MeasureNet Bloghttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/RSS feeds for 60http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/147741/Modernization-of-University-General-Chemistry-Laboratory-Programs#Comments0Modernization of University General Chemistry Laboratory Programshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/147741/Modernization-of-University-General-Chemistry-Laboratory-Programs<p><img id="img-1368716794838" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/station on wood stand-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="describe the image" width="468" height="297">&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The modernization of a universities General Chemistry laboratory program can be a daunting and yet necessary&nbsp; task. This is especially true when you have 2000+ students taking General Chemistry every year.&nbsp; The University of Tennessee, Knoxville decided it was time to modernize their General Chemistry Lab Program for them to remain competitive. They knew that Electronic Data Collection Technology needed part of this process, and needed to be integrated into the labs. I am happy to say The University of Tennessee, Knoxville decided MeasureNet's Electronic Data Collection System was the technology selected in the redesign of their General Chemistry Laboratory Program.&nbsp;</p> <p><span><a href="https://www.chem.utk.edu/news/general-chemistry-redefined-chemistry-21st-century" title="“The laboratory makeover not only benefits the first-year students, but will help improve their preparation and success as they go on to take upper-level chemistry courses, “" target="_blank">“The laboratory makeover not only benefits the first-year students, but will help improve their preparation and success as they go on to take upper-level chemistry courses, “ </a></span></p> <p><span><span>Al Hazari, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories.</span>&nbsp;</span></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/147741/Modernization-of-University-General-Chemistry-Laboratory-Programs&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 16 May 2013 15:03:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:147741http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/146900/Miami-University-s-Unique-Application-of-MeasureNet-Published-in-The-Journal-of-Chemical-Education#Comments0Miami University's Unique Application of MeasureNet Published in The Journal of Chemical Educationhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/146900/Miami-University-s-Unique-Application-of-MeasureNet-Published-in-The-Journal-of-Chemical-Education<h2><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed300340x" title="Flow Injection Analysis and Liquid Chromatography for Multifunctional Chemical Analysis (MCA) Systems" target="_blank">Flow Injection Analysis and Liquid Chromatography for Multifunctional Chemical Analysis (MCA) Systems</a></h2> <h2><img id="img-1366987571091" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Flow Injection Analysis and Liquid Chromatography for Multifunctional Chemical Analysis (MCA) Systems-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="describe the image" width="435" height="319"></h2> <div id="authors"><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?action=search&amp;author=Mayo%2C+A+V&amp;qsSearchArea=author" id="authors">Ana V. Mayo</a><span class="NLM_x">&nbsp;</span><span class="NLM_x">,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?action=search&amp;author=Loegel%2C+T+N&amp;qsSearchArea=author" id="authors">Thomas N. Loegel</a><span class="NLM_x">&nbsp;</span><span class="NLM_x">,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?action=search&amp;author=Bretz%2C+S+L&amp;qsSearchArea=author" id="authors">Stacey Lowery Bretz</a><span class="NLM_x">&nbsp;</span><span class="NLM_x">, and&nbsp;</span><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?action=search&amp;author=Danielson%2C+N+D&amp;qsSearchArea=author" id="authors">Neil D. Danielson</a><span class="NLM_x">&nbsp;</span><a class="ref" href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed300340x#cor1">*</a><span class="NLM_x"></span></div> <div class="affiliations"> <div id="aff1">Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,&nbsp;<span class="institution">Miami University</span>, Oxford, Ohio 45056, United States</div> </div> <div id="citation"><cite>J. Chem. Educ.</cite>,&nbsp;<span class="citation_year">2013</span>,&nbsp;<span class="citation_volume">90</span>&nbsp;(4), pp 500–505</div> <div id="doi"><strong>DOI:&nbsp;</strong>10.1021/ed300340x</div> <div id="pubDate">Publication Date (Web): March 15, 2013</div> <div id="artCopyright">Copyright © 2013 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.</div> <div></div> <div><strong>Abstract</strong></div> <div></div> <p><strong><span style="color: #888888;">The large class sizes of first-year chemistry labs makes it challenging to provide students with hands-on access to instrumentation because the number of students typically far exceeds the number of research-grade instruments available to collect data. Multifunctional chemical analysis (MCA) systems provide a viable alternative for large-scale instruction while supporting a hands-on approach to more advanced instrumentation. This study describes how the capabilities of MCA systems are extended to introduce liquid chromatography (LC) and flow injection analysis (FIA) in undergraduate laboratories. A semi-micro plastic cuvette with a Teflon tubing insert is fashioned as the flow cell for a MCA absorbance–fluorescence detector. Two MCA systems, Vernier and MeasureNet, are used in two unique experiments demonstrating the detection of salicylate in aspirin tablets by FIA and the LC separation of a mixture of riboflavin and fluorescein. Both instruments, composed of a syringe pump, T-injection valve, and the MCA detector, operated in the kinetic mode, are rugged and inexpensive permitting student construction, if desired.</span><br></strong></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/146900/Miami-University-s-Unique-Application-of-MeasureNet-Published-in-The-Journal-of-Chemical-Education&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesFri, 26 Apr 2013 14:55:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:146900http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/137746/MeasureNet-Used-in-Research-to-Develop-Micro-Solid-Contact-Carbon-Nanotube-Ion-Selective-Electrode#Comments1MeasureNet Used in Research to Develop Micro Solid-Contact Carbon Nanotube Ion-Selective Electrodehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/137746/MeasureNet-Used-in-Research-to-Develop-Micro-Solid-Contact-Carbon-Nanotube-Ion-Selective-Electrode<p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Micro Solid-Contact Ion-Selective Electrode Using a Carbon<br>Nanotube Tower as Ion-to-Electron Transducer and Conductive<br>Substrate</h3> <p>&nbsp;<em>Xuefei Guo, Timothy Meyung, Yeoheung Yun, Vesselin N. Shanov, H. Brian Halsall, William</em><br><em>R. Heineman</em></p> <p><em><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/elan.201200348/pdf" title="Electroanalysis Volume 24, Issue 11 DOI: 10.1002/elan.201200348" target="_blank">Electroanalysis Volume 24, Issue 11 DOI: 10.1002/elan.201200348</a><br></em></p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong><br>Solid contact (SC) ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) have been recognized as the next generation of ISEs. In this work, the electrical conductivity and mechanical strength of a carbon nanotube (CNT) tower enable it to play the dual roles of transducer and substrate for micro SC-ISEs. The electrode had a close to Nernstian slope of 35 mV/decade a<sub>Ca2+</sub>, a linear range of four orders of magnitude of calcium ion activity (10<sup>-5.6</sup> to 10<sup>-1.8</sup>M), and a detection limit of 1.6 x 10<sup>-6</sup>M. The simplified fabrication by a one-step drop casting makes miniaturizing SC-ISEs and fabricating sensor arrays easier to achieve.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>MeasureNet</strong></p> <p>The MeasureNet MCAN® (Multi-functional Chemical Analysis&nbsp;Network) system consists of up to fifteen measurement workstations networked together and managed by a&nbsp;single MCAN® Controller and PC.&nbsp;Each Workstation has two +/- 2.5v analog input channels and one high-speed serial communication channel. The analog inputs are sampled by a two channel high-resolution 24-bit Sigma-Delta A/D. Sigma-Delta converters are designed for direct connection to sensors with low signal levels. The built-in signal conditioning and noise reduction of Sigma-Delta data converters makes them ideal for the low level noisy signals often found in potentiometric measurements&nbsp;of high impedance sensors like pH, ISE and other electrochemical&nbsp;sensors. The high-speed serial channel is for sensors with digital outputs.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <span>MCAN® workstation m</span>easurements are displayed&nbsp;in real-time on the workstation LCD and/or streamed in real-time to MeasureNet's LabKonnect cloud server for storage. Data&nbsp;collected at the workstations can be stored&nbsp;locally &nbsp;on the system PC and/or in cloud data storage accounts.&nbsp;Cloud data can also be monitored in real-time from any internet connected device - computer, tablet&nbsp;or smart phone, allowing the researcher to follow the progress from virtually anywhere while running&nbsp;experiments for extended time periods.&nbsp;LabKonnect will also alert the researcher via text message if something has gone wrong. The researcher specifies a range; the system notifies team members if measurements go beyond that range. Researchers no longer need to spend valuable time and resources babysitting experiments.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/137746/MeasureNet-Used-in-Research-to-Develop-Micro-Solid-Contact-Carbon-Nanotube-Ion-Selective-Electrode&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesMon, 05 Nov 2012 16:35:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:137746http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136998/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-5-Real-Time-Data-to-the-Cloud-Remote-Monitor-Experiments#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - Part 5 - Real-Time Data to the Cloud & Remote Monitor Experimentshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136998/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-5-Real-Time-Data-to-the-Cloud-Remote-Monitor-Experiments<p>MeasureNet has added some new features to our LabKonnect™ data storage site and PC software that provide you and your students with even greater flexibility than before.</p> <ul> <li>Automatic Data Files Graphing</li> <li>Online Lab Report Storage/Submission</li> <li>Extended Experiments with Remote Monitoring</li> </ul> <h3>Automatic Data Files Graphing</h3> <p>With the rollout of the new LabKonnect features, we decided to make it easier to get a quick idea of your data sets. &nbsp;Users can graph any data set uploaded through the MeasureNet Lab PC software right on the LabKonnect<span>™</span> site. &nbsp;</p> <h3><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/graphingPretty.png" alt="graphingPretty" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></h3> <h3>Online Lab Report Storage/Submission</h3> <p>MeasureNet LabKonnect now allows students to upload their lab reports and store them on the cloud. &nbsp;Instructors can download the lab reports, grade them, and then upload the graded lab report to the student's account for instant feedback with no wasted paper.