Chemistry

My experience with Chemistry based research separates into two related experiences. In the first experience, I was acting as a team lead working on solving a problem with one of the laboratory procedures for one of the College Level Chemistry Courses. It is called the Water Project.

Water project

In that project, my team was tasked to resolve a problem that students were having during the completion of the Qualitative Analysis laboratory procedure. The problem was that students were getting false-positive results when testing the solutions for the presence of Co ions. The problem turned out to be the contaminated DI water that students were using for the procedure. Our team successfully resolved the issue by changing the confirmation test for the detection of the ion with an environmentally friendly compound. The poster for that project can be accessed here.

Our research involved the following tools:

• UVI Vis spectromenter

• Portable Photometer

• pH tester

After the completion of the Water Project, it was proposed for me to work on expanding the Qualitative Analysis Laboratory Procedure.

Qualitative Analysis Project

Originally, the procedure had 11 ions that had to be identified by students by the means of single confirmation tests. I managed to add an extra ion to the analysis and add more confirmation methods by using spectroscopic methods while maintaining the environmentally green standards by the state of California.

The file below is a narrated PowerPoint on the research of improving a qualitative analysis laboratory for one of the Chemistry classes at Los Angeles City College.

Main improvements to the laboratory procedures:

• Old procedure:

  • 11 ions analyzed

  • Single confirmation test for each ion

• New procedure:

  • 12 ions analyzed

  • Multiple confirmation tests for each ion

  • Fire Test is now included as one of the confirmation methods

  • Spectroscopy is now included as one of the confirmation methods

Advisor:

Professor Terry Boan: boanta@lacitycollege.edu