This second article in a three-part series on gas laws describes how to use a Mason jar to collect data and demonstrate the pressure-temperature relationship, Gay-Lussac’s law. Its huge advantage is that the gas temperature is measured, NOT the temperature of the water bath.
This three-part series will describe how to use syringes, pressure gauges and mason jars to study gas laws — Boyle’s law, Gay-Lussac’s law and Avogadro’s law. Most likely you did not learn the properties of gases using mason jars, syringes and pressure gauges.
Enzyme catalysis is an important topic which is often neglected in introductory chemistry courses. In this paper, we present a simple experiment involving the yeast-catalyzed fermentation of sugars.
The cover photograph of the November 2014 issue of Chem 13 News (pictured above) is more interesting than it might appear at first glance. (Consider this demonstration 1.)
Chemical reactions are the most exciting part of chemistry class. Over the past five years I have developed an experience-based chemical reactions unit that features instructional videos coupled with a small group laboratory experience, whole-class demonstrations, and an interactive “demo test” as a final assessment.
Your students may find it interesting to determine and compare the acid content of individual sour hard candies. In addition to doing the titration analysis and the calculations, reported as the percent by mass of citric acid, students can learn about the technology of candy making.
The catalytic oxidation of tartrate ions by hydrogen peroxide has been a staple of the Duke chemistry instructional program for many years. The demonstration clearly and colorfully brings to life the textbook description of what a catalyst is and how it enables a reaction to proceed at a faster rate by becoming involved in the reaction, yet in the end returns to its original state.
An aluminum can is not just made of aluminum, but it is lined with a plastic film to prevent oxidation of the inside surface by any acid in the soft drink’s contents. In the experiment, by oxidizing the aluminum from the outside, the intact plastic lining can be seen.
Since 2003, I have been volunteering at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, both during my summer vacations and also during part of my two fellowship leaves.
Your students may find it interesting to compare the acid content of a low-acid apple juice or a low-acid orange juice to that in a regular juice of the same brand. These sample types could be added to an existing acid-base titration experiment, form the basis of a new experiment, or be used as project topics.