An undergraduate teaching laboratory experiment involving a continuous flow, photocatalytic thiol-ene reaction using visible-light irradiation is described that allows students to explore concepts of green chemistry, photochemistry, photocatalysis, and continuous flow chemistry.

This study aims to review the implementation of a project-based laboratory in a natural product chemistry course in order to isolate secondary metabolites from medicinal plants. Various studies on the isolation and structure elucidation of secondary metabolites can be used in natural products laboratory project. Students are directed to study…

Many physics departments around the world have electronic and mechanical workshops attached to them that can help build experimental setups and instruments for research and the training of undergraduate students. The workshops are usually run by experienced technicians and equipped with expensive lathing, computer numerical control (CNC) machines,…

This paper describes a laboratory exercise used to address the ongoing need for nanotechnology-related, hands-on laboratory experiences for undergraduate students. Determination of the electrochemical behavior of student-fabricated silver nanogrids is reported. Students successfully used cyclic voltammetry to analyze silver nanogrids printed using…

In an introductory geology course on vertebrate fossils, a new object-based classroom exercise was designed to enhance students' appreciation for evidence of evolution as a "tinkering" process, specifically in modern organisms with which everyone is familiar. During the dissection of a popular college late-night snack (barbeque-style…

Excel spreadsheets are used as an excellent tool in physics laboratory experiments related to wave optics. This paper presents a simple way to simulate diffraction of waves through a slit using Excel spreadsheets without any tedious programming. These simulations are used to visualize the effect of variation of different parameters such as number…

In this article, we describe how to develop an inductive metal detector that can be integrated to any Android or iOS smartphone with a standard audio port at low cost. The results indicate the metal detector can be used in the physics teaching laboratory as a practical application of principles of electromagnetism. It allows one to differentiate…

The game of baseball provides an interesting laboratory for experimenting with mechanical phenomena (there are many good examples in "The Physics Teacher," available on Professor Alan Nathan's website, and discussed in "Physics of Baseball & Softball"). We have developed a lab, for an introductory-level physics course, that…

In this paper, we report an experiment intended as a tool to introduce chemistry and materials science students to several chemical concepts through the determination of the best experimental conditions for the formation of calcium oxide (lime) from a source of high content of calcium carbonate (eggshells). Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA),…

An experiment involving a moisture-sensitive synthesis and spectroscopic characterization suitable for the advanced inorganic laboratory course is presented. The acid-base complex ammonia borane (AB) is synthesized from the heterogeneous reaction between sodium borohydride and finely ground ammonium sulfate in tetrahydrofuran solvent. AB is…

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are a revolutionary tool based on a bacterial acquired immune response system. CRISPR has gained widespread use for gene editing in a variety of organisms and is an increasingly valuable tool for basic genetic research, with far-reaching implications for medicine, agriculture, and…

The Enhanced Virtual Laboratory (EVL) is the product of a Department of Defense grant to enhance outreach, research, and education for cyber security. Through web-based laboratories, EVL allows users to remotely experience interactive content with virtual machines inside a modern web browser providing constructivism-based, student-centered,…

Although the teaching of mechanics at advanced K12 levels often starts with a brief introduction to physical quantities and units, the nature and function of measurements in physics and their inherent uncertainty are hardly ever discussed. The laboratory is mainly used to illustrate the theoretical principles taught in class. This paper presents a…

Teaching assistants (TAs) are crucial components of laboratory teaching and learning processes and much research has been devoted to developing their teaching capabilities. However, much of this research has involved transmitting information about what good teaching is to TAs. This research study sought to employ an alternative way of catalysing…

This study demonstrated that the constant average speed of a dynamic car could be measured and calculated using the smartphone magnetometer. The apparatus setup was built using a dynamic car, a linear track up to 1.50 m, a bunch of magnets, and a smartphone magnetometer application. The smartphone magnetometer application, 'Physics Toolbox Suite',…