The golden ratio appears in a classical mechanics coupled-oscillator problem that many undergraduates may not solve. Once the symmetry is broken in a more standard problem, the golden ratio appears. Several student exercises arise from the problem considered in this paper.

The analysis of a Murder case study can be used in general chemistry or nonscience major chemistry courses to teach data handling and analysis in a non-laboratory context. This case study will help students to respond more enthusiastically and with more interest to a set of material placed before them related to a real case rather than…

A one-way ANOVA experiment is performed to determine whether or not the three standardization methods are statistically different in determining the concentration of the three paraffin analytes. The laboratory exercise asks students to combine the three methods in a single analytical procedure of their own design to determine the concentration of…

Purchase probability as a function of interpurchase time was examined through comparison of findings from laboratory experiments on reinforcement schedules and from marketing investigations of consumers' interpurchase time. Panel data, based on a sample of 80 consumers who purchased nine supermarket food products during 16 weeks, were used. For…

Teaching ethics across the curriculum is a strategy adopted by many universities. One of the fundamental aims of teaching ethics across the curriculum is to get students to see ethics as truly relevant to the subjects they are studying. Ideally, students will come to see that ethics is a thread woven deeply in the fabric of all knowledge and…

A new research-rich chemistry curriculum with an integrated, upper-level undergraduate laboratory program has recently been developed to impart better understanding to the students. The program is called Advanced techniques in Experimental Chemistry and helps prepare students for more real-world problems.

The analysis describes the effects of using the science writing heuristic (SWH) in the general chemistry laboratory on the students' academic performance. The technique has found to be extremely important factor in a student's learning process and achievement in science.

The fundamentals, as well as the instrumentation of the quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) technique that is used in an undergraduate laboratory experiment are being described. The QCM response can be easily used to change the properties of any system.

A model of a thermodynamic system is described in which particles (representing atoms) interact with one another, the surroundings, and the earth's gravitational field according to the principles of classical mechanics. The system's energy "E" and internal energy "U" are defined. The importance is emphasized of the dependence of energy and work on…

A simple experiment, the determination of the density of a liquid by several methods, is presented. Since the concept of density is a familiar one, the experiment is suitable for the introductory laboratory period of a first- or second-year course in physical or analytical chemistry. The main objective of the experiment is to familiarize students…

Over the past ten years, the Department of Chemistry at the University College of the Fraser Valley has sponsored an annual laboratory skills contest for local Grade 12 high-school students as part of its Chemistry Week celebrations. The organizational details of the contest, its objectives, successes, and short-comings are discussed. (Contains 1…

An ozonolysis experiment, suitable for undergraduate organic chemistry lab, is presented. Ozonolysis of eugenol (clove oil), followed by reductive workup furnishes an aldehyde that is easily identified by its NMR and IR spectra. Ozone (3-5% in oxygen) is produced using an easily built generator. (Contains 2 figures and 1 scheme.)

The connectivity of a hexane-soluble silver salt is established by using NMR spectroscopy to describe the synthesis, characterization and reactivity of the salt. The results found hexane-soluble silver to be an effective transfer agent.

An experiment in which gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is used for latent fingerprint extraction and analysis on glass beads or glass slides is conducted. The results determine that the fingerprint residues are gender dependent.

A procedure that requires seven 4-hour blocks of time to allow undergraduate students to prepare the molecular Borromean rings (BRs) on a gram-scale in 90% yield is described. The experiment would serve as a nice capstone project to culminate any comprehensive organic laboratory course and expose students to fundamental concepts, symmetry point…