Common Laboratory Apparatus

Enjoy a quick review of some common laboratory equipment over mood music...




Credits for images can be round in the lesson plan for this iPhoto slideshow.

Using Chemistry to Find Alien Life

Life is a complex chemical system. So what better way to discover alien life on planets outside our solar system than by using chemical methodologies. Of course we can't send a chemistry lab to a planet circling around another star far from our Sun. But we can use the science of spectroscopy to study the electromagnetic radiation that arrives to our Earth from distant planets. That is exactly what Garik Israelian is doing. Listen to him explain how the technology of spectroscopy can be used to detect alien life on planets far, far from here...

Comments from students on this post are welcome and invited!

ChemSpider

ChemSpider is a free web site that allows you to look up the chemical structure of countless molecules. Check it out! Search a molecule of you choice, and the site will show you the molecular structure in two dimensions. Click on the 3D tab, and it opens a new window with the structure in three dimensions! Use your mouse to rotate the structure and get a better look from any angle. Right-click on the 3D image for more options.

Check out this 3D structure of testosterone.

Models of the Atom

The idea of the atom has a long history. Enjoy this podcast for a brief overview of the development of the model of the atom from the time of the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus to today. See images of the key scientists involved in the development of the model, as well as images of the shapes of some representative atomic orbitals.

Image credits can be found in the lesson plan for this podcast. Texts of the abridged script and full script are also available.

Hello world!

Welcome to the new blog for my chemistry classes at James River High School in Midlothian! This blog will complement my class website by introducing miscellaneous information that will be of interest to chemistry students.

Check out the molecule of the week from the American Chemical Society, glyphosate, better known under its trade name as the weed killer, Roundup.