</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/labReports.png" alt="labReports" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">(Lab Report View)</p> <p><img id="img-1350749476934" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/labReportUpload.png" alt="labReportUpload" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">(Lab Report Upload)</p> <h3>Extended Experiments with Remote Monitoring</h3> <p>One of MeasureNet's most exciting new features is the ability to conduct extended length experiments and remotely monitor them from the web. &nbsp;If you have an experiment with a slow reaction that needs to be monitored over several days, you can go home and have fun while still collecting your data. &nbsp;MeasureNet will even send you a text message if your experiment goes out of bounds. &nbsp;That way you can come in and fix your setup without losing days worth of valuable data.&nbsp;</p> <p>You can set up your alert conditions online, and then start the extended experiment with the Lab PC Software. &nbsp;After that, you just let your experiment run until you choose to stop it.</p> <p>This capability is ideal for research projects that require the monitoring of experiments that run for days or weeks. The <a href="http://www.artsci.uc.edu/collegedepts/chemistry/faculty_staff/profile_details.aspx?ePID=MjY1NjU%3D" title="William Heineman research group at the University of Cincinnati" target="_blank">William Heineman research group at the University of Cincinnati</a> has been using this feature for a number of their research projects.</p> <p><img id="img-1350750990332" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/extendedMonDialog.PNG" alt="extendedMonDialog" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">(Setting Up Extended Experiment in Lab PC Software)</p> <p>If you want to check up on your data and see how it's trending, you can log in and graph or download the data that has been collected so far. You can also leave comments on each of the extended experiment files in case you want to do multiple runs. &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img id="img-1350750486612" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/extendedFiles.png" alt="extendedFiles" border="0"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">(View and Graph Extended Experiment Files)</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/extendedFilesEdit.png" alt="extendedFilesEdit" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">(Mange Extended Experiment Files)</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136998/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-5-Real-Time-Data-to-the-Cloud-Remote-Monitor-Experiments&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesThu, 25 Oct 2012 13:35:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:136998http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136708/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-4-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - Part 4 - New Chemistry Experiments and Probeshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136708/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-4-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes<p><span>The folks here at <span class="GRcorrect">MeasureNet</span> have been hard at work integrating new probes into our system and creating new experiments. &nbsp;In this blog entry we'll be introducing the following new experiments and probes:</span></p> <ul> <li>Thermometric Titrations</li> <li>Conductivity Probe &amp; Experiment Options</li> <li><span class="GRcorrect">Colorimetric</span> Titration&nbsp; Hardware</li> </ul> <div></div> <h3>Thermometric Titrations</h3> <p><span class="GRcorrect">The newest</span> software integrates the drop counter and temperature probe and now has the capability to conduct experiments with Temperature <span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect">vs</span> Drops. &nbsp;This allows users to conduct Thermometric Titrations. &nbsp;</p> <div><img id="img-1350401383998" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Thermometric Titration Plot-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="Thermometric Titration Plot resized 600"></div> <h3><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/MeasureNet Thermometric Titration_1-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="MeasureNet Thermometric Titration 1 resized 600"></h3> <h3>Conductivity Probe &amp; Experiment Options</h3> <p>&nbsp;<span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect">MeasureNet</span> now offers a 4 range high resolution <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/conductivity/" title="conductivity probe" target="_blank">conductivity probe</a>. &nbsp;<span class="GRcorrect">MeasureNet</span> provides users the ability to conduct experiments with Conductivity <span class="GRcorrect">vs</span> Time and use the drop counter for Conductivity <span class="GRcorrect">vs</span> Volume <span class="GRcorrect">for</span> Conductometric Titrations. &nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1350394649424" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/conductivity probe-resized-241.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div></div> <h3><span class="GRcorrect">Colorimetric</span> Titration Hardware</h3> <p><span class="GRSpellingCorrect">MeasureNet</span> systems now have the ability to conduct <span class="GRSpellingCorrect">colorimetric</span>,&nbsp;Fluorometric, <span class="GRnoSuggestion GRSpellingCorrect">turbidometric</span> and&nbsp;<span class="GRnoSuggestion GRSpellingCorrect">chemiluminescent</span>&nbsp;<span class="GRnoSuggestion GRSpellingCorrect">titration</span> experiments. When ordering colorimeters, customers can specify if they would like them customized for <span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect">photometric</span> <span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect">titrations</span>. &nbsp;The kit includes a colorimeter, a base stand, a pump with power supply, and custom-made flow cell that pair with the MeasureNet colorimeter and drop counter. &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Colorimetric Titration_1-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="describe the image" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136708/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-4-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesWed, 24 Oct 2012 13:36:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:136708http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136683/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-3-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes-1#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - Part 3 - New Chemistry Experiments and Probes 1http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136683/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-3-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes-1<p>The folks here at MeasureNet have been hard at work integrating new probes into our system and creating new experiments. &nbsp;In this blog entry we'll be introducing the following new experiments and probes:</p> <ul> <li>Dual Probe Experiments (Pressure, Temperature &amp; Voltgage)</li> <li>Thermocouple Temperature Probe</li> <li>Melting point Experiment</li> </ul> <div></div> <h3>Dual Probe Experiments</h3> <p>MeasureNet now has the ability to collect data from 2 of the same probe if using the voltage, pressure, or temperature probes. &nbsp;New experiment options have been added to each probe's menu to allow dual probe collection. &nbsp;In order to use the dual probe option, customers will need the MeasureNet dual probe adaptor (pictured below).</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/dualConnector.jpg" alt="dualConnector" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <h3>Thermocouple Temperature Probe</h3> <p>MeasureNet also offers a <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/wide-range-temperature-probe/" title="thermocouple type J temperature probe" target="_blank">thermocouple type J temperature probe</a> now for applications that fall outside the range of our standard temperature probe. &nbsp;The new thermocouple probe has a temperature range from -180C to +475C. &nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/thermocouple.jpg" alt="thermocouple" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <h3>Mel-Temp Switch &amp; Experiment</h3> <p>Along with the thermocouple probe, MeasureNet now offers a solution that will make Melt Temp experiments easier. &nbsp;During a Mel-Temp experiment, you can use the Melt Temp Switch to keep track of a small range of temperatures when your compound nears melting temperature. &nbsp;You can then use print code 400 to print an overall temperature graph along with a graph that focuses on the range where the sample started to melt. &nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1350324795797" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/meltTempSwitch.jpg" alt="meltTempSwitch" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0"></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Make sure to keep a lookout for the next set of probes and experiments. &nbsp;We still have more to show.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136683/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-3-New-Chemistry-Experiments-and-Probes-1&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesWed, 24 Oct 2012 13:31:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:136683http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136141/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-2-Dual-UV-VIS-Spectrometer-Capability#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - Part 2 - Dual UV/VIS Spectrometer Capabilityhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136141/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-2-Dual-UV-VIS-Spectrometer-Capability<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img id="img-1349374925071" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/netSpecX2.png" border="0" alt="netSpecX2"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p>The newest <span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_e41a5610336f64139fb9aa29afe6e4cca78c7744_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> software introduces Dual UV/VIS Spectroscopy. &nbsp;Customers now have the ability to use two networked spectrometers simultaneously.</p> <p>Customers will need to ensure they have the following order to use two NetSpec spectrometers on the same MeasureNet MCAN (Multifunctional Chemical Analysis Network):</p> <ul> <li><span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_cfe29a27f4a805e353c64954189eb3c1524a0e04_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> Lab PC Software v 9.0.0 and above</li> <li><span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_cb3ae58febb9461dc6de0ac46371a803afa78822_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> Unity Controller Software v 3.0.0 and above</li> <li><span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_7ff35101f353c30be5bf07470bdd37851627b586_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> Unity Controller equipped with a dual port network card.