Heartburn is a very common ailment. Many people rely on antacids such as Tums®, Rolaids®, or Milk of Magnesia to settle their stomachs, but have you ever wondered how those antacids work?
The major component of a non-carbonated drink such as KoolAid or a similar beverage is usually a fruit acid, either citric acid or malic acid. The titratable acid (H+) concentration of such drinks has been found to be in the range of 0.02 to 0.04 M. A weak acid-strong base titration of these drinks with 0.1 M NaOH solution is feasible as a student exercise. The use of such drinks as reagents is safe, convenient, and inexpensive. Experiment instructions are included.
Can Alkaline Water Change the pH of your body? We use chemistry to put this claim to the test!
Natural food dyes are being sold online and in stores that can be used as acid-base indicators. These dyes open up a host of possibilities for at-home and in-class. For example, these food dyes can be used as indicators in the quantitative titration of the Mg(OH)2 in milk of magnesia.
Many of us have molecular kits we only use once a year. Dust them off and find new lessons to use them in!
This book is filled with computer based labs that can be used in a range of classes from high school chemistry to an undergraduate course in physical chemistry. Bentham Science has generously provided free online access to the eBook through June 30, 2020.
Two groups of students, typically, have difficulty with titrations, the first time around. Those that act too rashly and overshoot the endpoint, and those over-cautious ones who they take forever to finish.
The Devil's Milkshake is a simple, yet interesting chemistry experiment that fits well as a Halloween demo.
Biosorption is a method that can be used for the removal of pollutants from wastewater, especially those that are not easily biodegradable. This experiment uses citrus fruit peels as part of a iodometric titration to conduct a wastewater treatment binding copper.
A few years ago, the faculty in our department at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania decided to switch to an atoms first approach to the General Chemistry course. We took advantage of this change to systematically redesign the first semester of the laboratory curriculum to be a true “laboratory course” that focuses on laboratory practices, techniques, and equipment rather than on chemical theory.
