organic chemistry

JCE 95.09 September 2018 Issue Highlights

Mary Saecker | Thu, 09/13/2018 - 12:25

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The September 2018 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education is now available online to subscribers. Topics featured in this issue include: reticular chemistry; laboratory research experience for students; historical perspective; chemistry and the environment; laboratories using color to understand chemistry; electrochemistry laboratories; DIY instrumentation; organic semiconductors; orbitals; computer-based learning and computational chemistry; from the archives: paper chromatography.

Determination of Vitamin C in a Produce Protector - Iodometric Method

Andrea Amato | Thu, 05/31/2018 - 10:21

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This activity is designed to determine the concentration of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in a produce protector (in this case, Ball^®Fruit Fresh) by an iodometric titration method.

ChemTube3D iPad App for organic mechanisms (and so much more!)

Lowell Thomson | Fri, 10/20/2017 - 21:17

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The recently published iPad app ChemTube3D (and related website for classrooms without iPads) will be discussed. It has a great deal of functionality - including a large selection of organic mechanism animations and models of structure and bonding.

Especially JCE: February 2017

Erica Jacobsen | Tue, 02/14/2017 - 12:40

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Erica Jacobsen shares highlights from the February 2017 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education that are of special interest to high school chemistry teachers.

Creating an Organic Chemistry Reaction Pathways Flowchart as a Unit Summary

Lowell Thomson | Fri, 01/27/2017 - 22:43

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For a recent unit on organic chemistry for my IB students, I tried something new. I gave them a handout with a list of organic compounds (by class/functional group) and a list of mechanisms and reaction types. Their task (in small groups), using either butcher paper or a large whiteboard, was to create a flow chart of reaction pathways.

Building Models of Isomers

Michael Morgan | Sun, 01/22/2017 - 13:23

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Students will build models of isomers while the instructor walks around from station to station to critique the models. If the model is incorrect, the students rebuild until they get it right. The paper that accompanies this assignment is very easy to grade.

Using The ChemDraw iPad App For Making Structures: A Quick Review And Tutorial

Lowell Thomson | Tue, 12/20/2016 - 21:00

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In this "Pick" I'll briefly describe how I use the ChemDraw iPad App for creating structures for my teaching. I also provide a link to a tutorial where I share some tips on how to get started using ChemDraw on your iPad.

The Mystery of the Burning Water: An Update

Lowell Thomson | Mon, 10/17/2016 - 08:02

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Tom Kuntzleman loves to share chemical mysteries and that inspired me to create a list of mysteries that are appropriate for the main topics covered in IB Chemistry. In this blog post I'd like to share some detail about how I modified the mystery of the burning water.

Identifying Organic Functional Groups Activity

Michael Morgan | Mon, 09/12/2016 - 15:53

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In a previous post I talked about an equation balancing lab that I have been doing with my students involving building molecular models. This time I would like to focus on another lab that I have developed for my model kits.

MolView: An App to View Structural Formulas and Models

Michelle Okroy | Mon, 08/08/2016 - 14:28

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What is the best way for students to visualize compounds? From the traditional physical ball and stick models to the various online simulations the objective for all of these tools is to provide one with a visual for the different structures and patterns. This summer while facilitating a workshop, the participants and I discussed this question and while reviewing various representations we came across MolView.