In recent years, nanotechnology has been one of the major subjects of scientific and technological research. Currently, several applications of nanotechnologies are already available on the market. Particularly relevant are the fields of new materials and sensors, which have excellent potential future applications in the biomedical field. This…

For most chemistry curricula, laboratory-based activities in quantitative and instrumental analysis continue to be an important aspect of student development/training, one that can be more effective if conceptual understanding is delivered through an inquiry-based process relating the material to relevant issues of public interest and student…

In the group exercise described, students are guided through an inductive justification for the spin conservation selection rule ([delta]S = 0). Although the exercise only explicitly involves various states of helium, the conclusion is one of the most widely applicable selection rules for the interaction of light with matter, applying, in various…

A laboratory experiment was designed for undergraduate students, in which the outcome of an easy single-step organic synthesis with well-defined conditions was not elucidated until the end of the exercise. In class, students predict and discuss the possible products using their knowledge of reaction mechanisms. In the laboratory, they learn how to…

Organic chemistry problems that interrelate and integrate synthesis with spectroscopy are presented. These synthesis-spectroscopy roadmap (SSR) problems uniquely engage second-year undergraduate organic chemistry students in the personal discovery of organic chemistry. SSR problems counter the memorize-or-bust strategy that many students tend to…

A lab was developed for use in an undergraduate honors and majors general chemistry laboratory to introduce students to optics, spectroscopy, and the underlying principles of quantum mechanics. This lab includes four mini-experiments exploring total internal reflection, the tunneling of light, spectra of sparklers and colored candles, and emission…

Guided-inquiry experiments offer the same opportunities to participate in the process of science as classical organic qualitative analysis used to do. This three-week guided-inquiry project involves an aldol-dehydration synthesis of a chalcone chosen from a set of nine, followed by a catalytic transfer hydrogenation reaction using ammonium formate…

In the activity described in this article, students will explore how variables in a first-class lever, specifically arm length, position of the fulcrum, and placement of the load, affect the effort needed to lift the load. To begin the lesson, demonstrate to the class how a first-class lever works and review what is meant by the terms fulcrum,…