Microscale Gas Workshops Summer 2002

Microscale Gas Chemistry Workshops
Summer 2002

Merrimack College, Massachusetts, July 19 - 21, 2002

Bruce Mattson, Dept. of Chemistry, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska 68178 USA
Susan Mattson, Underwood High School, Underwood, Iowa 51576 USA

(Workshop pictures below!)

A message for the participants of our gas workshop at Merrimack College:

Sue and I really enjoyed working with you at the National Microscale Chemistry Center for three great days! We enjoyed meeting all of you and the fun we had discussing gases, teaching, books and life in general! A special thanks to Dr. Mohan Singh for organizing and hosting our class.

We hope you will make productive use of these techniques. If you have any questions, please write to me (xenon@creighton.edu).

Best wishes to you all!

-Bruce and Sue

Abstract:
Important concepts of the high school and college chemistry curriculum can be taught with gases. Environmental issues, reaction stoichiometry, intermolecular forces, catalysis, combustion, and molar mass are just a few examples. In this 20-hour workshop, participants will learn to safely and conveniently generate over a dozen gases for classroom and laboratory use with simple, inexpensive equipment such as 60-mL plastic syringes. Each gas can be used in a variety of experiments. Typically, a 60-mL sample of a gas is enough for several microscale experiments. Costs are low and the experiments are enjoyable and easy. Using plastic syringes allows students to visualize changes in gas volume and to manipulate gases in a quantitative way. In all, over 140 experiments have been developed for these gases. Many of the gases, including H2, CO2, O2, C2H2, NH3, N2, NO, NO2, HCl, CO, C2H4, CH4, and N2O are suited for microscale laboratory activities for high school and college level chemistry students. Detailed instructions for the safe generation of all gases as well as the experiments with these gases are provided for free on our website (http://mattson.creighton.edu/Microscale_Gas_Chemistry.html) and are also available in our two books.

The workshop will also include the preparation and experimentation with several gases such as SO2, Cl2, H2S and SiH4 that are easily prepared but best suited for classroom demonstrations rather than student activities. During this workshop participants will use a gas generation kit and will practice and master the techniques of gas-generation using syringes. Participants will then perform numerous experiments using gas-filled syringes.

Advanced techniques will be addressed in the latter part of the workshop. In particular, participants will work with a glass-encased hetereogenous palladium catalyst tube suitable for demonstrating gas phase reactions in the classroom or teaching laboratory. The catalyst tube can be used to demonstrate a wide variety of reactions including oxidation of hydrocarbons with air, oxidation of carbon monoxide with air, hydrogenation of ethene, oxidation of ammonia with oxygen, oxidation of methane with nitrogen dioxide, oxidation of methane and dinitrogen monoxide, the reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen monoxide, and others.

List of activities similar to those to be conducted in this workshop.

The traditional photo of the first syringe of gas - carbon dioxide -- or Joseph Black's "fixed air".