The various features of a Visual Basic Program, which implements the 1672 Parr thermometer are described. The program permits remote control of the calorimetry experiment and also provides control for the flow of data and for file storage.

An experimental study of ceramic superconductors namely YBa2Cu3O(sub 7-x), which illustrates the use of spectrophotometry, based on the electronic spectra of complexes of Fe(II), Fe(III) and Cu(II) to better understand the stoichiometry of YBCO is described. The results from this experiment are in good agreement with those obtained by the…

The time-resolved fluorescence experiment investigating the halide quenching of fluorescence from quinine sulfate in water is described. The objectives of the experiment include reinforcing student understanding of the kinetics of competing pathways, making connections with microscopic theories of kinetics through comparison of experimental and…

The use of green metrics to compare three bromination laboratory procedures demonstrates the effectiveness of an incremental greening process for chemistry curricula. Due to this process, the bromination of alkenes can be introduced to students through the use of a safe, effective, modern practice.

The thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) data suggests that the quantity of volatile components in primary standards is less than 1% of the initial weight and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data shows that water present in the same chemicals is below the limit of detection of the instrumentation. This suggests that the 1-2 hour drying…

The study investigates the students opinions on learning in a jigsaw classroom and enquiring on what they think about jigsaw classroom having the potential to make chemistry learning more attractive and whether it can help them to improve their communicative and social skills. The study was carried out using a lesson design for teaching an…

The approach of determining the nature of the electron wave function via orbital representations qualitatively and via numerical calculations quantitatively is demonstrated. The angular part of the wave function provides suitable representation of the positions of the nuclei.

The orbital labels when considered as the angular part of the wavefunction can serve as an inclusive principle, which the students can use to construct the spatial shapes of the d orbitals from their labels. The spatial orientation of the different d orbitals guides the crystal field theory which includes d(sub xy), d(sub yz) and d(sub xz) lying…

The usefulness of the bond triangle for categorizing compounds of the main-group elements may be extended by the use of weighted average electronegativities to allow distinction between compounds of the same elements with different stoichiometries. In such cases a higher valency for the central atom leads to greater covalent character and the…

A comprehensive project in which the students use computational chemistry to investigate a larger chlorine oxide, Cl2O4 is described. The students start the project by reading a scenario and then follow a series of hyperlinks to develop, along with their colleagues, a better understanding of the implications of the presence of Cl2O4 in the…

The properties of a dendrimer with hydrophobic and hydrophilic substituents on an orthogonal plane is synthesized and studied. The resulting polymer contains one of the substituents in its concave interior and the other at the convex surface and the design promotes micelle-like behavior in polar solvent and inverted micelle arrangement in…

Single-walled carbon nanotubes that were chemically altered to be water soluble are shown to enter fibroblasts, T cells, and HL60 cells. Nanoparticles adversely affect immortalized HaCaT human keratinocyte cultures, indicating that they may enter cells.

Atomic force microscope (AFM) investigates mechanically the chemical properties of individual molecules, surfaces, and materials using suitably designed probes. The current state of the art of AFM in terms of imaging, force measurement, and sample manipulation and its application to physical chemistry is discussed.

A quantum-mechanical probe is essential to study the quantum world, which is provided by electron tunneling. A spectroscopic mapping to image the electron-transport pathways on a sub-molecular scale is used.

Electrochemical studies using nanometer-scaled electrodes are leading to better insights into electrochemical kinetics, interfacial structure, and chemical analysis. Various methods of preparing electrodes of nanometer dimensions are discussed and a few examples of their behavior and applications in relatively simple electrochemical experiments…