We present our experience with transferring a four-day photometry and dye-adsorption laboratory experiment to the kitchens of students of Applied Thermodynamics from our degree in "Industrial Chemical Process Engineering". The students designed and built a double-beam photometer using their smartphones and household materials, then…

In this study, we probed high school students' understanding of Einstein's theory of gravity by implementing an approach which mainly consists of two steps: firstly, exposing students to TEs describing the Equivalence Principle; secondly, applying the analogy of parallel lines on a curved surface with the path of two falling balls in a real…

An organic solar cell fabrication kit has been developed for demonstration in both undergraduate teaching classes and high school laboratories to promote the growing field of renewable energy and to facilitate empirical comprehension of solar technology. The laboratory focuses on fabricating organic photovoltaics (solar cells) and testing the…

Using everyday life examples is proven didactically useful for teaching physics, as it presents effective applications of physical laws. Cooking and food, in particular, serve two useful purposes: on one side, they are able to engage students in the study of physics with familiar examples; on the other side, thanks to the wide range of physical…

A semester-long research project for second-semester organic chemistry lab sections was developed. Student projects were based on preliminary data from faculty research that suggested the natural product neurolenin B to be a treatment for lymphatic filariasis. Students isolated neurolenins from the Central American plant "Neurolaena…

This paper proposes an experiment in which students build microdevices for conveniently electrolyzing water and use image recognition and processing technology to measure the volume of gas generated during the reaction in a noncontact way. Taking advantage of three ratio relationships between (i) gas volume and the area of bubbles, (ii) the…

Many physics departments around the world have electronic and mechanical workshops attached to them that can help build experimental setups and instruments for research and the training of undergraduate students. The workshops are usually run by experienced technicians and equipped with expensive lathing, computer numerical control (CNC) machines,…

A procedure for the study of structural differences and intermolecular attraction between ethanol and 1-butanol based in laboratory work is described. This study provides comparisons of data retrieved from both a determination of boiling point and gas chromatography traces for the mixture. The methodology reported here should provide instructors…

In this article, we describe how to develop an inductive metal detector that can be integrated to any Android or iOS smartphone with a standard audio port at low cost. The results indicate the metal detector can be used in the physics teaching laboratory as a practical application of principles of electromagnetism. It allows one to differentiate…

A set of biochemistry experiments based on the technique of protein colorimetry is described. Students used the Biuret and Bradford assays to qualitatively and quantitatively assess solutions for protein. Two unique features of these experiments are (1) the use of intentional discrepancies within each experiment to promote critical thinking and…

There is a growing movement to involve undergraduate students in authentic research experiences. A variety of studies have indicated the strength of this approach in developing scientific aptitude, confidence, critical thinking skills, and increasing the likelihood to become career scientists. Course-based undergraduate research experiences…

We report here a method that utilizes the vapor pressure of HCl(g) above a concentrated HCl(aq) solution as an extremely simple and safe method to produce small amounts of HCl vapor in an IR gas cell. This vapor pressure approach can also be used to produce DCl(g) by introducing a few drops of concentrated DCl(aq) into the gas cell.

Adsorption of methylene blue and malachite green was carried out using "Luffa cylindrica" sponges as adsorbing material. We provide a very illustrative exercise about the use of common natural materials requiring little preparation to solve environmental tasks in a routine laboratory situation such as using dyes. In addition, the…

To inspire upper-division undergraduate students to gain a deeper understanding of biorefinery, an experiment related to biofuels and lignin-based sunscreen products from corncob was performed in multiple offerings of a summer-semester class. Specifically, corncobs were pretreated with 1% H[subscript 2]SO[subscript 4] to obtain hemicellulose…

An experiment involving a moisture-sensitive synthesis and spectroscopic characterization suitable for the advanced inorganic laboratory course is presented. The acid-base complex ammonia borane (AB) is synthesized from the heterogeneous reaction between sodium borohydride and finely ground ammonium sulfate in tetrahydrofuran solvent. AB is…