Lecturing hints, periodic table, mechanistic approach to predicting inorganic reaction products for substitution reactions, reaction rates, spectroscopy, and entropy role change in establishing position of equilibrium for vaporization of water and synthesis of ammonia were topics of lectures presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on Chemical…

Background information, materials/procedures, and results are provided for an undergraduate laboratory experiment on a photochemical ligand substitution reaction using sunlight. The experiment illustrates demonstration of photochemistry and basic mechanisms of transition metal reactions using inexpensive materials and is easily followed by…

An advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment in inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy is described. Tunnel junctions were fabricated, the tunneling spectra of several molecules absorbed on the surface of aluminum oxide measured, and mode assignments made for several of the prominent peaks in spectra using results obtained from optical…

Describes an experiment providing an experimental introduction to vibrational spectroscopy and experience in using an elementary vacuum line. The experiment, using a gas cell charged with methanol, is completed in a three-hour laboratory period and is directed toward understanding vibrational spectroscopy rather than the diagnostic value of the…

Describes an experiment to analyze commercial analgesic preparations (pain relievers) by silica gel thin layer chromatography, followed by preparative (thick) layer chromatographic separation and spectroscopic analysis. Key difference from similar experiments is that students are responsible for devising suitable solvent systems for the thin layer…

Describes kinetics experiments completed in a single two-hour laboratory period at 25 degrees Centigrade of nitrito to nitro rearrangement, based on the recently discovered base-catalysis path. Includes information on synthesis and characterization of linkage isomers, spectrophotometric techniques, and experimental procedures. (SK)

Describes solution spectrophotometry as a simple, rapid identification technique for organic paint pigments. Reports research which includes analytical schemes for the extraction and separation of organic pigments based on their solubilities, and the preparation of an extensive reference collection of spectral curves allowing their identification.…

Describes a physical chemistry experiment involving the analysis of the spectrum of benzene vapor in which the resolution in terms of wave length is a limiting factor. (CS)

Presents an nmr spectrometer-computer interface experiment in digital acquisition of spectroscopic data, which is intended for students nearing the end of a master's degree in physical chemistry. (HM)

The experiment described, suitable for undergraduate physical chemistry laboratories, illustrates the general principles of relaxation and introduces the nmr concepts of saturation and spin-inversion. (BB)

Artists use red, yellow, and blue as primary colors, whereas physicists use red, green, and blue. Explains the reason using the spectra of mixtures of red, green, blue, and yellow tempera obtained with a Carey spectrophotometer. (GA)

Describes a project designed to introduce infrared spectroscopy as a structure-determination technique. Students are introduced to infrared spectroscopy fundamentals then try to determine the identity of an unknown liquid from its infrared spectrum and molecular weight. The project demonstrates that only rarely can the identity of even simple…

Discussed is the preparation of synthetic brochantite from solution and a thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis study of the thermal decomposition of this compound. Other analyses included are chemical analysis and IR spectroscopy. Experimental procedures and results are presented. (CW)