The construction and use of a low-cost continuous-flow instrument for measuring the kinetics of fast reaction which include the use of an light emitting diode light source, a photodiode-on-a-chip detector, and a position sensor is demonstrated. The instrument is suitable for the physical chemistry laboratory and could be used to study the kinetics…

Lecture-based experimental methods that include topics ranging from basic signal processing to the proper use of thermocouples to advanced optical techniques such as laser-induced fluorescence are described. The data obtained from this demonstration could be provided to the students in digital form to obtain useful engineering results such as an…

An experiment which enables students to determine the index of refraction at various wavelengths is demonstrated by using two polymers examples, poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). This experiment would be suitable for a course in organic chemistry or any course discussing the optical properties of polymeric…

A number of laboratory exercises for the organic chemistry curriculum that emphasize enantioselective synthesis of the aldol condensation which involves the proline-catalyzed condensation between acetone and isobutyraldehyde are explored. The experiment illustrates some of the trade-offs involved in green chemistry like the use of acetone in large…

A survey on the attitudes of engineering faculty to chemistry, physics, and mathematics was conducted with the aim of clarifying the attitudes of engineering faculty to chemistry courses in relation to engineering education or curricula and assessing their expectations. The results confirm that on the whole chemistry is perceived as having a…

A new Microsoft Excel spreadsheet design that enables a prompt calculation of rate constant, k values and associated errors and also addresses less common features such as the choice of an experimental curve's extent is presented. To complete the spreadsheet design, several highlights and squared colored boxes were included to assist the user and…

Neurogenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease involve a transformation between two peptide and protein structures of alpha-helices and beta-sheets, where the peptide backbone can also participate in metal ion binding in addition to histidine residues. However, the complete absence of change in conformation of Coiled…

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Presidential Symposium, Envisioning Undergraduate Chemistry Education in 2015 was organized by the ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT), in response to the challenge to envision the chemistry enterprise in 2015. The need for more diverse role models at all levels is emphasized, including high school…

Community colleges, although being a potential source of future scientists and engineers, there are certain faults in the reform approach of these colleges that need to be addressed. The Multicultural Alliance for Technology, Research, and Information Exchange (MATRIX) model is presented to energize community colleges to create a science research…

A new conceptual metaphor is proposed to enrich the description of chemistry education and support the many existing efforts to help students make connections with the chemistry found in textbooks. A widely used metaphor for chemistry education takes the shape of a planar triangle that highlights three thinking levels in learning chemistry such as…

Digital versatile disks (DVDs) have successfully made up an inexpensive but high-resolution spectroscope suitable for classroom experiments that can easily be made with common material and gives clear and fine spectra of various light sources and colored material. The observed spectra can be photographed with a digital camera, and such images can…

Chemistry teachers face constraints when trying to integrate cognitive and affective objectives, and hence thoughtful lesson planning is required to achieve the goal. Chemistry teachers can educate students to be knowledgeable about chemical concepts, processes and the benefits of responsible practice by the chemical industry, while being aware,…

The use of Calculator-Based Laboratory (CBL) technology, the graphing calculator, and the cooling and heating of water to model the behavior of consecutive first-order reactions is presented, where B is the reactant, I is the intermediate, and P is the product for an in-class demonstration. The activity demonstrates the spontaneous and consecutive…

The application of computational methods to the isomerization of hydrogen isocyanide to hydrogen cyanide, HNC-HCN is described. The logical extension to the exercise is presented to the isomerization of the methyl-substituted compounds, methylisocyanide and methylcyanide, Ch[subscript 3]NC-CH[subscript3]CN.

One of the simulation engines of an open-source program called the Molecular Workbench, which can simulate thermodynamics of chemical reactions, is described. This type of real-time, interactive simulation and visualization of chemical reactions at the atomic scale could help students understand the connections between chemical reaction equations…