The flue gas from waste incineration power plants contains high-level zinc species that may deactivate the catalyst for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NO[subscript x]) with NH[subscript 3]. A comparison experiment was designed to investigate the effect of different types and Zn/Ce molar ratios on the performance of…

In undergraduate chemistry curricula that include computational modeling, students may gain first-hand experience in both introductory and advanced applications of this technique. However, although students can be exposed to the predictive power of computational work, its capabilities are often limited to determining the intrinsic properties of…

Most rockets convert the energy stored in their propellant mass into the mechanical energy required to expel it as exhaust. The 'rocket equation', which describes how a rocket's speed changes with mass, is usually derived by assuming that this fuel is expelled at a constant relative velocity. However, this is a poor assumption for cases where the…

Spatial skills have a known beneficiary role in STEM students' academic success. This paper explores data relating to the role of spatial skills in electrical engineering problem solving which is a relatively under researched area. Data indicate a significant association between electrical engineering problem solving and spatial skills and a…

The research reported in this article represents a systematic, multiyear investigation of student understanding of the behavior of bipolar junction transistor circuits using a variety of different tasks to isolate and probe key aspects of transistor circuit behavior. The participants in this study were undergraduates enrolled in upper-division…

In the present theoretical study, we introduce the entropy concept into Chi's ontological shift theory. Chi distinguishes between two categories of process phenomena, direct and emergent, and claims that incorrectly considering emergent processes as direct ones is one of the sources of students' robust scientific misconceptions. The present study…

As part of a biomechanics course aimed at both upper-division Biology and Physics majors, this laboratory exercise introduces students to the ingenious ways in which organisms vary the composition and form of support and defensive structures such as bone and shell to maximize their strength while minimizing the energetic cost needed to produce…

In this article, the author reports results in their efforts to model sublimation of carbon dioxide and the associated kinetics order and parameter estimation issues in their model. They have offered the reader two sets of data and several approaches to determine the rate of sublimation of a piece of solid dry ice. They presented several models…

We present a low-cost, fully computer-controlled, Arduino-based, educational laboratory (SolarInsight) to be used in undergraduate university courses concerned with electrical engineering and physics. The major goal of the system is to provide students with the necessary instrumentation, software tools and methodology in order to learn fundamental…

Many experimenters, starting with Ernst Mach in 1883, have reported that if a device alternately sucks in and then expels a surrounding fluid, it moves in the same direction as if it only expelled fluid. This surprising phenomenon, which we call "Machian propulsion", is explained by conservation of momentum: the outflow efficiently transfers…

The importance of "size and scale" in nanoscience and engineering has been recognized by both scientists and science educators. A solid understanding of this concept is key to the learning of nanoscience. Students, however, have been reported to have considerable difficulty grasping this concept; yet little is known regarding their state…

This article describes several applications of the use of solubility data. It is not meant to be exhaustive but rather to show that knowledge of solubility data is required in a variety of technical applications that assist in the design of chemical processes. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

As part of a campus-wide, externally funded project to increase performance in, enthusiasm for, and retention within STEM disciplines, we developed an interdisciplinary, team-taught first-year seminar course. The construction and delivery of this course was designed to show the relevance of selected general chemistry topics such as matter and…

The study we present tries to explore how first year engineering students formulate hypotheses in order to construct their own problem solving structure when confronted with problems in physics. Under the constructivistic perspective of the teaching-learning process, the formulation of hypotheses plays a key role in contrasting the coherence of…

Briefly reviews the increasing application of geologic principles, techniques and data to engineering practices in the areas of land use and zoning controls, resource management energy programs and other fields. (BR)