One hour lanthanides overview

Submitted by Ana de Bettencourt-Dias / University of Nevada, Reno on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 14:51
Description
This is a set of 36 slides with an overview on the history, production, industrial applications, coordination and organometallic chemistry of the lanthanides.  This is a condensed version of a semester long course for graduate students.  It does not include any lanthanides spectroscopy.  Some of the content was obtained from Prof. Jean-Claude Bunzli's lectures on lanthanides and actinides.

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.

Basic Chemistry Review

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 14:32
Description

This website is a self-paced review of concepts for gen chem and includes test questions (and answers) for the reader.  It would be a great site to point your intro chem students to if they want/need extra review.  It is a set of 10 units, covering things like stoichiometry, unit conversions, and basic acid-base chemistry.  

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.

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.

Elements on Encyclopedia of the Earth

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 01:32
Description

This is a resource that focuses on the elements from a geological perspective. What I like about the website is that it provides examples of the uses and sources of elements.

WebElements

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 18:53
Description

This is my all time favorite resource for finding out basic information about the elements. I love it. And all of my students do too.

House: Inorganic Chemistry

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 15:35
Description

House (Inorganic chemistry):  The book is divided into 5 parts:  first, an introductory section on atomic structure, symmetry, and bonding; second, ionic bonding and solids; third, acids, bases and nonaqueous solvents; fourth, descriptive chemistry; and fifth, coordination chemistry.  The first three sections are short, 2-4 chapters each, while the descriptive section (five chapters) and coordination chemistry section (seven chapters covering ligand field theory, spectroscopy, synthesis and reaction chemistry, organometallics, and bioinorganic chemistry.) are longer.  Each chapter includes

Oliver Sacks' "Uncle Tungsten" and inorganic chemistry

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 21:32
Description

Students read Oliver Sacks' autobiography "Uncle Tungsten" and take turns writing chapter summaries and discussion questions. Some chapters focus on Sacks' childhood chemical explorations and others on the historical period of his youth. In the summary, students are asked to either explain the chemistry in contemporary terms OR explain the context (what was going on in the world) of the historical pieces.