Undergraduate chemistry courses

Training in each of these fields provides a unique perspective to the study of chemistry. Undergraduate chemistry courses and textbooks are more than a collection of facts they are a kind of apprenticeship. In keeping with this spirit, this text introduces the field of analytical chemistry and the unique perspectives that analytical chemists bring to the study of chemistry. 

Thomson s momentous discovery of the electron 100 years ago this year is a story familiar to anyone who has enrolled in an undergraduate chemistry course. His experiments with cathode-ray tubes allowed him to determine the charge-to-mass ratio of the electron—with a mass some 1,000 times less than the smallest particle previously found—and to establish that it was a component of all matter. Thus Thomson earned a place in the annals of physics—and the honor of a centenary. We might also, however, take note of another contribution Thomson made, one that is not so widely known. 

Meester, M. A. M., Maskill, R. (1994). Secondyearpractical classes in undergraduate chemistry courses in England and Wales. London Royal Soeiety of Chemistry. 

Microbial reduction has been recognized for decades as a laboratory method of preparing alcohols from ketones with exquisite enantioselectivity. The baker s yeast system represents one of the better known examples of biocatalysis, taught on many undergraduate chemistry courses. Numerous other microorganisms also produce the ADH enzymes (KREDs) responsible for asymmetric ketone reduction, and so suitable biocatalysts have traditionally been identified by extensive microbial screening. Homann et have... 

As chemists, much of our intuition concerning chemical bonds is built on simple models introduced in undergraduate chemistry courses. The detailed examination of the H2 molecule via the valence bond and molecular orbital approaches forms the basis of our thinking about bonding when confronted with new systems. Let us examine this model system in further detail to explore the electronic states that arise by occupying two orbitals (derived from the two Is orbitals on the two hydrogen atoms) with two electrons. 

One particularly powerful insight students gain from this assignment is the limitations of the van der Waals equation of state. Often in undergraduate chemistry courses, the van der Waals equation is presented as the universal correction to the ideal gas law, perhaps owing to its straightforwardness and the ease with which it can be understood. Recognizing its limitations leads students to consider other equations of state, where each expression has its own set of assumptions. While students are initially uneasy with the notion that the van der Waals equation has drawbacks and that decisions about which EOS to use depends on the system or context, this unease is not uncommon in the execution of real science. 

Stoichiometry includes the calculations that relate amounts of reactants and/or products in a chemical reaction. You no doubt covered this topic in depth during your undergraduate chemistry course. For our purposes here, we need only the basics. 

The sequence of sensorial experiments discussed below represents the evolution of our approaches at developing a series of experiments to fit into the first two years of undergraduate chemistry courses, general and organic. 

Used in this way the phase I Features of Interest approach of the structure of a Spider Diagram introduced at the first year level can be readily extended into the succeeding years of an undergraduate chemistry course and provides a basis for instruction in essay writing or talk presentation. 

In terms of a laboratory and / or in-class demonstration setting, the emission spectra of gas tubes with hydrogen, sodium, neon, or mercury may be viewed with inexpensive diffraction gratings to illustrate identification of elements. A demonstration with flame tests of salts can further Illustrate the basis of Bohr s atomic theory. Additionally, flame tests are often employed as a part of qualitative inorganic laboratory procedures for the determination of various cations. Such lab activities or demonstrations are appropriate for middle school, high school, and undergraduate chemistry courses. 

Prerequisites Two first-year undergraduate chemistry courses Textbooks/Reading Materials Recommended library readings from various books and journals. 

Preparation of Experiment-Specific Laboratory Chemical Safety Summaries from Material Safety Data Sheets for Undergraduate Chemistry Courses... 

The OSHA Savvy chemist must know how to find, use, and adapt information from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs). Therefore, there should be no argument that education related to MSDSs is appropriate for chemistry students. Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories (2) states that information from them should be incorporated as part of all laboratory procedures. The National Research Council committee that prepared Prudent Practices (1) recommends that students in laboratory classes be included in the safety education appropriate for all other laboratory workers, and that this education, which includes the use of MSDSs, cannot be assumed to be optional. However, an instructor is faced with several problems when considering the introduction of safety related topics in undergraduate chemistry courses. These include the matter of appropriateness, when and where in the curriculum to introduce such material, and accessible... 

Electrode potentials is an essential topic in all modern undergraduate chemistry courses and provides an elegant and ready means for the deduction of a wealth of thermodynamic and other solution chemistry data. This primer develops the foundations and applications of electrode potentials from first principles using a minimum of mathematics only assuming a basic knowledge of elementary thermodynamics. 

Most university teachers of chemistry are becoming seriously concerned about the relentless increase in the amount and complexity of the material that is squeezed into undergraduate chemistry courses. With this in mind the authors have tried to cut detail to a minimum, but readers will find that the relative amount presented varies considerably between the various topics discussed. In general the treatment is more extensive than usual only if either or both of these conditions are met (1), the subject has significant bearing on other major branches of chemistry including important industrial processes (2), the topic is commonly misunderstood or found to be confusing. 

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