The first week of a typical inorganic chemistry lecture class focuses on atomic structure. However, the associated laboratory class presents a problem: not enough material has been taught in lecture to perform one of the common inorganic chemistry wet-labs, equipment to perform an upper-level atomic structure experiment does not exist at most regional state universities, and the first 30 minutes of class is often used to review the class syllabus, laboratory safety, etc. This short laboratory activity followed by a data analysis exercise was developed to provide the students with a relevant lab class experience during that first week of class. In this laboratory exercise continuous and quantized spectra are viewed through a handheld spectroscope and then atomic line spectra data are taken from the NIST database website 1 and analyzed using advanced techniques in Microsoft Excel. While in most General Chemistry classes students are given the Rydberg equation and asked to use it in calculations, in this lab the students derive the Rydberg equation from the experimental data. Step-by-step, the students find the most suitable equation to fit the data and then interpret what the equation reveals about the structure of the atom. This lab exercise is intimately connected to atomic structure, it requires little to no instrumentation or laboratory equipment, and it is self-guided, so it is not limited to the scheduled class time. Because most of the lab is self-guided using data from the NIST website, this lab can also very easily be converted into an on-line format.
William M. Ward (Wed,) studied this question.