Potentiometric titrations are widely taught in first-year undergraduate courses to connect electrochemistry, stoichiometry, and equilibria and to reinforce acid-base titrations. Students perform a potentiometric titration that is then analyzed to determine analyte concentrations and the solubility product constant of the solid species.

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…

Semiconductors are an important class of materials; preparing ZnO nanorods allows semiconducting properties to be easily observed. The week before lab, groups of four students take 15 min to setup two fluorine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO) slides in a zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine solution stored at 90°C until the next lab. Hexagonal ZnO…

Zeolite Y has an iconic crystal structure, but more importantly, the hydrogen modification zeolite H-Y is the classic example of a solid acid which is used extensively as a catalyst in the oil industry. This metastable compound cannot be synthesized directly, which creates an opportunity to discuss various preparative strategies with the students,…

A series of laboratory experiments were developed to introduce first-year chemistry students to nanoscience through a green chemistry approach. Students made and characterized the stability of silver nanoparticles using two different methods: UV-visible spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. They then assessed the ecotoxicity of silver…

Students can perceive the laboratory environment in a variety of ways that can affect what they take away from the laboratory course. This qualitative study characterizes undergraduate students' perspectives of a project-based Organic Chemistry laboratory using the theoretical framework of phenomenography. Eighteen participants were interviewed in…

The goal of this laboratory exercise was for students to understand the concept of chirality and how enantiomeric excess (ee) is experimentally determined using the analysis of ibuprofen as an example. Students determined the enantiomeric excess of the analyte by three different instrumental methods: mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance…

The elementary reaction sequence A ? I ? Products is the simplest mechanism for which the steady-state and quasi-equilibrium kinetic approximations can be applied. The exact integrated solutions for this chemical system allow inferring the conditions that must fulfill the rate constants for the different approximations to hold. A graphical…

Many agencies, organizations, and researchers have called for the incorporation of inquiry-based learning in college classrooms. Providing inquiry-based activities in laboratory courses is one way to promote reformed, student-centered teaching in introductory geoscience courses. However, the literature on inquiry has relatively few geoscience…

Manu Prakash, the developer of the foldscope microscope reported on in this paper, stated that it is important to use tools that can support open-ended inquiry in the classroom, without dumbing down those tools. Scientific equipment in the school laboratory is often very expensive and only available to those who can afford it. "Frugal…

Undergraduate laboratories expose students to a wide variety of topics and techniques in a limited amount of time. This can be a challenge and lead to less exposure to concepts and activities in bio-inorganic chemistry and analytical chemistry that are closely-related to biochemistry. To address this, we incorporated a new iron determination by…

We describe a structured inquiry laboratory exercise that examines transcriptional regulation of the "NOS2" gene under conditions that simulate the inflammatory response in macrophages. Using quantitative PCR and the comparative C[subscript T] method, students are able determine whether transcriptional activation of "NOS2"…

The objective of this paper is to present a laboratory experiment that explains the phenomenon of sinking in quicksand simulated as a fluidized bed. The paper demonstrates experimentally and theoretically that the proportion of a body that sinks in quicksand depends on the volume fraction of solids and the density of the body relative to the…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are an effective way to integrate research into an undergraduate science curriculum and extend research experiences to a large, diverse group of early-career students. We developed a biology CURE at the University of Miami (UM) called the UM Authentic Research Laboratories (UMARL), in which…

Laboratory-based learning can be weakened by a lack of connection with underlying theory and limited contextualization to enhance motivation. To address these shortcomings, a framework for the development of web-based multimedia prelaboratory modules is proposed. The framework incorporates supportive information (content), utility value (context),…