The relationship between surface area and dynamics of processes can be demonstrated by adding iron at room temperature to liquid nitrogen. The rate at which the liquid nitrogen boils to produce gas is related to the surface area of the iron. Adding iron in the form of consistent units that have measurable sizes can be readily connected to…

A laboratory experiment that exposes students to fundamental concepts in kinetics and statistical thermodynamics to study systems of great current interest in nanotechnology by employing a foundational technique in physical chemistry is described. A modified commercial flash photolysis spectrometer was used to study photoinduced isomerization…

An inexpensive enzyme kinetics laboratory exercise for undergraduate biochemistry students is described utilizing tyrosinase from white button mushrooms. The exercise can be completed in one or two three-hour lab sessions. The optimal amounts of enzyme, substrate (catechol), and inhibitor (kojic acid) are first determined, and then kinetic data is…

A simple organic chemistry experiment is described that investigates the kinetics of the reaction between 1-bromobutane (BuBr) and iodide (I[superscript -]) as followed by observing the disappearance of BuBr and the appearance of 1-iodobutane (BuI) using [superscript 1]H NMR spectroscopy. In small groups of three to four, students acquire data to…

First-order kinetic decay rates can be obtained by measuring the time-dependent reflection spectra of ultraviolet-sensitive objects as they returned from their excited, colored state back to the ground, colorless state. In this paper, a procedure is described which provides an innovative and unique twist on standard, undergraduate, kinetics…

Stopped-flow kinetics techniques are important to the study of rapid chemical and biochemical reactions. Incorporation of a stopped-flow kinetics experiment into the physical chemistry laboratory curriculum would therefore be an instructive addition. However, the usual reactions studied in such exercises employ a corrosive reagent that can over…

This is the start of a road map for the effective introduction of inquiry-based learning in chemistry. Advantages of inquiry-based approaches to the development of scientific literacy are widely discussed in the literature. However, unless chemistry educators take account of teachers' reservations and identified disadvantages such approaches will…

A pedagogical experiment is described to examine the physical absorption of gases, in this case carbon dioxide, in a hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) where the absorption concentration profile can be followed by a color change. The HFMC is used to teach important concepts and can be used in interesting applications for students, such as…

Technology was integrated into service-learning activities to create an interactive teaching method for undergraduate students at a large research institution. Chemistry students at the University of Central Florida partnered with high school students at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in interactive service learning projects. The…

The construction and use of a low-cost continuous-flow instrument for measuring the kinetics of fast reaction which include the use of an light emitting diode light source, a photodiode-on-a-chip detector, and a position sensor is demonstrated. The instrument is suitable for the physical chemistry laboratory and could be used to study the kinetics…

Compares the preparation and decomposition of potassium dibromoiodate and of phenyl iodine dichloride in a flexible experiment which accustoms the student to handle halogens, to test for halogens in mixtures, and to appreciate the difference between thermodynamic and kinetic control of reactions. (Author/MA)

Theoretical and experimental evidence for the dependence of viscosities of the real gases on temperature is described, suggesting that this dependence is greater than that predicted by the kinetic theory of gases. The experimental results were obtained using common modern instrumentation and could be reproduced by students in analytical or…

Describes a procedure for studying the kinetics of the second-order hydrolysis of ethylene bromohydrine in alkaline medium by incorporating a substance that changes color as one of the reacting components is depleted. (MLH)

Describes a laboratory experiment that utilizes NMR Spectroscopy to determine the rate constant for the C-N bond rotation in dimethylacetamide. (MLH)

Describes a study of the kinetics of the recombination of nitrogen atoms in which concentration-time relations are determined directly by utilizing visual observations of emissions to make gas phase titrations of N atoms with NO. (MLH)