</li> <li>2 NetSpec UV/VIS Spectrometers</li> </ul> <div></div> <p>All new MeasureNet Controllers sold since January 2012 have had a dual <span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_50de76547a41201ff8cd97054d53c5cfab3d5dc9_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> network port included by default. &nbsp;If you're not sure which type of network card is installed in your controller, you can easily figure it out by looking at the back of it. &nbsp;</p> <div></div> <p style="text-align: center;">Single network</p> <p><img id="img-1349373416306" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/singleCAN.jpg" border="0" alt="singleCAN" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Dual network</p> <p><img id="img-1349373418905" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/dualCAN2.jpg" border="0" alt="dualCAN2" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p>If you do not have a Dual network card, you can contact MeasureNet to discuss upgrade options for your Unity Controller.</p> <p>One UV/VIS spectrometer will reside on your existing network, and the second spectrometer will hook up to the port with the black cover over it. Once connected, you can use both spectrometers in the same fashion as you would a single Netspec UV/VIS Spectrometer.</p> <p>The Lab PC Software now has status indicators for both spectrometers along with settings menu options for each NetSpec Spectrometer. &nbsp;</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><img id="img-1349376968811" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/networkStatus.png" border="0" alt="networkStatus"></div> <div></div> <div></div> <div><img id="img-1349377163385" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/specsettings123.png" border="0" alt="describe the image" width="475" height="238" style="height: 238px; width: 475px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/136141/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-2-Dual-UV-VIS-Spectrometer-Capability&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesThu, 04 Oct 2012 22:43:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:136141http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133783/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-1-Improved-User-Experience#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - Part 1 - Improved User Experiencehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133783/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-1-Improved-User-Experience<p><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>The newest version of the MeasureNet lab software puts the user first and makes managing your lab even easier than before. &nbsp;We listened to your concerns and made some changes to our user interface.</p> <h3>Configuration Settings</h3> <p>We realized that changing the configuration file manually was a cumbersome task, often tedious and error-prone. &nbsp;There were too many steps involved in even just finding the configuration file. &nbsp;All that trouble is gone now. &nbsp;MeasureNet now offers a settings menu that includes the most common options. &nbsp;To open the Settings menu go to <strong>Help -&gt; Settings</strong>.</p> <p><img id="img-1346071624010" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/settings.PNG" border="0" alt="MeasureNet's new Settings Menu" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p>There are also new menu options that allow you to directly edit configuration files in case you need more advanced options. &nbsp;You no longer need to search through hidden files to find the configuration files.</p> <p><img id="img-1346073234968" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/helpMenu.png" border="0" alt="New Help Menu Options" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Workstation Monitoring</h3> <p>MeasureNet has also changed the workstation monitoring dialog. &nbsp;The newest version integrates the station selection window and the graphing window into a single interface. This way you can click through stations quickly and receive instant feedback on their current statuses.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img id="img-1346075588957" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/monitor123.PNG" border="0" alt="Workstation Monitoring" width="485" height="339"></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Spectrometer Configuration</h3> <p>The spectrometer configuration dialog has also been redesigned. &nbsp;It now includes simple explanations for each of the settings available for the spectrometer.&nbsp;</p> <p><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><img id="img-1346075914941" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/specSettings123.PNG" border="0" alt="Spectrometer Settings" width="486" height="244" class="alignCenter" style="height: 244px; width: 486px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133783/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-Part-1-Improved-User-Experience&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesTue, 02 Oct 2012 01:23:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:133783http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/134155/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-A-Multi-Part-Series#Comments0MeasureNet's New Features - A Multi-Part Serieshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/134155/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-A-Multi-Part-Series<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/mnetupdatesoft2.png" border="0" alt="mnetupdatesoft2" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><br>&nbsp;</p> <p><span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_1795fcb5ce39d2b68130646acd26b93567198896_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> is soon to release the newest versions of our software lineup, and we've decided to give you an in-depth tour into our latest features and upgrades in a five part series.</p> <p>Look out for our blog posts as we give you a rundown of all our new features.</p> <ul> <ul> <li>Part 1 - A Better User Experience</li> <li>Part 2 - Dual Spectroscopy</li> <li>Part 3 - New Chemistry Experiments &amp; Probes 1</li> <li>Part 4 - New Chemistry Experiments &amp; Probes 2</li> <li>Part 5 - Real-Time Data to the Cloud &amp; Remote Monitor &nbsp;Experiments</li> </ul> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Part 1</strong> outlines all the new user inter interface elements that make the <span class="GRcorrect" id="GRmark_27d0897f3010c4e228a135635521889a9cae5558_MeasureNet:0">MeasureNet</span> software even easier to use than before.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Part 2</strong> details the options with our new Dual Spectroscopy features, which now allows you to have two networked spectrometers for each of your network.</p> <p><strong>Parts 3 &amp; 4</strong> cover all of our new probes and experiments available:</p> <div> <ul> <ul> <li>Melting Point Temperature Experiment</li> <li>Dual Probe Experiments for Pressure, Voltage, and Temperature.</li> <li>Thermometric Titration Experiment</li> <li>Type J Thermocouple Probe</li> <li>Conductivity Probe</li> </ul> </ul> <p><strong>Part 5</strong>&nbsp;runs through all of the elements added to the MeasureNet Lab Software and LabKonnect Data Storage site that are now part of our new Cloud Based Real-Time Extended Monitoring and Experiments feature, which allows you to remotely monitor long term experiments from any browser. &nbsp;</p> <div></div> </div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/134155/MeasureNet-s-New-Features-A-Multi-Part-Series&bvt=rss">Adam BrandesSat, 08 Sep 2012 19:16:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:134155http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133770/The-University-of-Cincinnati-uses-MeasureNet-for-Potentiometric-Measurements-in-Sensor-Biofouling-Research#Comments0The University of Cincinnati uses MeasureNet for Potentiometric Measurements in Sensor Biofouling Researchhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133770/The-University-of-Cincinnati-uses-MeasureNet-for-Potentiometric-Measurements-in-Sensor-Biofouling-Research<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1345898649709" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/station_web.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p> <p><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>The MeasureNet MCAN® (Multi-functional Chemical Analysis&nbsp;Network) system consists of up to fifteen measurement workstations networked together and managed by a&nbsp;single MCAN® Controller and PC.&nbsp;Each Workstation has two +/- 2.5v analog input channels and one high-speed serial communication channel. The analog inputs are sampled by a two channel high-resolution 24-bit Sigma-Delta A/D. Sigma-Delta converters are designed for direct connection to sensors with low signal levels. The built-in signal conditioning and noise reduction of Sigma-Delta data converters makes them ideal for the low level noisy signals often found in potentiometric measurements&nbsp;of high impedance sensors like pH, ISE and other electrochemical&nbsp;sensors. The high-speed serial channel is for sensors with digital outputs.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <span>MCAN® workstation m</span>easurements are displayed&nbsp;in real-time on the workstation LCD and/or streamed in real-time to MeasureNet's LabKonnect cloud server for storage. Data&nbsp;collected at the workstations can be stored&nbsp;locally &nbsp;on the system PC and/or in cloud data storage accounts.&nbsp;Cloud data can also be monitored in real-time from any internet connected device - computer, tablet&nbsp;or smart phone, allowing the researcher to follow the progress from virtually anywhere while running&nbsp;experiments for extended time periods.&nbsp;LabKonnect will also alert the researcher via text message if something has gone wrong. The researcher specifies a range; the system notifies team members if measurements go beyond that range. Researchers no longer need to spend valuable time and resources babysitting experiments.</p> <h3>&nbsp;</h3> <h3>&nbsp;</h3> <h3>Comparison of the Effects of Biofouling on Voltammetric and Potentiometric Measurements</h3> <p><span>Kuhlmann, J., Dzugan, L. C. and Heineman, W. R. (2012), Comparison of the Effects of Biofouling on Voltammetric and Potentiometric Measurements.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/elan.201200194/full" title="Electroanalysis, 24:&nbsp;1732–1738. doi:&nbsp;10.1002/elan.201200194" target="_blank">Electroanalysis, 24:&nbsp;1732–1738. doi:&nbsp;10.1002/elan.201200194</a></p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p><span>Biofouling of sensors is a common problem when measuring biological samples. The adherence of proteins and biomolecules, called hemostasis, is the first of four steps that lead to biofouling and eventually a foreign body response. This typically occurs within the first hours after the exposure of the biosensor to a biological sample. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of this initial step of biofouling on cyclic voltammetry and potentiometric measurements. The results show that biofouling occurred rapidly within minutes and strongly affected cyclic voltammetry measurements, while were minimally affected even after 24 hours.