Coordination chemistry via Inorganic Chemistry ASAP

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Mon, 09/14/2009 - 11:23
Description
This in-class activity is a fun way to show students how to apply basic concepts of coordination chemistry to complicated systems that appear in a recent issue of Inorganic Chemistry. After quickly reviewing types of ligands (monodentate, chelating, bridging), how we assign charge to ligands and metals in complexes, and the idea of coordination number, I took my class through a number of "real world" examples from the latest ASAP edition of Inorganic Chemistry.

Chemistry Bingo Generator

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 10:59
Description

I used this Excel spreadsheet to generate bingo cards for teaching *organic* nomenclature and functional groups to first year students during a recitation section.  I gave each student a handful of pennies and a bingo card generated randomly.  The topics could be easily changed to inorganic nomenclature, solid state lattices, you name it.  Its a quick way to review a small amount of material before an exam.

In-Class Review of Symmetry Operations and Point Groups

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 14:50
Description

This in-class activity was used on the first day of Advanced Inorganic Chemistry in lieu of lecture to review symmetry operations and point groups in small molecules.  The learning object was adapted to a small group discussion format from a fundamental quiz posted by Barbara Reisner (James Madison University) and a problem set question posted by Adam Johnson (Harvey Mudd College).

Free Rice...and Periodic Table Symbols?

Submitted by Nancy Williams / Scripps College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 14:11
Description

A neat site that quizzes you on chemical symbols (e.g., Ag for silver), and donates rice for right answers. Hey, if students are going to learn chemical symbols, they may as well do it in a game setting, and many will find it a touch less pointless if they're doing someone else some good at the same time.

IUCr Teaching Resources

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Thu, 08/13/2009 - 07:26
Description

In the past, I've always found the IUCr crystallographic pamphlets to be useful when teaching diffraction. They've reorganized their website to make their educational resources easier to find. On this link, you can find the IUCr teaching pamphlets, a short description of how to grow crystals,  and other crystallography web resources.

 Teaching Pamphlet Topics

Sol-Gel Silica: Nanoarchitectures of Being and Nothingness

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 16:59
Description

In this lab experiment, students use sol-gel chemistry to prepare silica gel monoliths from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS).  Carrying out the hydrolysis and condensation under acid-catalyzed vs.

First Day Review of Atomic Orbitals

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 22:30
Description

This is an interactive small-group discussion activity I did on the first day of sophomore-level inorganic chemistry to get students to interact with each other and brainstorm to collectively review what they knew about atomic orbitals.  I also wanted to "set the stage" for non-lecture type activities in this class.  I adapted this in-class activity from one posted by Joanne Stewart (Hope College) with additional questions from a fundamental quiz posted by Barbara Reisner

Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home--But Probably Shouldn't

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 16:18
Description

Theo Gray has compiled some of his Popular Science columns into a beautiful book of sometimes dangerous experiments, many of them with particular relevance to inorganic chemistry! With chapter names like "Experimental Cuisine", "Doomsday DIY", and "Twisted Shop Class", you know you in for a wild ride. Some particularly intriguing experiments include electroplating a copper design on your iPod, making glass and elemental silicon out of sand, making a burning Mg/dry ice sculpture, anodizing Ti for cool color effects, and creating a "hill billy hot tub" using 600 lbs of quicklime.

Molecular Orbital Diagrams

Submitted by Adam Bridgeman / The University of Sydney on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 03:51
Description

http://firstyear.chem.usyd.edu.au/calculators/mo_diagrams.shtml

Flash based tools to help with the construction of MO diagrams:

  • "energy levels" shows how the form of the bonding and antibonding orbitals, the bond order and atomic charges vary in a diatomic molecule with the electronegativity of the two atoms involved
  • "Molecular orbital diagram maker" shows how a complex MO diagram can be made by a drag and drop approach using symmetry adapted components

 

The Elements: Theo Gray's periodic table website

Submitted by Hilary Eppley / DePauw University on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 16:47
Description

While this site is also a commercial site (selling Theo's periodic tables and book, etc.) it is a wonderful resource of pictures of elements and their compounds, and "real life" uses of elements (such as a gamma ray imaging of the skeleton for Tc, a hard drive for B, and sushi for Hg!). It is also a source of movies of reactions of the elements, including some pretty impressive ones for the alkali metals and the thermite reaction. It also provides easy access to his chemistry column for Popular Science magazine.

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