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Chemical Illustrations of Flattening the Curve

Dean Campbell | Sun, 03/22/2020 - 18:24

With the current global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much discussion of “flattening the curve” by social distancing. These ideas can be demonstrated chemically, for example, by the iron-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to produce an oxygen gas foam. Decreased hydrogen peroxide concentrations, representing decreased human population concentrations from social distancing, produce oxygen gas foam, representing cases of illness, at a slower rate. A similar demonstration can be achieved using the popular Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. These simple experiments are best used as stand-alone demonstrations.

Global Experiments

Melissa Hemling | Sat, 03/14/2020 - 23:55

With millions of teachers and students facing remote-learning because of COVID-19, a global experiment may be a great way to engage students at home.

Making a (big) eruption with chemistry!

Scott Balicki | Wed, 03/11/2020 - 16:44

As teachers, we can leverage fruitful discussions about chemical control with students to elicit more about students' initial ideas and ways of reasoning. From asking students to clarify their own thinking, we can identify students’ own productive ideas that we can capitalize on to advance their thinking.

A Multi-Colored Equilibrium Experiment

Tom Kuntzleman | Thu, 03/05/2020 - 18:35

Solutions of copper (II) dissolved in acetone are easy to prepare, and can display orange, yellow, green, and blue color depending upon conditions. Such solutions allow for a variety of demonstrations and experiments that illustrate principles of chemical equilibrium. 

Limiting Reagents and Gases

Chad Husting | Sun, 02/02/2020 - 06:53

This unique microscale gas collection technique provides students with reasonably good data in a short period of time. Students have more time to analyze the data and communicate their findings. 

Seeing Chemistry in a Different Light—FLIR Thermal Cameras in the Classroom

Ben Meacham | Wed, 01/15/2020 - 10:43

Before trying to use a piece of equipment, it’s worthwhile to have a basic understanding of how it works. To put it simply, FLIR cameras primarily deal with the infrared part of the EMR spectrum. The camera detects infrared energy and converts it into an electrical signal, which is then processed to produce a thermal image on a video monitor.