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/133770/The-University-of-Cincinnati-uses-MeasureNet-for-Potentiometric-Measurements-in-Sensor-Biofouling-Research&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesFri, 31 Aug 2012 19:52:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:133770http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/131636/MeasureNet-s-Multi-Functional-Optical-Drop-Counter-Celebrates-10-Years#Comments0MeasureNet's Multi-Functional Optical Drop Counter Celebrates 10 Years!http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/131636/MeasureNet-s-Multi-Functional-Optical-Drop-Counter-Celebrates-10-Years<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/ph%20titration%20setup-resized-600.png" alt="describe the image" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>Development of MeasureNet&rsquo;s optical<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/multi-function-drop-counter/" title=" drop counter" target="_blank"> drop counter</a> began in 2000. Our goal was not only to automate, simplify and shorten the time for pH titration experiments, but also to improve the accuracy of students&rsquo; measurements. During its development, various innovative features were added to the design, as seen in Figure 1. MeasureNet&rsquo;s Multi-Functional Drop Counter holds both a pH probe and a temperature probe, reducing the hardware needed to set up pH titration experiments, and the geometry was optimized to allow the use of small beakers and samples.</p> <p>&nbsp;Before the days of optical drop counters, simple wire electrical conductivity devices were the only automated and economical solutions for pH titrations in the teaching laboratory. A drop from the buret would make contact with two bare wires positioned closely together, creating a conductive current path. An electronic circuit would then convert this current into a pulse that was counted. A student could then calculate volume based on the number of drops and the average drop size, determined in a separate experiment. The MeasureNet system automatically determines the average drop size in each titration.</p> <p>&nbsp;The most common method of performing pH titrations is the manual method. The drawbacks to this method:</p> <p>&nbsp;Time consuming, giving students time to perform few titrations in a lab period.</p> <ul> <li> <p>Larger reagent volumes required, making titrations more expensive in terms of reagent usage and disposal.</p> </li> <li> <p>Requires repetition for students to master endpoint detection with reasonable precision.</p> </li> </ul> <p>The<a href="http://www.2012bcce.com/" title=" 22nd BCCE at Penn State University" target="_blank"> 22nd BCCE at Penn State University</a> marks the 10th anniversary of MeasureNet Technology&rsquo;s introduction of the Optical Drop Counter to the chemical education community. During this decade, the MeasureNet drop counter has become a star in chemistry labs around the country and the world, performing a variety of functions even its designers had never imagined. MeasureNet&rsquo;s drop counter allows students to leap past the typical pH titration experiment and engage in other interesting and educational titration methods like thermometric, potentiometric, amperometric and colorimetric titrations.</p> <p>&nbsp;MeasureNet Technology's introduction of the industry&rsquo;s first Multi-Functional Optical Drop Counter technology in 2002 at the <a href="http://chem.wwu.edu/acs/bcce/" title="17th BCCE at Western Washington University" target="_blank">17th BCCE at Western Washington University</a> obviously caught the attention of the conference attendees and venders. The MeasureNet drop counter has emerged as the industry standard, copied by all its competitors, such as Vernier Software &amp; Technology, Pasco Scientific and MicroLab Inc. MeasureNet is both flattered by this attention and inspired to do more to bring innovative technology into the teaching laboratory.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/131636/MeasureNet-s-Multi-Functional-Optical-Drop-Counter-Celebrates-10-Years&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 26 Jul 2012 15:13:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:131636http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/130991/U-S-News-STEM-Solutions-2012-Summit#Comments0U.S.News STEM Solutions 2012 Summithttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/130991/U-S-News-STEM-Solutions-2012-Summit<p><img id="img-1342313581215" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/AIL113_STEM12_LOGO_CMYK1-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" width="426" height="240" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>American students are falling into a giant chasm between the classroom and the workplace.</h4> <p>For three days in 2012, some of the biggest and brightest stars of business and education gathered in&nbsp;Dallas to explore the gap between the types of technical jobs that modern industry has to offer and the&nbsp;ability of workers to perform those tasks. As it stands now, workers simply do not have the advanced&nbsp;skills that employers need. High paying job positions go unfilled, leaving empty holes where a worker&nbsp;should be.</p> <p>The <a href="http://usnewsstemsolutions.com/" title="STEM Solutions 2012 Summit " target="_blank">STEM Solutions 2012 Summit </a>tried to fill in the holes and build pathways that allow students to&nbsp;move more freely from the classroom to the STEM-rich workplace. During the summit, NMSI President &amp; CEO Dr. Mary Ann Rankin encouraged listeners to accelerate STEM education in a panel discussion&nbsp;entitled, &ldquo;The Supply Side: Education and America&rsquo;s STEM Future.&rdquo; The panel looked at various ways to&nbsp;produce enough STEM graduates to satisfy corporate hunger.</p> <p>Summit participants agreed it is especially important to fill those positions with women.<br />STEMConnector&rsquo;s new publication, 100 Women Leaders in STEM, featured Dr. Rankin. Women make&nbsp;up 48 percent of the workforce, yet hold only 24 percent of U.S. STEM jobs. Fewer than 15 percent of&nbsp;American engineers are female.</p> <p>In another panel discussion, Dr. Rankin focused on defining, understanding and closing the gap between&nbsp;the skills needed by corporations and those offered by today&rsquo;s universities.</p> <p>This gap begins as small crevices in early education. Student brains stagnate through boring lectures&nbsp;and memorize facts instead of participating in hands-on education, known to excite young minds about&nbsp;science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. This stagnation shows in dismal STEM scores.&nbsp;Barely 18 percent of high school seniors perform at proficient levels in science courses.</p> <p>Weak STEM skills results in poor job prospects and low pay. A student without a solid understanding&nbsp;of STEM subjects cannot develop the technical skills necessary to participate in today&rsquo;s job market.&nbsp;Employees with poor technical skills will ultimately fail in the modern, highly technical workplace.</p> <p>Summit participants identified gaps between institutions, with each school adhering to slightly different&nbsp;standards and teaching methods. For example, a kid from one elementary school uses microscopes in&nbsp;the classroom while a child who attends school across town does not. These students eventually merge&nbsp;into a high school science class; the gap between the student with hands-on experience and the one&nbsp;without becomes clear quickly. This gap grows each time the students move from one institution to&nbsp;another, from elementary school to graduate school.</p> <p>The summit called on educational institutions to fill in the gaps between elementary school, high school,&nbsp;college and graduate school. Many students fall into these gaps and away from careers in STEM fields.&nbsp;Improve each educational segment&rsquo;s shared understanding of what is necessary to be &ldquo;college-ready.&rdquo;</p> <p>MeasureNet is a prime example of educational technology that actually closes the gap between&nbsp;students and high paying jobs. MeasureNet puts real-world tools into the hands of students of all&nbsp;ages. Instead of sleeping through boring lectures, students use the same inquiry-based chemistry labs,&nbsp;environmental chemistry, instrumental methods, STEM and biochemistry procedures as professional&nbsp;scientists.&nbsp;MeasureNet helps students leap across the STEM chasm and land onto a great-paying job.</p> <span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/130991/U-S-News-STEM-Solutions-2012-Summit&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 15 Jul 2012 00:53:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:130991http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/129606/MeasureNet-used-in-University-of-Cincinnati-Alternative-Energy-Research-Project#Comments0MeasureNet used in University of Cincinnati Alternative Energy Research Projecthttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/129606/MeasureNet-used-in-University-of-Cincinnati-Alternative-Energy-Research-Project<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Dan and Bob WVXU-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="Dan and Bob WVXU resized 600" /></p> <p><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><a href="http://www.wvxu.org/schedule/cincinnatiedition_archiveview.asp?ID=6/3/2012" title="WVXU Podcast link by Ann Thompson:" target="_blank"><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>WVXU Podcast link by Ann Thompson:</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://198.234.121.108/cincinnatiedition/060312_Focus.mp3" title="Focus on Technology: Bugs Cleaning Wastewater" target="_self">Focus on Technology: Bugs Cleaning Wastewater</a><br /><span>Cincinnati scientists are engineering&nbsp;</span><b>special bugs that will clean wastewater and create energy</b><span>. Ann Thompson takes you into the lab where this is happening in&nbsp;</span><em>Focus on Technology</em><span>.</span><br /><em>By Ann&nbsp;Thompson</em></p> <p><strong>MeasureNet Research Applications</strong><br /><br />MeasureNet is renowned for putting cutting-edge technology into the hands of students but MeasureNet may someday be famous for helping scientists find new and innovative ways for dealing with the world&rsquo;s most difficult problems.<br /><br />The technology provided by MeasureNet combines a high-resolution measurement workstation with their LabKonnect cloud-based software to create a system that allows researchers to monitor their experiments from anywhere. Researchers access information from the cloud, important in experiments lasting for a week or longer. <br /><br />LabKonnect will also alert the researcher via text message if something has gone wrong. The researcher specifies a range; the system notifies team members if data goes beyond that range. Scientists no longer spend valuable time and resources babysitting experiments.<br /><br />This technology was put through its paces recently, when MeasureNet teamed with <a href="http://molgen.uc.edu/node/154" title="Dr. Dan Hassett" target="_self">Dr. Dan Hassett</a>, who creates special bugs that will clean wastewater and create energy. Hassett, molecular genetics professor at the<a href="https://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=16118" title=" University of Cincinnati" target="_blank"> University of Cincinnati</a>, thinks he has found a way to convert sewage into clean water and energy.<br /><br />Wastewater has stored up energy in the form of pollutants. Hassett is developing bacterial robots, or &ldquo;bactobots,&rdquo; that break down these pollutants and release the energy. Sewage treatment plants become biological fuel cells that produce both clean water and energy.<br /><br />The bactobots are tiny, only about three microns long, but they generate about 400 milivolts with fluctuations as high as 700 milivolts as they clean the water. Hassett increases the amount of power a bactobot can generate through a series of genetic mutations. Measuring the output of these miniscule bacteria is a big job, and that&rsquo;s where MeasureNet steps in.