Dental caries (tooth decay) and periodontal (gum) disease are treated/prevented by procedures utilizing chemical expertise. Procedures and suggestions on how they might be incorporated into the high school chemistry curriculum are described. Specific topics discussed include dental caries, fluoride, diet, tooth decay prevention, silver amalgan,…

An Osmette A model 5002 automatic osmometer is used to characterize different drugs, diluents, and adulterants commonly encountered in samples of forensic interest, permitting rapid determinations with good reproducibility and use by large numbers of students with little training. Includes background information, procedures, and typical students…

A simple isotonic, dilution analysis whose principles apply to methods of more complex radioanalyses is described. Suitable for clinical and instrumental analysis chemistry students, experimental manipulations are kept to a minimum involving only aqueous extraction before counting. Background information, procedures, and results are discussed.…

Theoretical background, experimental procedures, and analysis of experimental results are provided for an undergraduate physical chemistry experiment on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) linewidths. Source of line broadening observed in a spin-spin exchange process between radicals formed in aqueous solutions of potassium peroxylamine…

Describes a semi-automatic viscometer which incorporates a microprocessor system and uses optoelectronics to detect flow of liquid through the capillary, flow time being displayed on a timer with accuracy of 0.01 second. The system could be made fully automatic with an additional microprocessor circuit and inclusion of a pump. (Author/JN)

Describes modification of a gas viscometer to produce a low cost instrument with high precision and safe design. Three tungsten electrodes are mounted in the viscometer using graded glass seals and a ball trap is inserted between mercury reservoir and all external stopcocks. Also describes modifications in experimental procedures. (Author/JN)

Describes an experiment in which parameters from an "ab-initio" potential are used to calculate vibrational-rotational energy levels and construct a "stick spectrum" for the overtone emission of the hydroxyl radical. Provides background information on ab-initio spectrum, experimental procedures, and analysis of data. (Author/JN)

Background information, materials/procedures, and results are provided for an undergraduate laboratory experiment on a photochemical ligand substitution reaction using sunlight. The experiment illustrates demonstration of photochemistry and basic mechanisms of transition metal reactions using inexpensive materials and is easily followed by…

Experimental procedures, typical observations, and results for the simultaneous analysis of Fe(III) and Cu(II) in a solution are discussed. The method is based on selective interaction between the two ions and potassium hexacyanoruthenate(II) in acid solution involving no preliminary sample preparations. (Author/JN)

Products of nitrations, upon distillation or steam distillation, may produce dermatitis in some students. A procedure for nitration of beta-naphthol producing a relatively non-volatile product not purified by steam distillation is described. Nitration of alpha-naphthol by the same procedure yields Martius Yellow dye which dyes wool yellow or…

A hydrodynamic modulation voltammetry (HMV) experiment involving use of simple hydrodynamic modulation procedures is described. Competing with time/equipment restrictions of most teaching laboratories (stopped-stirring and stopped-flow volumetry), students perform both batch and flow analyses and are introduced to analytical flow systems and the…

Reports an oxidation-reduction experiment using tungsten, somewhat analogous to the classical student experiment involving oxidation-reduction of vanadium. Includes experimental procedures, results, and toxicity/cost of tungsten compounds. (Author/JN)

Reports on the conversion 2,5-dimethylhexyne-2,5-diol(I) to 2,2,5,5-tetramethyltetrahydrofuran-3-one(II) using aqueous mercuric sulfate without the use of acid. The experiment has been successfully performed in introductory organic chemistry laboratories demonstrating alkyne hydration, steam distillation, vacuum distillation, drying of organic…

Use of phase transfer agents to facilitate/accelerate chemical reactions has become an established practice, particularly in organic chemistry. Describes an undergraduate laboratory procedure demonstrating the principles involved in the use of said agents. Includes student results from phase transfer assisted permanganate oxidations. (Author/JN)

Outlines 2 procedures for synthesizing 2-acetyl-1,4-naphthoquinone to compare relative merits of the two pathways. The major objective of the exercise is to demonstrate that certain factors should be considered when selecting a pathway for synthesis including availability of starting materials, cost of reagents, number of steps involved,…