The preliminary efforts to engage students in the physical sciences through research projects in environmental chemistry are described. The successful involvement of two demographics, community college (CC) students and female students in cutting-edge chemistry research suggests that recruiting methods were effective and the feedback from…

A survey was conducted among second-year students in organic chemistry (OC) lab and first-year students in English composition (EC) to determine whether an interdisciplinary exchange and review of articles would improve students' understanding of the process of scientific research and of writing within the field of chemistry. The primary…

An analysis of relatively new terminology that has given multiple definitions often resulting in students learning principles that are actually false is presented with an example of the new term stereogenic atom introduced by Mislow and Siegel. The Mislow terminology would be useful in some cases if it were used precisely and correctly, but it is…

A study was conducted to visualize the reason why the Fourier transform technique is useful to detect the originating frequencies of a complicated superposition of waves. The findings reveal that students respond well when instructors adapt pictorial presentation to show how the time-domain function is transformed into the frequency domain.

Tips that laboratory researchers and beginning graduate students can use to safeguard against explosion hazard with emphasis on clear illustrations of molecular structure are discussed. Those working with hazardous materials must proceed cautiously and may want to consider alternative and synthetic routes.

An attempt is made to provide chemistry teachers with a chemical demonstration of a clock reaction for the winter holiday season that changes in color from green to red to green again which is used as didactic tool to introduce students to many of the basic principles of kinetics. The reaction involves the oxidation of iodide ion with persulfate…

Two projects, the reaction notebook and the end-of-semester synthesis activity are described which could help students to adopt a discovery-based learning and engage students in practical applications of chemistry. Students have provided positive feedback on this classroom assignment and have felt that it has helped them crystallize their thought…

The systematic developments of synthetically modified structures related to capsaicin known to have pungent properties found in chili peppers that could be useful as analgesic drug are described. It is found that identification of the receptor for capsaicin and the mechanism of its action greatly contributed to an understanding of the role…

The practical sides of local or regional anesthesia are explained by two applications of local anesthetics under moderately demanding circumstances. The examples illustrated are surgical repair of the severed lower tendon of the left index finger and the case of pregnant woman involving the delivery of a child in the early stages of cervical…

An experiment in photochemical oxidation, which deals with bilirubin, a well-known light-sensitive biological compound that is pedagogically ideal for photochemical experiments at tertiary institutes, is presented. The experiment would benefit students in chemistry who eventually branch out into the health sciences or biochemistry.

The merits of involving undergraduates in research activities have been publicized in numerous reports and have been promoted through various programs. Moreover, the value of offering research experiences specifically to first and second year students has been lauded. Undergraduate research is generally accepted to be a vehicle through which…

Examples of acid-base reactions from Robert Boyle's "The Sceptical Chemist" are used to illustrate the rich information content of chemical equations. Boyle required lengthy passages of florid language to describe the same reaction that can be done quite simply with a chemical equation. Reading or hearing the words, however, enriches the student's…

It is well known that proteins are abundant in food and are vital to nutrition and biochemical function. What is not well known is that proteins derived from agricultural sources are used in everyday products such as glue and textiles. Research continues to find new uses for proteins in a wide variety of applications, most of which would be…

The weak noncovalent interactions between substances, the handshake in the form of electrostatic interactions, van der Waals' interactions or hydrogen bonding is universal to all living and nonliving matter. They significantly influence the molecular and bulk properties and behavior of matter. Their transient nature affects chemical reactions and…

In most general chemistry and introductory physical chemistry classes, critical point is defined as that temperature-pressure point on a phase diagram where the liquid-gas interface disappears, a phenomenon that generally occurs at relatively high temperatures or high pressures. Two examples are: water, with a critical point at 647 K (critical…