In this discovery-oriented laboratory experiment, students use solid-phase synthesis techniques to construct a dipeptide containing an unknown amino acid. Following synthesis and cleavage from the polymeric support, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry is employed to identify the unknown amino acid that was used in the peptide coupling. This…

The measurement of trace levels of bisphenol A (BPA) leached out of household plastics using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is reported here. BPA is an endocrine-disrupting compound used in the industrial manufacture of polycarbonate plastic bottles and epoxy resin can liners. This experiment…

The potential of replacing petroleum fuels with renewable biofuels has drawn significant public interest. Many states have imposed biodiesel mandates or incentives to use commercial biodiesel blends. We present an inquiry-driven experiment where students are given the tasks to gather samples, develop analytical methods using various instrumental…

Details are given for the conversion of an inexpensive webcam to a camera specifically sensitive to the near infrared (700-1000 nm). Some experiments and practical applications are suggested and illustrated. (Contains 9 figures.)

Development of benchtop, portable Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectrometers has opened up opportunities for creating university-high school partnerships that provide high school students with hands-on experience with NMR and IR instruments. With recent changes to the international baccalaureate chemistry…

Introducing students to a multidisciplinary research laboratory presents challenges in terms of learning specific technical skills and concepts but also with respect to integrating different technical elements to form a coherent picture of the research. Here we present a multidisciplinary series of experiments we have developed in the Electronic,…

This article introduces the "Data First" approach and shows how the observation and analysis of scientific data can be used as a scaffold to build conceptual understanding in chemistry through inductive reasoning. The "Data First" approach emulates the scientific process by changing the order by which we introduce data. Rather…

The determination of total phenolics in foods and fruit juices was used successfully as a laboratory experiment in our undergraduate general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry course. Two different colorimetric methods were used over three years and comparative student results indicate that a ferrous ammonium sulfate (FAS) indicator…

In this computational exercise, the [superscript 119]Sn and [superscript 207]Pb NMR spectra (data provided to the students) of the octahedral complexes [SnCl[subscript n]F[subscript 6-n]][superscript 2-] and [PbCl[subscript n]F[subscript 6-n]][superscript 2-], respectively, are examined. The pairwise-additivity model is applied to the NMR spectra…

Dehydrations of "cis"- and "trans"-2-methylcyclohexanol mixtures were carried out with 60% sulfuric acid at 78-80 [degrees]C as a function of time and the products were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. The compounds identified in the reaction mixtures include alkenes, 1-, 3-, and 4-methylcyclohexenes and…

An Internet search for why objects, especially humans, cool more rapidly in water than in air, both at the same temperature, and by how much, yields off-the-cuff answers unsupported by experiment or analysis. To answer these questions in depth requires a smattering of engineering heat transfer, including radiative transfer, and the different…

The effect of the visual hemifield to which spatial attention was oriented on the activities of the posterior parietal and occipital visual cortices was examined using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in order to investigate the neural substrates of voluntary visuospatial attention. Our brain imaging data support the theory put forth in a…

This article describes the use of a progressive paper in a capstone course to develop students' writing skills. A progressive paper is one that students write one section at a time: as they add each new section, they go back and revise the previous parts based on actionable feedback from the instructor. In this course, the progressive paper takes…

An eight-session interdisciplinary laboratory curriculum has been designed using a suite of analytical chemistry techniques to study biomaterials derived from an inexpensive source such as the tomato fruit. A logical progression of research-inspired laboratory modules serves to "tour" the macroscopic characteristics of the fruit and the…

The purpose of this experiment was to create a simple and inexpensive flame photometer to measure the concentration of sodium in beverages, such as Gatorade. We created a nebulizer using small tubing and sprayed the sample into the base of a Bunsen burner. Adjacent to the flame was a photodiode with a filter specific for the emission of the sodium…