Presents a procedure used in sophomore level organic chemistry which has been particularly useful for organic qualitative analysis. Uses a nine-well spotplate and one-two mg of solid and three-four drops of eight different solvents. Solubility is checked at different temperatures. Provides a solubility table. (MVL)

Describes three demonstrations: (1) "A 'Rocket' Cart" (using a fire extinguisher and a child's truck); (2) "Angular Momentum Conservation" (providing materials and calculations); and (3) "Cavendish Experiment" (including the building method and examples of calculations). (YP)

Though deceptively simple to teach, chromatography presents many nuances and complex interactions that challenge both student and instructor. Time and instrumentation provide major obstacles to a thorough examination of these details in the laboratory. Modern chromatographic method-development software provides an opportunity to overcome this,…

The Microelectronics WebLab at MIT allows students to do actual (not simulated) laboratory research on state-of-the art equipment through the Internet. This study assesses the use of WebLab in a junior-level course on microelectronic devices and circuits in 2004-05 and 2005-06. In quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, students and…

Eight student learning guides are provided for a medical assisting program at the secondary, postsecondary, or adult level. Each learning guide is composed of these component parts: a title page that states the task, purpose, program and task numbers, estimated time, and prerequisites; an optional learning contract that includes terminal…

A programmed instruction course was developed, consisting of fifteen experiments encompassing eleven separate pieces of equipment operational in a solar and energy conservation lab. The programmed instruction manual for the lab was evaluated and revised during a workshop. This evaluation indicated that both the lab and manual are valuable tools…

Four computer programs to aid students in understanding inventory systems, constructing mathematical inventory models, and developing optimal decision rules are presented. The program series allows a user to set input levels, simulates the behavior of major variables in inventory systems, and provides performance measures as output. Inventory…

We have built a device that uses the Lorentz force on a current-carrying wire situated in a magnetic field, F = I L x B, in order to demonstrate a slowly varying alternating current by means of an optical lever. The apparatus consists of a horseshoe magnet, a length of thin enamel-coated wire (ours was 0.3 mm thick), a signal generator, a…

The overwhelming majority of important papers in physics are written by physicists. But the physician Julius Robert Mayer (1814-1878, see photo) did a valid theoretical calculation of the mechanical equivalent of heat just before Joule reported on his results from his well-known paddle-wheel experiments. Joule is well-known to physics people and…

We have developed experiments and materials to model human genetics using rapid cycling "Brassica rapa", also known as Fast Plants. Because of their self-incompatibility for pollination and the genetic diversity within strains, "B. rapa" can serve as a relevant model for human genetics in teaching laboratory experiments. The experiment presented…

Experiment is conducted to determine the kinetic parameters of metal-solution interfaces. During the experiment the kinetic parameters for the interfaces Cu-NH[subscript 3], Ag-NH[subscript 3] and Ni-NH[subscript 3] is easily determined.

The students prepare tea samples using different quantities of lemon balm leaves ("Melissa officinalis") and measure the rosmarinic acid contents by an HPLC-DAD method. The antioxidant properties of the tea samples are evaluated by a spectrophotometric method using a radical-scavenging assay with DPPH. (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). Finally the…

These laboratory experiments are designed to explore aspects of nanoscale chemistry by constructing and spectroscopically analyzing thin films of photonic crystals. Films comprised of colloidal spheres and polydimethylsiloxane exhibit diffraction-based stop bands that shift reversibly upon exposure to some common solvents. Topics covered in these…

An experiment for the upper-level undergraduate laboratory is described in which students synthesize a ruthenium olefin metathesis catalyst, then use the catalyst to carry out the ring-closing metathesis of diethyl diallylmalonate. The olefin metathesis reaction was the subject of the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The catalyst chosen for this…

It is common to see chapters on acid-base physiology state that the goal of acid-base regulatory mechanisms is to maintain the pH of arterial plasma and not arterial PCO [subscript 2] (Pa[subscript CO[subscript 2]]) or plasma HCO[subscript 3]. A hypothetical situation in which the (Pa[subscript CO[subscript 2]]) of arterial plasma is 80 mmHg and…