Greener General Chemistry Labs

Three “coffee-cup” calorimetry experiments:
1) Use of the Law of Dulong and Petit to identify an unknown metal
2) Measurement of the enthalpy of sublimation of dry ice
3) Exploration of the relationship between surface area and the rate of heat transfer and the amount of heat transferred

Featuring contributions from Tamara Fitzjarrald

The molar mass of an ideal gas is directly proportional to its density. This property has long been used in laboratory experiments in which a flask is filled with the vapor of a volatile liquid, and the mass, volume, temperature, and pressure of the vapor are used to find the molar mass of that vapor. In a related approach, the difference in the mass between a sample of carbon dioxide and a sample ...

This is an improvement over a similar lab published in Harris’ Analytical Chemistry text. Instead of using organics to form reddish solutions, the catechins or polyphenolic compounds in green tea form colored complexes with iron. UV-Vis spectroscopy in conjunction with Beer’s law can then be used to determine the concentration of Fe in vitamin tablets.

Other authors: Davis Winn (Georgia Gwinnett ...

The purpose of this lab is to introduce students to some basics of the chemistry of polymers. Polymer chemistry is often an afterthought in the General Chemistry curriculum, but polymers are very much present in students’ lives. The lab introduces the relationship between molecular structure (e.g., branched vs. linear, bulky vs small side groups) and bulk properties (e.g., flexibility). This lab ...

The purpose of this lab is to give students experience in the practical preparation of buffers and exploring buffer properties. Students will prepare aqueous solutions with specific concentrations of acids and bases, and use pH meters to examine the pH of these buffers. The buffer capacity of the prepared buffers will also be measured.

Featuring contributions from Tamara Fitzjarrald.

This experiment looks at two types of chemical reactions that produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide gases. It explores both qualitative observations (no measurements or numbers involved) about the reactions, as well as quantitative measurements of the volume of gas produced to explore concepts of stoichiometry and the ideal gas law. These concepts will be used to relate the stoichiometry of gas ...

Students use stoichiometry to deduce the appropriate equation for the reaction between solid metallic iron and a solution of copper(II) sulfate. This reaction produces solid metallic copper, which is precipitated as a finely divided red powder in a single displacement reaction. During the reaction, atoms from a solid metal exchange with different metal ions in a salt solution. The iron produced ...

Electrolysis of water is carried out using biobased/low hazard indicators to help illustrate the reaction.

Key Chemistry References for this activity:
1) Skinner, J. F. “Red Cabbage and the Electrolysis of Water.” J Chem. Educ., 1981, 58, 1017. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed058p1017.1
2) Hugerat, M.; Abu-Much, R.; Basheer, A.; Basheer, S. “Using Inexpensive to Free Materials to do ...