The demonstration-focused laboratory course enables students to work in the laboratory to create and practice chemical demonstrations based on topics they study in lectures. This laboratory-focused class has proven successful and has resulted in an increase in student interest in material, a willingness to ask more questions and a better…

An overview is provided featuring comments from students in a high school chemistry course, who were required to present portfolios of their work at the end of each semester. Brief reflections were written on why the piece was chosen and what thy learned from the experience and the reflection pieces presented an opportunity to study student…

An exercise that engages students in asking their own questions is provided and a description on the way in which it was applied in a large introductory chemistry-class is presented. Suggestions are offered to instructors regarding the way the exercise needs to be used, including several variations applicable to different topics in general…

The cross-proportion method allows both the instructor and the student to easily determine where an error is made during problem solving. The C-P method supports a strong cognitive foundation upon which students can develop other diagnostic methods as they advance in chemistry and scientific careers.

A simple approach that "demystifies" Le Chatelier's principle (LCP) and simulates students to think about fundamental physical background behind the well-known principles is presented. The approach uses microscopic descriptors of matter like energy levels and populations and does not require any assumption about the fixed amount of substance being…

The presentations that will enable students to perform a side-by-side comparison of two conditions and gain better understanding of reactions at equilibrium are illustrated. A novel stoichiometric criterion for identifying equilibria that shift left upon addition of reactant is derived.

The Dumas method provides a relatively simple way to determine the molar mass of volatile chemical compounds. A potential source of error in the Dumas molar mass method as it is often practiced in introductory chemistry laboratories is reported.

Dalton's law for gas mixtures provides one method for predicting the pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) behavior of a gas mixture from the PVT behavior of the individual pure gases that comprise it. An attempt is made to separate fact from myth, to enlarge on a treatment of possible cases for application, and to provide contemporary means on…

Valence as a numerical measure of an atom's combining power, expressed by the number of bonds it forms in a molecular formulation of the compound in question, was unable to cope with coordination compounds. The covalence of an atom is the nearest model equivalent, but is subject to ambiguity since it often depends on which bonding model is being…

A few flawed predictions in the context of homonuclear diatomic molecules are presented in order to introduce students to molecular orbital (MO) theory. A common misrepresentation of the relationship between the energy of an atomic orbital and the energy of the MO associated with the atomic orbital is illustrated.

A theoretical analysis of single-slit diffraction based on the Fourier transform between coordinate and momentum space is presented. The transform between position and momentum is used to illuminate the intimate relationship between single-slit diffraction and uncertainty principle.

A laboratory course called cytochrome c that focuses on the theme of biochemical research is presented. The students follow this course by incorporating team-investigation and self-directed experimentation that provides them an opportunity to experience the excitement of research.

The quantitative analysis of elemental iron in Whole Grain Total Cereal using visible spectroscopy is suitable for a general chemistry course for science or nonscience majors. The more extensive mineral analysis, specifically for the elements iron, calcium and zinc, is suitable for an instrumental or quantitative analysis chemistry course.

A series of substituted benzoic acids (SBAs) are prepared by students. The pKa shift, a result of the electron-withdrawing or electron-donating characteristics of the subsistent is examined in reference to the electrophoretic migration behavior of benzoic acid.

An examination of the two proteins, namely, cytochrome c from horse and cow is conducted and it is indicated that cytochrome c is a mitochondrial protein. Mitochondria multiply by cell division and do not undergo sexual reproduction and mitochondria DNA is passed on via the mitochondria that are inherited from the female parent organism.