscript 60] fullerene-benzene exchange on Ir(([eta][superscript 2]-C[subscript 60])(CO)(Cl)(PPh[subscript 3])[subscript 2]…