<br /><br />MeasureNet helped Dr. Hassett monitor the voltage and current output of biological fuel cells. Typically, the ouput voltage fluctuates and over the course of four days. Thanks to the sensitive measuring equipment and cloud capabilities provided by MeasureNet technology, Hassett found the existence of a second particular bacterium actually increased output over those four days.<br />While the output from a single bactobot is small, the impact of these biological fuel cells could break one of humanity&rsquo;s most vexing vicious cycles. Wastewater treatment plants are the single largest consumer of energy, and the second largest user of water is energy production. Introducing a bacteria that would simultaneously clean water and produce energy would be monumental.<br /><br />MeasureNet is at the forefront of hands-on laboratory technology, both in the classroom and in the research lab. Like technology itself, MeasureNet continuously develops new ways to enhance the lives and learning of students, scientists and everyday people.</p> <span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/129606/MeasureNet-used-in-University-of-Cincinnati-Alternative-Energy-Research-Project&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 23 Jun 2012 18:55:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:129606http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/125548/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-August-Kekulé#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Friedrich August Kekuléhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/125548/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-August-Kekulé<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/FriedrichKekule3_001.jpg" alt="Friedrich August Kekul&eacute;" /></p> <h3>"Benzene"</h3> <p>September 20, 2006</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_August_Kekul%C3%A9" target="_blank">Friedrich August Kekul&eacute;</a>&nbsp;(1829-1896). German chemist. Initially a student of architecture, Kekul&eacute; studied chemistry under Liebig at Giessen and under Dumas in Paris. After brief periods in Switzerland and England (1854), and at the University of Heidelberg (1856), he became Professor of Chemistry at the universities of Ghent (1859) and Bonn (1867-1896). Acknowledged as one of the founders of classical molecular structure theory, Kekul&eacute; is best known for his proposal (along with the Scottish chemist, Archibald Scott Couper) that tetravalent carbon can undergo self-linkage to form homocatenated chains and rings (1858), and for his hexagonal cyclic structure for the benzene molecule (1865).</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/125548/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-August-Kekulé&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesTue, 08 May 2012 04:21:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:125548http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/123808/Important-Chemists-in-History-Linus-Pauling#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Linus Paulinghttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/123808/Important-Chemists-in-History-Linus-Pauling<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1334437845261" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/LinusPauling_2.jpg" border="0" alt="Linus Pauling" /></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling" target="_blank">Linus Pauling</a>&nbsp;(1901-1994). American chemist. Professor at the California Institute of Technology (1927-1962), and Nobel Prize winner for both chemistry (1954) and peace (1962). Though Pauling began his career as a crystallographer, he is best known for his work on the electronic theory of the chemical bond, as summarized in his 1939 monograph, The Nature of the Chemical Bond, and for his later work on the molecular and electronic structures of large biomolecules. His name is most often associated with his scale of ionic radii (1927), his rules for rationalizing the most stable structures for complex ionic crystals (1929), his extensive use of the both the hybridization (1931) and resonance concepts (1932) in chemical bonding, and his thermochemical electronegativity scale (1932). He also gained considerable notoriety for his political activism in support of nuclear disarmament, and for his controversial advocacy of the supposed medical benefits of megadoses of vitamin C.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/123808/Important-Chemists-in-History-Linus-Pauling&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 14 Apr 2012 21:12:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:123808http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/121581/The-American-Chemical-Society-Science-Education-Policies-Communicates-the-Importance-of-Hands-On-Learning-in-the-Science-Lab#Comments0The American Chemical Society Science Education Policies Communicates the Importance of Hands-On Learning in the Science Lab.http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/121581/The-American-Chemical-Society-Science-Education-Policies-Communicates-the-Importance-of-Hands-On-Learning-in-the-Science-Lab<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/innovadora_instrumentaci&oacute;n_en_qu&iacute;mica_02.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" />&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>According to the <a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content" title="American Chemical Society" target="_self">American Chemical Society</a>, hands-on activities significantly enhance learning at all levels of science education. The American Chemical Society, or ACS, is the world&rsquo;s largest association of individual chemical scientists and engineers, and its <a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/about/governance/committees/education/CTP_004476" title="newest science education policies" target="_self">newest science education policies</a> communicate the importance of hands-on learning in the science lab. ACS education programs begin pre-kindergarten and extend through undergraduate and graduate studies.&nbsp;</p> <p>Hands-on activities are the basis for the laboratory portion of any science class and are essential for learning chemistry. A student enrolled in a hands-on chemistry course directly experiences laboratory chemicals, chemical properties and reactions as well as gaining familiarity with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/station/" target="_blank">laboratory equipment</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/ph/" target="_blank">apparatus</a>. There is simply no substitute for the real-life experience of hands-on training.&nbsp;</p> <p>One good example demonstrating the superiority of <a href="http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090128DarkStudy.html" title="hands-on learning " target="_self">hands-on learning </a>over simulation or lecture is teaching a child to ride a bicycle. Putting a child on a bike and giving her a push teaches her much more in one minute than she could gain by watching videos of other children on bicycles or listening to a lecture on physics. Hands-on learning allows for deeper comprehension of scientific principles, and it benefits the American Chemical Society and the rest of the United States to campaign for a return to this inclusive style of education.&nbsp;</p> <p>ACS has good reason to promote hands-on learning. A 1982 meta-analysis of 15 years of research including 57 studies of 13,000 students showed that students who participated in hands-on education scored 20 percent better than did students using traditional or textbook approaches. The students engaged in hands-on learning demonstrated gains in creativity, attitude, perception and logic. The National Assessment of Educational Progress noted that teachers who incorporated hands-on activities into the curriculum at least once a week out-performed their peers by more than 40 percent of a grade level in science.&nbsp;</p> <p>No Child Left Behind act, or NCLB, appears to have had an unintended negative impact on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/freezing-point--a-colligative-property-of-solutions/" target="_blank">hands-on</a>&nbsp;learning, particularly for children at the elementary and middle school ages. Science is not a federally mandated assessment, so teachers and administrators instead focused on subjects compliant with NCLB assessments such as reading and math. Pupils who were students during the height of NCLB continue to struggle with this deficit well into their post-secondary education unless given an opportunity to catch up with adequate hands-on training in the laboratory. For many, this chance does not occur until high school or beyond, if at all.&nbsp;</p> <p>Undergraduate and graduate institutions must offer hands-on opportunities in the laboratory to ensure graduates are able to meet and overcome the challenges of modern chemistry. Some of these advanced students will rely on these skills to solve real-world problems in the workplace while others return to the classroom to teach others.&nbsp; ACS challenges teachers to reach new goals of excellence and advocates certain measures to help educators achieve superiority, including requiring teachers to take undergraduate courses to ensure they are prepared to teach coursework and enhancing funding at all levels so that science teachers have access programs that allow them to expand and update their science knowledge base.&nbsp; ACS also encourages teachers and school systems to use technology to reach students with different learning styles. The ACS is also dedicated to improving the work conditions of science teachers, reduce attrition and improve safety in the classroom laboratory.&nbsp;</p> <p>Some educators are tempted to take advantage of the shortcuts modern technology has to offer but teachers should choose wisely. Computer simulations are flashy and inexpensive but are not an adequate substitution for hands-on activities, even at the collegiate level. Educators must use computer simulation as a supplement to, not as a replacement for, hands-on learning. While intellectual curiosity should be piqued with internet searches, guided by lectures and accelerated with computer simulation and video, hands-on learning is still one of the most effective ways to instill confidence in knowledge and increased comfort with using laboratory and technical equipment.&nbsp;</p> <p>ACS recognizes the special need for new assessment equipment at the undergraduate level. This equipment should assess a student&rsquo;s understanding of science and the use of methods of science to give the instructor a fuller appreciation of the student&rsquo;s grasp of science, not just his ability to recite scientific facts. Giving students access to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/spectrometer/" target="_blank">a shared diode-array visible or UV-vis spectrometer</a>&nbsp;to perform absorption, emission, fluorescence and reflectance experiments has so much more impact than just describing.&nbsp;</p> <p>The American Chemical Society emphasizes the importance of a hands-on, inquiry-based approach to science to not only help students gain knowledge and understanding of scientific principles but also to teach students how scientists explore and make sense of the natural world. Hands-on learning teaches students to learn with the same tools used by professional scientists. It teaches them to think like scientists by creating hypotheses, making observations and performing inquiries. Students improve skill proficiency in scientific processes, such as laboratory work, graphing results and interpreting data.