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Literature Cited
A Chemistry Tidbit for Batman Fans Many of our students are probably familiar with Batman, the DC Comics character, as well as one of his frequent adversaries, The Joker (1). Batman fans well know that The Joker, a psychopathic criminal, will occasionally cause his victims to die with grotesque smiles on their faces. It may, therefore, be of interest to such students that a recent publication may shed light on the possible ingredient in The Joker's formulation responsible for this trademark. Giovanni Appendino and colleagues report (2) on their investigation of Oenanthe plants, arguing that O. crocata, a species common in Sardinia, contains the neurotoxins oenanthotoxin and dihydrooenanthotoxin, which can paralyze the facial muscles in a strained smile. Because these natural products contain a conjugated dialkyne structure, these molecules may provide an interesting example for those teaching organic chemistry. Literature Cited 1. Batman Comics, issue #1; National Periodicals, Inc.: New York, 1940. 2. Appendino, G.; Pollastro, F.; Verotta, L.; Ballero, M.; Romano, A.; Wyrembek, P.; Szczuraszek, K.; Mozrzymas, J. W.; Taglialatela-Scafati, O. Polyacetylenes from Sardinian Oenanthe fistulosa: A Molecular Clue to Risus Sardonicus. J. Nat. Prod. 2009, 72, 962–965. Ben Ruekberg Chemistry Department, University of Rhode Island, Kingstown, Rhode Island 02881
[email protected] DOI: 10.1021/ed1003228 Published on Web 07/02/2010
Writing Haiku as an Activity in a Fundamentals of Chemistry Class Students in a Fundamentals of Chemistry class were invited to write a haiku as they were studying topics in gases, solutions, and acid-base theory. Three, written by student Jenny Braga, were especially pertinent, creative, and enjoyable. Studying chem now, Molarity ignites joy As it crams my head. Gas laws fill the air. Charles, how I love thee so My heart may explode.
Jenny Braga and Melvin R. Kantz* Natural Sciences Division, El Camino College, Torrance, California 90506 *
[email protected] DOI: 10.1021/ed100350k Published on Web 07/02/2010
What's in Your iPod? Keeping undergraduate students engaged is a challenging task when teaching introductory general chemistry courses. Recently, I taught second-semester general chemistry with 24 students, and I wanted to find a creative way to begin a discussion on the topic of electrochemistry, which can be a difficult topic for students to fully understand. I decided to begin my lecture by focusing on a very popular electronic device, namely, the iPod. I also believed this was an easy way to discuss a real-world example in the classroom. I began by writing on the board titles of selected songs from my playlist, which of course my students found to be quite amusing. I then asked them to name a few artists in their iPods, and they enthusiastically provided names of many artists and songs that I have never heard of! But, one student did mention listening to Michael Jackson. Subsequently, I asked my students “how does an iPod work?” After a minute of silence, I said, “Well, they have a battery, right?” Most students nodded in agreement. This was a nice opportunity to review the concepts of oxidation, reduction, oxidizing agents, reducing agents, and oxidation numbers, which they learned during the first semester of general chemistry. Moreover, a fundamental understanding of these concepts is essential before focusing on more challenging topics such as balancing redox reactions. Many iPods contain a lithium-ion battery, which uses a transition metal oxide such as LiCoO2 as the cathode. I asked the students to tell me the oxidation state of the cobalt metal in order to review oxidation states. This was a good review before discussing balancing redox reactions. However, I encourage using additional resources to further extend the discussion on the electrochemistry of iPods. For instance, students are very familiar with Internet resources such as Wikipedia, which includes background information on lithium-ion batteries (1) and the half reactions: LiCoO2 hLi1 - x CoO2 þ xLiþ þ xe -
The litmus turns blue: Is it a boy or a girl? Neither, it's a base.
xLiþ þ xe - þ 6ChLix C6
Haiku have appeared in the Journal before, especially in response to a regular Earth Day contest (1, 2). r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
1. JCE staff. J. Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 214; DOI: 10.1021/ed084p214. 2. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 191; DOI: 10.1021/ed081p191.
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cathode
anode
Instructors could use the background information listed in Wikipedia for further discussion in the classroom and encourage their students to review this material as well. Another possible topic is disproportionation. In standard electrolyte solutions,
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disproportionation of LiCoO2 is also quite possible leading to the formation of other cobalt oxides (2). Moreover, it is important to also recognize that the iPod consists of other components in addition to the lithium-ion battery, namely, the memory and the screen. Depending on an instructor's comfort level, these concepts can also be discussed (e.g., memory chips and semiconductors) (3). Discussions on liquid crystal displays on the students' iPod can also be included (4, 5). Furthermore, students may be interested in learning about how music is actually stored in an iPod, specifically flash drives, about which instructors could focus on the importance of transistor behavior (6). Other resources could be used to provide students with a historical overview of memory devices (7, 8). In addition to lithium-ion batteries as an application for iPods, instructors could also include other applications such as the use of lithium-ion batteries in the Telsa Motors electric car (9). Instructors can also have the students compare various battery technologies such as dry-cell and fuel-cell batteries, specifically pointing out the differences between these technologies. At the end of the semester, my students completed an evaluation of the course and I asked them to comment on my iPod lecture. A couple of responses included: “I thought it was helpful and cool to see chemistry in an everyday item.” “Yes, I liked learning how classroom content is actually applied.”
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Literature Cited 1. Lithium-Ion Battery Entry in English at Wikipedia. http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery (accessed Jul 2010). 2. Martha, S. K. J. Power Sources 2009, 189, 288–296. 3. Beyond Flash;Memories Are Made of This. http://www.physorg. com/news167493381.html (accessed Jul 2010). 4. Lewis, D. L.; Warren, J. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 1602. 5. Waclawik, E. R.; Ford, M. J.; Hale, P. S.; Shapter, J. G.; Voelcker, N. H. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 854. 6. Flash Memory Entry in English at Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Flash_memory (accessed Jul 2010). 7. iPod Nano Success May Kill the Drive Storage Market. http:// www.macnn.com/articles/05/10/03/nano.to.kill.hd.market/ (accessed Jul 2010). 8. Morehouse, C. C. “Non-Volatile Storage for Information Access,” http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200308/forefronts.cfm (accessed Jul 2010). 9. Voith, M. Chem. Eng. News 2009, 87, 24–28. Sibrina Collins
This provided a great opportunity to discuss chemistry concepts and it allowed the students to learn a little bit more about their professor. Students are often intimidated by their professors; with this lecture they came to the realization that I am
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just an “old” human being, because most of my music comes from the 1970s.
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Department of Chemistry, College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 44691
[email protected] DOI: 10.1021/ed100310m Published on Web 08/03/2010
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