Chemistry Innovative Uses

If your school owns MEL-TEMP units, this is for you. Our Wide-Range Temperature Probe fits perfectly into the thermometer slot of a MEL-TEMP unit. This is a great option, especially if your school is no longer using mercury thermometers. The Wide-Range Temperature Probe can be used safely to 330°C, and its RTD (resistance temperature detection)…

Subjects: Chemistry

When we originally created the popular Periodic Table application in LabQuest, we realized that there was a gold mine of information in the database that could eventually be used to create periodic table plots, such as atomic radius vs. atomic number, first ionization energy vs. atomic number, etc. Most introductory chemistry courses introduce periodic trends…

Subjects: Chemistry

pH variation in Thionin: The Two-Faced Solution Integrated-Science students Erin Smyers and Nicole Loughner from Homer-Center High School in Homer City, PA, worked with their science team leader, Mark Shopland, to investigate the pH changes in an oxidation-reduction reaction. The students chose to work with Thionin based on the demonstration “Thionin – The Two-Faced Solution”…

Subjects: Chemistry

Using Vernier technology to help teach the structure of the Periodic Table may seem strange to some, but not to Jacklyn Bonneau, teacher at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science. For years, Jackie has been having her students graph the physical properties of the elements versus atomic number to look for patterns related to…

Subjects: Chemistry

Although the Drop Counter was developed to record drops during titration, attaching the Luer-lock stopcock to the outlet of a chromatography column adapts it for use as an inexpensive fraction collector for column chromatography. Although column chromatography is an essential part of the undergraduate biochemistry laboratory curriculum, most undergraduate programs cannot afford to purchase a…

Subjects: Chemistry

Peter O'Connor, a teacher from Boonsboro High School in Maryland, described a situation facing many teachers—lots of students and only a few computers. “Having used Logger Pro for many years dating back to the ULI days, my school has been happy using it in our labs. However, as class size increased, we have had issues…

Subjects: Chemistry

A number of methods have been developed to determine the composition of a binary mixture spectrophotometrically. Most of these are directed at mixtures where one component can be isolated from the other or they require a Beer’s law experiment to measure the molar absorptivity of each of the substances in the mixture. Vernier consultant, Walter…

Subjects: Chemistry

An interesting and challenging problem for AP Chemistry students is the investigation of a mixture. We have a great chemistry experiment available in which the student analyzes a mixture of hydrochloric acid and phosphoric acid. This lab presents the student with the task of conducting a seemingly routine acid-base titration. However, the student must analyze…

Subjects: Chemistry

Each year, Joan Pease, AP Chemistry teacher at Hall High School, West Hartford, CT, has her students participate in a Chemistry Fair. She has her students design a unique experiment testing a topic that was studied during the year. Last year, two of her students, Douglas Dell’Accio and David Leer, designed a project that investigated…

Subjects: Chemistry

Investigating single-use heat packs A popular, inexpensive, product sold in northern climes is a single-use packet that warms up upon “activation” and stays warm for a few hours. They come in different sizes, most are small enough to fit in an adult palm, and they’re advertised as “hand warmers,” “feet warmers,” or generically as heat…

Subjects: Chemistry