&nbsp;</p> <p>Hands-on learning has been around since the days of Aristotle, who said, &ldquo;What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.&rdquo; Hands-on learning enhances the student&rsquo;s ability to test, sense, apply and learn. This type of learning involves and improves upon the art of questioning. Use hands-on<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/controller/" target="_blank">, state of the art analytical instrumentation</a>&nbsp;to revolutionize the way your students learn chemistry and science in your classroom laboratory.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span>&ldquo;I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span></span><em>Chinese proverb</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/121581/The-American-Chemical-Society-Science-Education-Policies-Communicates-the-Importance-of-Hands-On-Learning-in-the-Science-Lab&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 22 Mar 2012 00:19:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:121581http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/120705/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-Wöhler#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Friedrich Wöhlerhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/120705/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-Wöhler<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/FriedrichWoehler.jpg" border="0" alt="Friedrich W&ouml;hler" /></p> <h2>"In the Beginning, There Was a Dog Kidney"</h2> <p>Friedrich W&ouml;hler (1800-1882), German chemist. A student of Leopold Gmelin at Heidelberg and of the great Berzelius at Stockholm, W&ouml;hler held teaching positions at Berlin and Cassel before accepting the chair in chemistry at G&ouml;ttingen in 1836, where he remained for the rest of his life. An eclectic chemist, he is best known in the field of organic chemistry for his collaborative work with Liebig on the isomerism of the fulminate and cyanate radicals (1823) and on the chemistry of the benzoyl radical (1832), and for his synthesis of urea from ammonium cyanate, (1828) which was later interpreted as a decisive blow against the doctrine of vitalism. In the field of inorganic chemistry, he is best known for his isolation of the elements aluminum (1827) and beryllium (1828) and, in the field of chemical education, for the many 19th-century American chemists who came to study in his laboratory.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/120705/Important-Chemists-in-History-Friedrich-Wöhler&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesWed, 14 Mar 2012 00:58:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:120705http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119602/STEM-Educated-Workforce-is-Critical-for-the-United-States-to-Keep-its-Competitive-Edge#Comments0STEM Educated Workforce is Critical for the United States to Keep its Competitive Edgehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119602/STEM-Educated-Workforce-is-Critical-for-the-United-States-to-Keep-its-Competitive-Edge<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;<img id="img-1330807161054" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/sanmateo3.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" /></p> <p>&ldquo;Why do I have to learn junk I&rsquo;ll never use in real life?&rdquo; is arguably the most harrowing question to ever echo in a science or math classroom. For generations, an education in science, engineering or math has been mostly reserved for only those very bright students intending to pursue an advanced degree in one of those disciplines. Most of these students were white males, with strong social stigmas preventing females or students in minority groups from participating. Students who wanted to work in other professions or stay at home to raise kids often avoided science and math classes, thinking a working knowledge of these subjects unnecessary for a workaday life. Today&rsquo;s fierce global economic climate does not allow modern student to cherry-pick skills to take into the workplace &ndash; even the most rudimentary jobs require a certain amount of technical sophistication and understanding of STEM subjects. While most students will not eventually work in a STEM field, they will enjoy life-long benefits from their experiences studying in a STEM-rich environment.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;National Economy</h3> <p>&nbsp;A workforce well-educated in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, skills is now an absolute necessity to keep the United States in a competitive position in today&rsquo;s global economy. According to a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/12/46643496.pdf" target="_blank">2009 assessment of 15-year olds</a>, the United States pulled a below-average ranking of 32<sup>nd</sup>&nbsp;in mathematics and an average rank of 23<sup>rd</sup>&nbsp;in science. These dismal statistics worry economists, industry leaders and politicians who recognize the power innovations science and technology has on the nation&rsquo;s positions in the global markets. Knowledge is the engine that drives that innovation. Our nation needs an innovative strategy to its technical strength enough to compete in today&rsquo;s global economy.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Improved Learning</h3> <p>&nbsp;One of the most obvious and innovative national strategies is to put STEM technology directly into the hands of high school students. STEM education transforms a teacher-centric classroom into a laboratory where curiosity and innovation propel discovery and learning. Cutting-edge STEM education tools replace dusty static textbooks with real-life technology. Lectures and memorization are swapped with curiosity and discovery, a more natural and long-lasting form of learning. The faces of students in an interactive STEM laboratory setting brighten as natural curiosity and inquisitiveness reawaken and reinvigorate their imaginations. The student shakes off her role as a passive learner and jumps right into the business of innovative thinking and learning. This type of exploratory thinking encourages valuable problem-solving and discovery skills students can use later in life, whether they plan to further their STEM education, go directly into the workforce or even stay at home and raise children.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Critical Thinking</h3> <p>&nbsp;Classes in STEM studies enhance critical thinking skills and require students to actively engage in a situation in order to find the solution. Students develop the same problem-solving skills in the secondary and post-secondary classroom as they will eventually use in the workplace. A savvy educator puts&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/spectrometer/" target="_blank">current technology</a>&nbsp;into these students&rsquo; hands so they grow comfortable using these tools. Youngsters build STEM-specific proficiency along with critical thinking skills and familiarity with equipment as they go through secondary and post-secondary school or directly into the job market.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Increase Interest in STEM</h3> <p>Education in STEM studies during high school promotes interest in pursuing a post-secondary STEM degree. In a recent survey, four out of five STEM college students say they decided to study STEM while still in high school; more than half say that a specific class or a teacher, rather than a family member, got them interested in STEM subjects. This is especially true for women, with 68 percent of female students citing a teacher or a class as being the main motivation behind their decision to study STEM. Unfortunately, only one in five college STEM students say that elementary and high school adequately prepared them for college STEM courses. These students said it would have been helpful to take more STEM courses and for these courses to be more challenging.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Improved Collegiate Performance</h3> <p>&nbsp;The universities teaching advanced STEM courses would agree. One of the largest problems post-secondary institutions face is under-prepared freshmen. Universities and colleges yearn for entrants who are better educated in STEM subjects. Students entering STEM studies are woefully underprepared for collegiate courses and many students drop out before earning a degree.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h3>Better Pay<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h3> <p>&nbsp;Post-secondary STEM education results in better pay, even for workers who wind up in non-STEM positions. A person with a STEM degree will earn&nbsp;<a href="http://educationupdate.com/archives/2011/NOV/HTML/col-stemjobs.html" target="_blank">13 percent more</a>&nbsp;for the same job as another person without such credentials. This is especially true for women and minorities in STEM fields. While there is a gender and race gap associated with most other professions, women in STEM jobs make almost as much as their male counterparts.&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>The STEM skills learned in high school will serve a student well, even if she does not pursue a college degree or work in a STEM field. Even jobs in a big box store or fast food chain requires the use of hand-held electronic devices or scanners. Only repetitive, manual labor tasks do not require at least a fundamental education and the need for workers to perform this type of work has declined rapidly since the 1960s. Technology and robotics have replaced these workers with industrial machines. Today&rsquo;s employers require interactive workers able to perform non-routine tasks based on a sound decision-making.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>A secondary education rich in STEM studies benefits all students, whether they intend to pursue an advanced degree in the sciences or just work at the local discount store. STEM studies help students develop critical thinking skills, familiarize future workers with the equipment they will someday use and spark an interest in STEM fields. Improving secondary STEM education will improve our national workforce and enhance the way American workers do business.<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/request-info/" target="_blank">Discover</a>&nbsp;all the learning solutions you can incorporate into your STEM laboratory.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119602/STEM-Educated-Workforce-is-Critical-for-the-United-States-to-Keep-its-Competitive-Edge&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 03 Mar 2012 20:26:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:119602http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119237/The-Benefits-of-a-STEM-Job-or-Degree#Comments0The Benefits of a STEM Job or Degreehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119237/The-Benefits-of-a-STEM-Job-or-Degree<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/innovadora_instrumentaci&oacute;n_en_qu&iacute;mica_01.