This article (1) defines risk management and discusses alternatives to treating exposures facing those operating chemical laboratories; (2) indicates how two Virginia universities did or did not apply the risk management concept to their laboratory settings; and (3) identifies potential sources of information on this subject. (JN)

Provides highlights of lectures, workshops, papers, and symposia presented at a conference which addressed such areas of chemical education as college/high school chemistry teaching; curriculum/curriculum development; safety; two-year programs; computers; toxicology and health hazards; problem-solving; writing skills development; textbooks;…

A simple technique for predicting the relative acidic strength of oxyacids and their anions has been developed. Describes the use of this technique for correctly predicting anion hydrolysis reactions, aqueous Bronstead-Lowry acid-base reactions, and which salts will dissolve with strong aqueous acids. (JN)

Aqueous solubilities of many important hydrous oxides and hydroxides are displayed, for the various elements, as functions primarily of pH. These graphs are then arranged in groups to facilitate studies of the effects of oxidation state, electron structure, and position in the periodic table, along with size and coordination number. (JN)

Describes an exercise in which the entropy maximum is illustrated with a chemical example. The exercise allows students to work with an isolated, chemically reactive system and shows that the entropy of a nonisolated system can pass through a maximum but does so at a nonequilibrium point. (JN)

A previous article stated that only the matrix method was powerful enough to balance a particular chemical equation. Shows how this equation can be balanced without using the matrix method. The approach taken involves writing partial mathematical reactions and redox half-reactions, and combining them to yield the final balanced reaction. (JN)

Describes a learning activity packet (LAP) designed to help students understand the basic concept of the mole as a chemical unit; know relationships between the mole and atomic weights in the periodic table; and solve basic conversion problems involving moles, atoms, and molecules. (JN)

Two tests were administered to 652 students to investigate the effect of structuring questions about the mole. A third test was administered to see whether each step/operation was intrinsically difficult or if it was only difficult when part of a series of steps/operations. Findings are reported and discussed. (JN)

Describes (1) interfacing the Commodore VIC-20 using joystick game ports; (2) a chromatographic integrator for the TRS-80; (3) upgrading input/output capabilities of the TRS-80 color microcomputer; (4) IBM PC interfaced to a Perkin-Elmer DSC-1 differential scanning calorimeter; and (5) an undergraduate experiment in which students design a…

Describes activities in which students: (1) propose creative atomic models that account for observed properties and predict additional experimental data; (2) calculate empirical formulas for 27 binary compounds; (3) propose a model to explain why certain elements have certain valences; and (4) arrange hypothetical elements into a periodic chart.…

A workshop was designed to (1) train teachers to become experts on chemical safety and storage; (2) examine and evaluate chemical storage in 12 Carroll County (Maryland) schools; and (3) develop a safety guide for all county science classrooms. Development, implementation, evaluation, and implications of the workshop are addressed. (JN)

Discusses the role of chelating agents in (1) mayonnaise and salad dressings; (2) canned legumes; (3) plant foods; (4) liquid dishwashing detergents; (5) toilet soaps; (6) floor wax removers; (7) hard surface cleaners; (8) carpet cleaning; (9) bathtub and tile cleaners; and (10) photography. (JN)

The standard two-semester organic chemistry course at Texas Christian University was reorganized as a two-cycle course. In addition, lectures and laboratories were made into separate courses with the laboratory consisting of a formal lecture session and experimental work. The structure, advantages, and disadvantages of the course are discussed.…

Describes a qualitative analysis laboratory in which students examine specific precipitates that can be used to identify copper, cobalt, nickel, and iron cations. The objective of the laboratory is to determine which test or sequence of tests unambiguously identifies each cation and to use the results to identify several unknowns. (JN)

Background information, procedures used, and results obtained are provided for an experiment in which a phase diagram is determined using a differential scanning calorimeter. Commercial samples of D-camphoric anhydride (Eastman Kodak) and D,L-camphoric anhydride (Aldrich) were used in the experiment. (JN)