A laboratory experiment that emphasizes the interpretation of both infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra in the elucidation of the structure of an unknown compound was developed. The method helps students determine [to the first power]H- and [to the thirteenth power]C-NMR spectra from the structures of compounds and to…

An experiment is developed that requires the use of the NMR spectrometer via a NOESY1D experiment to determine the diastereoselectivity in the reduction of alpha-methylbenzoin with various reducing agents. Students must synthesize racemic alpha-hydroxyketones, perform reductions under chelating and non-chelating conditions, and quantitatively…

A detailed investigation of the clay-catalyzed condensation of sesamol and other phenols with 3-methyl-2-butenal to give methylenedioxyprecocene (MDP) and other chromenes is presented. The clay-catalyzed microwave-assisted condensation of sesamol with 3-methyl-2-butenal is appropriate for incorporation into undergraduate organic laboratory…

Ozone is a powerful oxidant and disinfectant, which can be used to clean environment as well as obtain pure drinking water. A series of experiments to produce and test ozone with simple equipment and material are presented.

A microscale experiment in which the simultaneous oxidation of an organic compound and the reduction of a metal ion are photocatalytically performed in an aqueous slurry containing TiO[subscript 2] irradiated with UV light. This experiment can be performed in the laboratory session with simple chemicals and equipments.

A study has shown that methylation of 1,8-dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone (1) with methyl tosylate is highly dependent upon reaction conditions. When the reaction is carried out by a simple heating of the reaction mixture without solvent it yields dimethyl product in a nearly quantitative yield and refluxing the same mixture of reactants in…

Providing a biotechnology experience for students can be challenging on several levels, and time is a real constraint for many experiments. Many DNA based methods require a gel electrophoresis step, and although some biotechnology procedures have convenient break points, gel electrophoresis does not. In addition to the time required for loading…

The polygraph (lie detector) may be an ideal vehicle for converting aspects of a physiology course into an interdisciplinary course, enabling discussion of interrelationships between science, technology and society (STS) and social dilemmas arising from technological developments. The authors present a way of incorporating the polygraph into a…

Social order is possible only if individuals forgo the narrow pursuit of self-interest for the greater good. For over a century, social scientists have argued that sympathy mitigates self-interest and recent empirical work supports this claim. Much less is known about why actors experience sympathy in the first place, particularly in fleeting…

One of the greatest challenges instructors face is getting students to connect with the subject in a manner that encourages them to learn. In this essay, we describe the redesign of our Developmental Biology course to foster a deeper connection between students and the field of developmental biology. In our approach, we created a community of…

The electrical properties of polyaniline changes by orders of magnitude upon exposure to analytes such as acids or bases, making it a useful material for detection of these analytes in the gas phase. The objectives of this lab are to synthesize different diameter polyaniline nanofibers and compare them as sensor materials. In this experiment…

Core concepts can be integrated throughout lower-division science and engineering courses by using a series of related, cross-referenced laboratory experiments. Starting with butane combustion in chemistry, the authors expanded the underlying core concepts of energy transfer into laboratories designed for biology, physics, and engineering. This…

Many general physics laboratories involve the use of springs to demonstrate Hooke's law, and much ado is made about how this can be used as a model for describing the elastic characteristics of materials at the molecular or atomic level. In recent years, the proliferation of computers, and appropriate sensors, have made it possible to demonstrate…

Librarians instruct students where to find information, but rarely demonstrate its management, while faculty have difficulty incorporating real-time laboratory experience with library research. This paper focuses on the development of a hands-on biology laboratory experiment in an introductory course that integrates bibliographic software into the…

Teaching science by means of inquiry-based projects has the potential to transform the science lab into a place of debate and discovery, but teachers run the risk of either leaving students to work too independently or forcing them to be too dependent on our guidance. To counter these challenges, the author implemented changes in the way topics…