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /><br /></b></span></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Sparking a student&rsquo;s interest in science, technology, engineering or math can launch her on a new career in the highly-lucrative and rapidly-expanding opportunities in STEM fields. Great pay, interesting work, job security and good working conditions are the norm for those holding a STEM degree or working in a STEM field, such as computer and information technology, engineering or life science. STEM fields are closing the gender gap, encouraging more women to reap the benefits of an education in science and technology. Solid STEM training benefits the workers of today and tomorrow.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Good Pay<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>Whether you earned a degree in a STEM field or you work in a STEM field without holding a diploma, STEM increases your average wages. A STEM worker with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree will earn on average $7 more per hour than another person with the same credentials in a non-STEM occupation. Just holding a degree in a STEM field will increase wages. A person with a STEM degree makes 13 percent more doing the same job as a person without such an education. Those who study STEM or gain a degree in a STEM field have higher wages, even if they don&rsquo;t ultimately work in a STEM field.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>To put it in hard numbers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, reports the average annual wage for all STEM occupations was $77,880 in May of 2009. Natural science managers were the highest paid STEM workers, followed by engineering and computer science managers. These highest-paid workers held mean wages in excess of $100,000 or more.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Interesting Work<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>Working in a STEM job is exciting. All the cool things we love today are the result of the innovating and creative thinking of countless STEM workers, including our phones, computers and video games, live-saving medicines and other technical miracles. Whether a STEM worker uses her skills to bring a rare species of animal back from the brink of extinction or to design the automobile of tomorrow, work in a STEM field will always be challenging and highly rewarding.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Lower Unemployment<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>Workers in STEM jobs face a lower risk for unemployment than laborers in other fields. In 2010, unemployment rates among non-STEM workers were almost 10 percent, compared to only 5.3 percent unemployment among STEM workers. It is possible that this lower unemployment rate is due to the higher level of education among STEM workers; solid education, especially in STEM fields, reduces unemployment.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Increased Opportunities<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>The topic of STEM jobs and the education to get those lucrative jobs has never been hotter. The BLS projects STEM job growth to have grown 22 percent between the years of 2004 and 2014. Computer specialist occupations are expected to have grown much faster than average. Despite a sluggish national and global economy, STEM jobs continue to enjoy expanding opportunities for well-educated workers.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Decreased Gender Gap<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>There is a smaller economic gender gap in STEM jobs than in other professions, with women earning nearly the same income as men for performing a STEM job. Women who work in STEM fields make on average 33 percent more than women who work in non-STEM jobs. Many women with a STEM degree work in education or healthcare rather than in a STEM field.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <h2>Good Working Conditions<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></h2> <p>STEM jobs are usually performed inside air-conditioned offices or laboratories in technical parks located in nice sections of the country, such as southern California or Boulder, Colorado. Most of these jobs are quite safe, extremely exciting and always challenging.&nbsp; STEM workers typically share clean, quiet environments with other well-educated, like-minded professionals.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>Before a worker enters the profitable and rewarding STEM field, he needs a solid STEM education. Early and secondary education is the key, whether a student plans to study STEM or enter a STEM field directly out of high school. Introducing students to science, technology, engineering and math at an early age can foster a passion that puts future workers on the right path, rich in financial and professional rewards.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><a href="http://educationupdate.com/archives/2011/NOV/HTML/col-stemjobs.html" target="_blank">http://educationupdate.com/archives/2011/NOV/HTML/col-stemjobs.html</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2007/spring/art04.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2007/spring/art04.pdf</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/05/art1full.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/05/art1full.pdf</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><a href="http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/womeninstemagaptoinnovation8311.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/womeninstemagaptoinnovation8311.pdf</a></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/119237/The-Benefits-of-a-STEM-Job-or-Degree&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 26 Feb 2012 18:13:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:119237http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/117400/President-Obama-Announces-New-Administration-and-Private-Sector-STEM-Commitments-at-White-House-Science-Fair#Comments0President Obama Announces New Administration and Private Sector STEM Commitments at White House Science Fairhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/117400/President-Obama-Announces-New-Administration-and-Private-Sector-STEM-Commitments-at-White-House-Science-Fair<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;<img id="img-1328742151151" src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/embedded_img_full/image/image_file/p020712ps-0192.jpg" alt="President Obama Speaks to Samantha Garvey" /></p> <p><em>President Barack Obama hosts the second White House Science Fair celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country. The President talked with Samantha Garvey, 18, of Bay Shore, N.Y., about her environmental sciences project examining the effect of physical environment and predators on a specific species of mussel, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Feb. 7, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Administration and Private Sector Announce over $100 Million in Commitments and Additional Steps to Prepare <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/02/07/president-obama-host-white-house-science-fair" title="100,000 New Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teachers" target="_blank">100,000 New Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teachers</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>Shots were fired in the State Dining Room on February 7, 2012, much to the delight of President Obama and the school children attending the second White House Science Fair. Joe Hudy grabbed hold of his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon and blasted a pair of curtains with extreme prejudice after allowing the president to pump up the air-powered canon. The President added power to the science project before placing the technology back into 14-year-old Arizona student&rsquo;s hands. During the science fair, President Obama announced new steps aimed at putting today&rsquo;s powerful technology directly into the hands of students in hopes of helping young people do better in science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as STEM.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>President Obama has issued a national challenge to prepare 100,000 qualified STEM teachers within the next decade. These teachers will then, in turn, help one million students graduate with degrees in STEM fields within the next ten years.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>The first step to achieving these goals included a request for $80 million for teacher preparation in the fiscal 2013 budget, sent to Congress on February 13<sup>th</sup>, 2012. This money will support effective STEM teacher training programs, such as those that allow a student to earn a teaching certificate along with a degree. Another $22 million comes from pledges by philanthropic and private sector organizations. More than 115 organizations immediately responded to President Obama&rsquo;s call to action by creating a group called &ldquo;100Kin10.&rdquo; Fourteen of these organizations, including the <a href="http://carnegie.org/" title="Carnegie Corporation" target="_blank">Carnegie Corporation</a>, Google and <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx" title="Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation" target="_blank">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</a>, announced a $22 million fund intended to prepare and support STEM education. The future of these organizations rely on a highly educated workforce and are dedicated to improving the skills of future workers by putting state-of-the-art technology directly into the young hands of aspiring scientists.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>The <a href="http://100kin10.org/" title="100Kin10" target="_blank">100Kin10</a> partners have also made more than 100 individual commitments, including Race to the Top competition. President Obama believes that improving STEM education relies heavily on systemic reform on the state and local level and that these reforms should expand opportunities for hands-on learning. The Department of Education will focus on STEM criteria during the Race to the Top competition as a way to improve students&rsquo; achievements and interest in STEM studies.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>It is imperative that educators put current technology into the hands of students. Students have a natural curiosity about cutting-edge technology but sometimes lose interest because the student does not connect exciting STEM careers with the boring, outdated equipment he uses in his school laboratory. Educators have the unenviable task of making this connection for the student. Products such as the Measurenet MCAN Laboratory Electronic Data Collection system makes this job easier by ensuring students are using the same technologies in the school laboratory as used in postsecondary and professional applications.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>Industry leaders agree that a hands-on approach in secondary and postsecondary education will improve the standing of American companies engaged in global economic competition. Practical experience with technology and instrumentation is a valuable asset, both to students planning to go to college and to those entering the workforce directly from high school.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>The <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/president-obama-to-host-white-house-science-fair/" title="White House and its partners" target="_blank">White House and its partners</a> are aiming higher when it comes to preparing students for future jobs in science, technology, engineering and math. The administration and the private sector are firing back against competitors in the global market by arming highly qualified instructors with the finest educational supplies and techniques, and by building new pathways between teachers and students. Perhaps the best ammunition for the Extreme Marshmallow Cannon was the teacher who put today&rsquo;s cutting-edge technology directly into Joe Hudy&rsquo;s hands.