A multidisciplinary experiment for advanced undergraduate students has been developed in the context of extractive metallurgy. The experiment serves as a model of an important modern industrial process that combines aspects of organic/inorganic synthesis and analysis. Students are tasked to prepare a salicylaldoxime ligand and samples of the…

Analysis of whiskey samples prepared by a green microextraction technique, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), before analysis by a qualitative gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method, is described as a laboratory experiment for an upper division instrumental methods of analysis laboratory course. Here, aroma compounds in…

Inexpensive alternatives to a number of classic introductory physics sound laboratories are presented including interference phenomena, resonance conditions, and frequency shifts. These can be created using earbuds, economical supplies such as Giant Pixie Stix® wrappers, and free software available for PCs and mobile devices. We describe two…

The typical friction lab performed in introductory mechanics courses is usually not the favorite of either the student or the instructor. The measurements are not all that easy to make, and reproducibility is usually a troublesome issue. This paper describes the augmentation of such a friction lab with a study of the viscous drag on a magnet…

In a deep and dark corner of space, a cataclysm loomed. Two cosmic nemeses circled one another, locked in a macabre dance of death. Unfolding over millennia, the deadly waltz began leisurely enough. But with the dance came radiation and the energy loss that it implies. Orbit after orbit, the distance between the two protagonists shrank as their…

In this laboratory experiment, the synthesis of a supported solid catalyst (Cu/SiO2) and its application in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol performed under flow conditions was studied. The experiment was planned for a group of two or three students for two 6 h long sessions. The copper catalyst was synthesized using incipient wetness…

In this article, two lessons are introduced in which students examine Arctic lake sediments from Lake El'gygytgyn in Russia and discover a climate signal in a lake or pond near their own school. The lessons allow students to experience fieldwork, understand lab procedure, practice basic measurement and observation skills, and learn how to…

Integrative, research-based experiences have shown tremendous potential as effective pedagogical approaches. Pharmaceutical development is an exciting field that draws heavily on organic chemistry and biochemistry techniques. A capstone drug synthesis/analysis laboratory is described where biochemistry students synthesize azo-stilbenoid compounds…

A multistep experiment for a synthesis laboratory course that incorporates topics in organic synthesis, chemical analysis, and instrumental analysis was developed. Students prepared a tertiaryamine-functionalized polyacrylonitrile fiber (PAN[subscript T]F), and it was subsequently utilized as an immobilized catalyst in a three-component…

A two-session experiment is designed to introduce undergraduate students to concepts in catalysis, transition metal complexes, polymer synthesis, and postpolymerization modifications. In the first session, students synthesize poly(glycidyl methacrylate) via low-catalyst-concentration atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The…

Undergraduate research is an important capstone experience that provides students with the conceptual and technical aptitude for graduate or industrial research. However, this experience is often compressed into a single term in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) or run by individual faculty members for select students on an…

Thirty-six days after the beginning of the 2020 school year in Brazil, the Rio de Janeiro state education system began an unprecedented disruptive period due to the COVID-19 crisis, which abruptly affected general educational activities, particularly chemistry teaching. An adaptation to a new paradigm of remote teaching and massive use of online…

This advanced undergraduate chemistry laboratory exercise takes advantage of the unique spectroscopic properties of the free radical chlorine dioxide to allow for a direct comparison of its symmetric stretch in both the ground and excited states. It incorporates several subject areas covered in an undergraduate chemistry degree (synthesis,…

An effective way of teaching undergraduates a full complement of research skills is through a multiweek advanced laboratory experiment. Here we outline a comprehensive set of experiments adapted from current primary literature focusing on organic and inorganic synthesis, catalysis, reactivity, and reaction kinetics. The catalyst,…

In this experiment, students perform an air-free synthesis of three dichlorophosphinenickel(II) compounds, NiCl[subscript 2](PPh[subscript 3])[subscript 2], NiCl[subscript 2](PCy[subscript 3])[subscript 2], and NiCl[subscript 2](DPPE), using NiCl[subscript 2]·6H[subscript 2]O and the appropriate phosphine as the precursors. These colorful nickel…