Recent emphasis on research competencies in undergraduate biology education means that more students are doing course-based research. Professional research scientists learn from failed research, but undergraduate students who encounter failure in their biology lab research may not always respond in ways that advance their learning. There is a need…

In many introductory physics classes, diffraction of light is introduced first, then more advanced diffraction topics such as x-ray diffraction, Bragg's law, and crystallography are covered. Since using x-rays raises safety concerns and atomic spacing in a crystal is not easy to change, microwaves with macroscopic crystals have been used to study…

The students following Engineering disciplines should acquire a conceptual understanding of the concepts and the processors and attitudes. There are two recognizable learning environments for students: classroom and laboratory environments. With the COVID-19 Pandemic, both environments merged to online environments, impacting students' processes…

The laboratory experiment presented here describes the use of a calcium ion-selective electrode (Ca-ISE) to determine the concentration of zinc in a supplement tablet. This approach was developed to show students how to expand the range of applications of Ca-ISE to enable the determination of metal ions other than Ca[superscript 2+]. To determine…

A laboratory experiment has been devised to train new graduate trainees in the safe and controlled handling of air-sensitive organometallic reagents using Schlenk lines, high vacuum pumps, liquid nitrogen traps, and cannula transfers. The reaction involves the formation of air-, moisture-, and thermally sensitive 2-pyridyllithium, generated in…

The glowing discharges of plasma obtained by introducing direct current high voltages between two electrodes in a chamber that contains a low pressure gas produces a spectacular effect that makes it attractive to be used as a laboratory experiment for students. Setting up this experiment is however costly and has crucial safety issues to be…

An operationally straightforward, project-like laboratory experiment has been developed in which students directly compare the reactivity of two heterocycles, a cyclic "O,O"-acetal (standard C-O protecting group) and a cyclic "N,O"-acetal (oxazolidine), toward sodium borohydride and methylmagnesium iodide. Students synthesize a…

Water exhibits a maximum in density at normal pressure at around 4° degree temperature. This paper demonstrates that during cooling, at around 4 °C, the temperature remains constant for a while because of heat exchange associated with convective currents inside the water. Superficial approach implies it as a new anomaly of water, but actually it…

One dimensional (1-D)[superscript 1] H and [superscript 13]C NMR experiments are common tools used in undergraduate organic laboratories to characterize synthesized molecules. However, 1-D NMR spectra cannot always provide unambiguous structure determination. In research laboratories, advanced NMR spectroscopy methods are employed for structural…

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are used widely in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and clinical medicine labs. At the same time, they appear to be underrepresented in chemistry and biochemistry curricula, even though their sensitivity, selectivity, and ease of use would argue for their widespread use. We describe here an online ELISA…

A well known physics problem is to calculate the friction forces required to support a ladder against a wall. A more tractable problem is to calculate the friction forces needed to support an inclined beam on a ball or a cylinder. In the latter case there are three rather than two points of sliding support. Measurements and calculations are…

Coordinate-based meta-analyses (CBMA) allow researchers to combine the results from multiple functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments with the goal of obtaining results that are more likely to generalize. However, the interpretation of CBMA findings can be impaired by the file drawer problem, a type of publication bias that refers to…

The impact force and duration when one billiard ball collides head-on with another is estimated by assuming that the balls are connected by a spring. The results are compared with a measurement when a billiard ball collides with a heavy, rigid surface.

Herein, we describe a simple laboratory experiment to address nanomaterial synthesis, plasmon resonance, and its application to detect Cu[superscript 2+] in ultralow concentrations. The proposed experiment is very visual and appealing for chemistry students, especially the undergraduate-level chemistry major. In this experiment, the aggregation of…

In a traditional teaching approach, a physics course begins with mechanics, and generally the braking effect due to magnetic interactions is not mentioned among the various types of friction presented (static, sliding, rolling) because students will discover magnetism only in later chapters. In our didactic experience this traditional choice is…