A case study approach was used to examine the potential knowledge-transforming role of writing with 27, Year 12 chemistry students'. The study was prompted by changes to external chemistry examinations that required students to write connected discourse, and supported by the chemistry teacher's belief in the instructional value of…

Collaboration between the chemistry and computing services departments was undertaken to create an online booking system to be used as a learning and teaching aid in an undergraduate chemistry lab course. The system helped promote personalization of study and could be easily adapted to any department within the university. The system was…

In an effort to make absorption spectrophotometry available to high school chemistry and physics classes, we have designed an inexpensive visible light absorption spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer was constructed using LEGO blocks, a light emitting diode, optical elements (including a lens), a slide-mounted diffraction grating, and a…

As part of a laboratory course, undergraduate students were asked to use baker's yeast cells as biotemplate in preparing TiO[subscript 2] powders and to test the photocatalytic activity of the resulting materials. This laboratory experience, selected because of the important environmental implications of soft chemistry and photocatalysis, provides…

Thermoacoustic instability is defined as the excitation of acoustic modes in chambers with heat sources due to the coupling between acoustic perturbations and unsteady heat addition. The major objective of this paper is to achieve accurate theoretical results in a thermoacoustic heat transfer process. We carry out a detailed heat transfer analysis…

This study aims to investigate the relationships among epistemological beliefs, metacognitive awareness, and nature of science (NOS). Participants were 45 preservice science teachers (PSTs) enrolled in two sections of Laboratory Application in Science II course in a university in Turkey. All of the participants were juniors with the same science…

We construct a thermometer exploiting the electric resistance of the filament of a small lamp used in micro-illumination settings. The instrument may guarantee a response time better than 10 ms, i.e. much faster than commercial thermocouples or other quite expensive devices. This makes our thermometer a useful one in several processes which are…

A simple and inexpensive mercury-free apparatus to measure the change in volume of a gas as a function of pressure at different temperatures is described. The apparatus is simpler than many found in the literature and can be used to study variations in pressure, volume, and temperature. (Contains 1 table and 7 figures.)

Trees transport water from roots to crown--a height that can exceed 100 m. The physics of tree hydraulics can be conveyed with simple fluid dynamics based upon the Hagen-Poiseuille equation and Murray's law. Here the conduit structure is modelled as conical pipes and as branching pipes. The force required to lift sap is generated mostly by…

Evidence suggests that student engagement in the material they are studying correlates well with better learning outcomes, and instrumental analysis modules structured to reflect student interests are of wide significance. The analysis of levels of dietary (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) and undesirable (Cd and Pb) metals in commercially available and wild…

A laboratory experiment is described to determine the primary current distribution in parallel-plate electrochemical reactors. The electrolyte is simulated by conductive paper and the electrodes are segmented to measure the current distribution. Experiments are reported with the electrolyte confined to the interelectrode gap, where the current…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a Centrifugal Pump Experiment that provided an experiential learning experience to chemical engineering undergraduates at the University of Missouri in the spring of 2010 in the Unit Operations Laboratory course. Lab equipment was used by senior students with computer-based data and control technology. In…

A colorimetric method for total capsaicinoids in chili pepper ("Capsicum") fruit is described. The placental material of the pepper, containing 90% of the capsaicinoids, was physically separated from the colored materials in the pericarp and extracted twice with methanol, capturing 85% of the remaining capsaicinoids. The extract, evaporated and…

Photography is one of the few fine art forms that were initially developed by scientists such as Herschel and Talbot; however, in the modern chemistry curriculum, photography has become divorced from its scientific beginnings and resides in the studio arts department of most universities. An upper-level undergraduate experiment is described in…

A cost-effective, hands-on laboratory exercise is described for demonstrating nanoscale fabrication at non-research-based educational institutions. The laboratory exercise also contains a component involving qualitative and quantitative surface characterization of student-fabricated nanoscale structures at institutions with on-site access to an…