A short conducting pipe that hangs from a weak spring is forced to oscillate by the magnetic field of a surrounding coaxial coil that has been excited by a low-frequency current source in the presence of an additional static magnetic field. Induced oscillating currents appear in the pipe. The pipe motion becomes damped by the dragging forces…

A modified problem-based learning (PBL) exercise was implemented in a food science Dairy Products course, which had previously been taught in the traditional lecture and laboratory format only. The first 10 wk of the course consisted of weekly lectures and laboratory exercises. During the remaining 3 wk, students were presented with a case study…

Although many chemistry students at small liberal arts colleges participate in undergraduate research projects with faculty members, they do not get much experience framing their own research questions and designing their own projects, which is an important part of science. We have implemented a developmental process to help students design and…

Electrokinetic remediation is a method of decontaminating soil containing heavy metals and polar organic contaminants by passing a direct current through the soil. An undergraduate chemistry laboratory is described to demonstrate electrokinetic remediation of soil contaminated with copper. A 30 cm electrokinetic cell with an applied voltage of 30…

Isolation and identification of organic compounds is a necessary skill chemistry students must be able to do with proficiency. In this upper-level undergraduate laboratory, students isolate bisphenol-A (BPA; 4-4'-isopropylidenediphenol) from water using solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by derivatization with analysis by GC-MS. The students…

The enzyme ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (RpiA) has many features that make it attractive as a focal point of a semester-long, advanced biochemistry laboratory for undergraduate students. The protein can easily and inexpensively be isolated from spinach using traditional purification techniques. Characterization of RpiA enzyme activity can be…

Student test score percentages in the Physiology and Disease (PAD) course at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a high school for students of the state of Illinois gifted in math and science, were studied over a period of 5 yr. Inquiry-based laboratory experiences in the course were slowly converted during this time from partly student…

The medical curriculum is vast, and students are expected to learn many subjects at the same time. Medical students are often stressed and find it difficult to cope with the curriculum. In addition, some first-year students find theory and practical classes to be monotonous. One of the difficulties faced by faculty members is, therefore, to…

A general chemistry laboratory experiment is described that introduces students to instrumental analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), while simultaneously reinforcing the concepts of mass percent and the calculation of atomic mass. Working in small groups, students use the GC to separate and quantify the percent composition…

An experiment for the undergraduate organic laboratory is described in which peptide mimetic oligomers called "peptoids" are built stepwise on a solid-phase resin. Students employ two modern strategies to facilitate rapid multistep syntheses: solid-phase techniques to obviate the need for intermediate purifications and microwave irradiation to…

Interactive (reformed) instruction helps students develop a deeper understanding of physics, a component of which is letting students explore physical phenomena first and then building upon their experience. However, the time required for a single group to collect sufficient data and the likelihood of measurement errors are often obstacles to…

This paper describes a student laboratory experiment to determine the molecular weight of a polymer sample by measuring the viscosity of dilute polymer solutions in a PDMS microfluidic viscometer. Sample data are given for aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). A demonstration of shear thinning behavior using the microviscometer is…

The problem of a ladder leaning against a wall in static equilibrium is a classic example encountered in introductory mechanics texts. Most discussions of this problem assume that the static frictional force between the ladder and wall can be ignored. A few authors consider the case where the static friction coefficients between ladder/wall…

Even though reward systems play a central role in the management of organizations, their impact on stress and the well-being of workers is not well understood. We review the literature linking performance-based reward systems to various indicators of employee stress and well-being. Well-controlled experiments in field settings suggest that certain…

In an introductory physics course where students first learn about vectors, they oftentimes struggle with the concept of vector addition and decomposition. For example, the classic physics problem involving a mass on an inclined plane requires the decomposition of the force of gravity into two directions that are parallel and perpendicular to the…