General

by Dean J. Campbell*, Thomas Kahila*, Kaitlyn Walls*, Q Ott* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

On February 3, 2023, a train derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio.^1-2 Five of the train cars were carrying vinyl chloride (Figure 1), a compound that is mostly used to make PVC.

I enjoyed reading Yvonne Clifford’s piece, The Diet Coke And Mentos Reaction – Having A Literal Blast!, regarding the sublimation of dry ice, CO_2(s).

by Dean J. Campbell* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

The Diet Coke and Mentos reaction is a common experiment performed in many science classes. This year, I adapted my somewhat free-wheeling “wing it” approach to this experiment to instead have students research, test, and adapt as needed. The students’ goal is to get the highest possible geyser.

Various items (hot dogs, bananas, flowers, racquetballs, plastic cups) show properties akin to glass when chilled in liquid nitrogen.^1-4 Objects such as racquetballs and plastics behave in this manner because they are made of polymers, and polymers can become cooled below what is known as the glass transition temperature (T_g) for t

Co-Authored by Dean J. Campbell* and Kaitlyn Walls* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

That it was the “Best Class EVER” seems to be the common refrain every year by most every student for 30 years after the Dry Ice Day and this year was no exception! Dry Ice is an exciting chemical to bring to the chemistry classroom because it affords endless possibilities for fun. I have a few fun activities that I do each year with my grade

Co-Authored by Dean J. Campbell*, Kaitlyn Walls*, Q Ott*, and Zaman Shah* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

Heating and cooling curves are important visuals for chemistry students to understand when they are studying phase changes and thermal energy.