Materials science research has expanded significantly in recent years; a multidisciplinary field, home to an ever-growing number of chemists. However, our general chemistry degree courses have not changed to reflect the rise in interest in this topic. In this paper, we propose a laboratory experiment for the undergraduate chemistry practical…

Chemistry in water is an emerging field that fulfills the fifth principle of green chemistry: replacing toxic organic solvents with their benign counterparts. Although some pharmaceutical industries have developed and adopted chemistry in water, its implementation in teaching laboratories is still limited. Therefore, we have designed an experiment…

Physics II is an undergraduate course on basic electromagnetism that I teach for engineers, and it includes topics from optics as a natural application. Among the many challenges of conducting video lectures during the local restrictions of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic was finding demonstration material. In this article, I describe how these…

Limiting case analysis (LCA) is important to practicing physicists. Yet, there is little concrete guidance for physics educators, and a lack of consensus in the research community about how to help students learn, and learn from, limiting case analysis. In this study, we first review existing literature to find commonalities and variations in how…

Here, we propose the use of magnetic levitation (MagLev) device, as a simple, cheap, and portable experimental technique to measure the density of diamagnetic materials in laboratory settings. We highlight the basics of a standard MagLev system for measuring the density of unknown diamagnetic materials/objects using permanent magnets, paramagnetic…

Earth's field nuclear magnetic resonance (EFNMR) spectroscopy offers students a unique opportunity to consolidate their understanding of NMR spectroscopic theory through hands-on practice with a simple spectrometer. A comprehensive, 6 h experiment is presented for the introduction of low-field NMR techniques, covering spectroscopy, relaxivity, and…

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized using ammonium cations or poly(vinyl alcohol) to produce amazing materials such as safer aqueous ferrofluids, ferrogels, ferromagnetic inks, plastics, and nanopowders illustrating how versatile materials can be produced just by simple modifications. The synthesis is fast, reliable,…

The real power of calculus is revealed when it is applied to actual physical problems. In this paper, we present a calculus inspired physics experiment suitable for high school and undergraduate programs. A model for the theory of the terminal velocity of a falling body subject to a resistive force is developed and its validity tested in an…

We describe a 2 h introductory laboratory procedure that prepares a novel magnetic antimicrobial activated carbon nanocomposite in which nanoscale sized magnetite and silver particles are incorporated (MACAg). The MACAg nanocomposite has achieved the synergistic properties derived from its components and demonstrated its applicability as an…

This paper describes the use of an inexpensive smartphone's magnetic sensor to measure magnetic field components (B[subscript x], B[subscript y] and B[subscript z]) induced by current wires in magnetostatic experiments. The variable parameters used to measure the magnetic sensor's capabilities were: the geometrical shapes of the wire, current…

A general chemistry laboratory experiment using readily available chemicals is described to introduce college students to an exciting class of nanocomposite materials. In a one-step room temperature synthetic process, magnetite nanoparticles are embedded onto activated carbon matrix. The resultant nanocomposite has been shown to combine the…

Double-exposure holographic interferometry is applied to measure the "linear" or "longitudinal" magnetostriction constant of a soft-ferrite rod. This high-accuracy measurement is done indirectly, by measuring the small rotations of a lever in contact with the rod using double-exposure holographic interferometry implemented with a robust…

We study the nonlinear oscillations of a forced and weakly dissipative spring-magnet system moving in the magnetic fields of two fixed coaxial, hollow induction coils. As the first coil is excited with a dc current, both a linear and a cubic magnet-position dependent force appear on the magnet-spring system. The second coil, located below the…

This article describes a simple and inexpensive undergraduate-level kinetics experiment that uses magnetic levitation to monitor the progress and determine the activation energy of a condensation reaction on a polymeric solid support. The method employs a cuvette filled with a paramagnetic solution positioned between two strong magnets. The…

Digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs) are now easily available to undergraduate laboratories. In many cases, a DSO can replace a data-acquisition system. Seven such experiments/demonstrations are considered: (i) families of "I-V" characteristics of electronic devices (bipolar junction transistor), (ii) the "V-I" curve of a high-temperature…