This study adds to the growing body of research on laboratory work. The study involves four pairs of students in a university introductory calorimetry lab of which two pairs, the IR-pairs (infrared camerapairs), were given access to infrared cameras to use however they liked during their course lab work. Two other pairs, the T-pairs…

Concepts relating to enzymes and energy are central to understanding chemical and biological processes at the molecular level. Student learning of these crosscutting concepts can be challenging, so it is important to identify misconceptions and remediate them early, especially in introductory classes. Here we describe an activity in which…

In this action research study, I propose a guided inquiry alternative to the traditional physical chemistry laboratory module where the equilibrium constant of acetic acid is determined conductometrically. I complement the guided inquiry structure with a 360° feedback support framework for the preparation and assessment of a laboratory report. The…

Millions of people do not have access to clean drinking water; thus, cost-efficient water treatment systems are vital. Chemists, environmentalists, technicians, and engineers will be the professionals making breakthroughs in this industry. This laboratory experiment aims to introduce undergraduate students to the removal of pollutants from water…

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…

Seeking to foster the learning process and encourage the active participation of undergraduate students, this work proposes a new methodology that involves integrating smartphones into the learning process under a simple and accessible approach to learning in Chemistry and Physics laboratories aiming at facilitating the learning of some chemical…

This paper provides seven topics on sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO[subscript 3]) and its ions for readers looking for familiar material phenomena to strengthen students' understanding of the chemical concepts of thermodynamics. The first concept is the ideal gas law, followed by the van't Hoff equation, Gibbs energy, pH change, chemical…

The limited capabilities of teaching laboratories, combined with an increasing number of students enrolled in university, require constant augmentation of instructional approaches. By enhancing laboratory demonstrations with digital technology, these structural issues can be addressed while at the same time enhancing student understanding and…

A method for using electronic structure calculations to predict the standard molar enthalpy of combustion for hydrocarbons is presented. In this approach, simple geometry optimizations can be used to accurately compute the enthalpy of combustion within 3% of the experimental value using Hartree-Fock, MP2, or virtually any functional in density…

Physical and virtual labs have unique capabilities that can influence how students learn from them. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of physical and virtual manipulatives on students' learning of heat and temperature and to examine the influence of various combinations of physical and virtual manipulatives. A total of 205…

This study has proposed a simple method to show the convective heat transfer. The object in this study is an air conditioner (AC) as a simple case of convection. In addition, AC is also easy to find in the class because most classrooms in Indonesia installed AC. Usually, a visualization needs special software (i.e. MatLab or others) and good…

A newly developed laboratory learning program for high school chemistry courses is discussed, in which students discover the chemical mechanism governing exothermic phenomena during the reaction between a heating agent, namely, calcium oxide (CaO)--aluminum (Al) mixture, and water. Based on prior knowledge of simple heating agents such as CaO, the…

This study focuses on designing a laboratory learning program for a high school chemistry course in which students could discover the fundamental principles of Hess's law via stepwise inquiry. By exploring the chemical properties of common desiccants, mainly those that were reactive in water, students were introduced to the exothermic reaction of…

In this paper, we show a laboratory experience describing the possibility to build a sensor using a coil to measure small thicknesses of materials with the possibility of measuring temperature simultaneously, with the same built sensor. Its operation is based on the following facts: An electric current (a.c), flows through a coil and a magnetic…

Thermodynamic characterization of micelle formation from an ionic surfactant in aqueous solutions is a classic experiment in physical chemistry. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the degree of micelle ionization ([alpha)] can be directly obtained by conductimetry, then thermodynamic parameters ([delta]G[subscript m][superscript o],…