&nbsp;</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/117400/President-Obama-Announces-New-Administration-and-Private-Sector-STEM-Commitments-at-White-House-Science-Fair&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesWed, 08 Feb 2012 22:46:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:117400http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116715/Important-Chemists-in-History-Justus-von-Liebig#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Justus von Liebig http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116715/Important-Chemists-in-History-Justus-von-Liebig<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1328228891873" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/JustusvonLiebigsmall_000.jpg" border="0" alt="Justus von Liebig" /></p> <h1>"Annalen"</h1> <p>Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) Professor at Giessen (1824-1852) and Munich (1852-1873), Liebig's teaching laboratory at Giessen served as the model for the advanced training of chemists in the first half of the 19th century, including many foreign students from Great Britain and the United States, and, through his editorship (starting in 1832) of the journal, Annalen der Chemie und der Pharmacie (which is still published under the name of Liebig's Annalen), he exercised enormous influence on the early development of organic chemistry, agricultural chemistry, and physiology. He perfected organic combustion analysis (1837) and the counter-current laboratory condenser (1843), and, in collaboration with his close friend, Friedrich W&ouml;hler, did pioneering work on the isomerism of fulminates (1823-1826) and the reactivity of the benzoyl radical (1832).</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <div><em><br /></em></div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116715/Important-Chemists-in-History-Justus-von-Liebig&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesFri, 03 Feb 2012 01:06:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:116715http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116337/Our-Nations-Governors-have-a-STEM-Agenda-for-Educators#Comments0Our Nations Governors have a STEM Agenda for Educatorshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116337/Our-Nations-Governors-have-a-STEM-Agenda-for-Educators<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/student_lab_2.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>Carl Sagan once said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s suicidal to create a society that depends on science and technology in which no one knows anything about science and technology.&rdquo;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;The United States is slipping behind other countries in awarding postsecondary STEM degrees. Between 1998 and 2006, the total number of STEM degrees grew by 23 percent in the United States. During this same period, Poland increased its number of STEM degrees by 144 percent and Taiwan boasted a 178 percent increase. China&rsquo;s number of postsecondary STEM degrees exploded by a stunning 200 percent. In 2006, China awarded nearly double the number of postsecondary STEM degrees gained in the United States. The USA needs more STEM degrees if it hopes to compete in tomorrow&rsquo;s global economy.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;More STEM degrees mean more STEM jobs. Increasing the number of jobs in STEM fields is critical to the economic prosperity of both individuals and communities. Generally speaking, STEM jobs are some of the highest paying positions, with wages significantly above the US average. STEM jobs represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the job market, both in the United States and globally. Between 2008 and 2018, the number of STEM jobs is expected to have grown by 17 percent.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>STEM occupations are associated with lower unemployment rates when compared to other professions. Students who graduate with a STEM degree but pursue jobs in non-STEM fields also make more money than those with degrees in other fields. Cities across the nation try to attract STEM professionals because civic leaders understand that the high pay and economic stability associated with STEM jobs benefits the economic and social fabric of the community.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;The main pathway to a lucrative career in STEM fields is through postsecondary education. Getting bright minds into postsecondary programs poses a two-fold challenge to secondary educators &ndash; sparking interest in pursuing further education in STEM studies and properly preparing students to engage in higher learning. In most K&ndash;12 systems today, math and science subjects seem to have little to do with the real world. Students often ask, &ldquo;When will I ever use this knowledge?&rdquo; Students just don&rsquo;t seem interested in STEM and educational institutions fail those few students leaning towards a STEM degree.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The National Governors Association explored this challenge in the December 2011 updated version of&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/1112STEMGUIDE.PDF" title="Building a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Agenda" target="_self">Building a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Agenda</a></span>. This committee examined the goals of the STEM agenda and outlined why this agenda is so important to the states and to the nation. They identified weak links in the system and outlined strategies to implement state-wide STEM agendas in ways that excite students about STEM studies and careers while giving them the tools to succeed in gaining a degree and securing a job.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>The STEM agenda has two basic goals: expand the number of students entering postsecondary STEM studies and increase STEM proficiency in the general student population. The first goal improves the technical capabilities of the nation&rsquo;s workforce while the second goal helps students implement concepts and problem-solving strategies gained through STEM studies into their everyday lives.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p>Proficiency in STEM facts, principles and techniques are just as beneficial to future employees of big-box stores as they are to the physicians and engineers of tomorrow. Integrating STEM concepts and hands-on learning into the regular curriculum will help the general student population hone critical thinking skills to recognize, evaluate and solve problems not related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;This study identified five areas that states are trying to improve upon in an effort to increase the number of interested students qualified to pursue postsecondary STEM studies. Inconsistent state standards, a shortfall of qualified instructors and failure to motivate student interest all prevent students from pursuing postsecondary studies in STEM. This study also suggests that students are not prepared for postsecondary STEM study because they lack hands-on learning and experience with laboratory equipment. Worse yet, many current postsecondary STEM studies do not properly prepare students to work in STEM fields.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Fortunately, the report by the National Governors Association contains solid research that provides direction to increasing the presence of STEM tools in your learning laboratory in a way that propels your students into postsecondary studies and high paying STEM jobs.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/0702INNOVATIONSTEM.PDF;jsessionid=A5822A26DDCFC8509D5CFBDE02CA143E" title="Building a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Agenda" target="_blank">Building a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Agenda</a>&nbsp;says that several studies correlate strong preparation in high school with improved STEM degree completion rates. Furthermore, certain high school instructional practices seem to be more effective than others, including doing hands-on experiments in science. Encouraging high school students to form workgroups also improves postsecondary STEM outcomes.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Use informal learning to help students make the connection between STEM classes and real-world applications. Field trips to museums, science centers and other public and private institutions showcase job opportunities for those with degrees in STEM fields. Many of these institutions provide hands-on activities using the same equipment professionals employ. The connections between STEM classes and real-world applications are reinforced when your students can then use these same pieces of equipment in their own classroom laboratories.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nga.org/cms/home.html" title="The National Governors Association" target="_blank">The National Governors Association</a> notes that a &ldquo;student&rsquo;s ability to enter and complete a STEM postsecondary degree or credential is often jeopardized because the pupil did not take sufficiently challenging courses in high school or spend enough time practicing STEM skills in hands-on activities.&rdquo; Hands-on learning chemistry labs improve a student&rsquo;s experience in secondary school, giving her confidence to succeed in postsecondary STEM studies or in an entry-level non-STEM career.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;Our nation&rsquo;s security and economic stability rest in the capable hands of exceptional educators just like you. It is up to STEM educators to expand the knowledge of science and technology not only in collegiate hopefuls but in the student population as a whole. Improve your students&rsquo; chances of success competing in a global economy by training them the same chemistry laboratory equipment that universities and professionals use.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>&nbsp;</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/116337/Our-Nations-Governors-have-a-STEM-Agenda-for-Educators&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesTue, 31 Jan 2012 00:55:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:116337http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/115971/Making-General-Chemistry-Relevant-by-using-Technology-in-the-Lab#Comments0Making General Chemistry Relevant by using Technology in the Labhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/115971/Making-General-Chemistry-Relevant-by-using-Technology-in-the-Lab<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1328148302460" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Spectrum_selectfunction_web.JPG" alt="Spectrum selectfunction web"></p> <p>Science and technology bond together like carbon and hydrogen. One field benefits the other- scientific discoveries advance technological applications which then return more sophisticated research tools to the scientific community. Many of your chemistry students will graduate into a world that integrates science and technology into a singular platform that utilizes electronic data collection technology, a safer and more efficient mode of gathering and managing information. Give your freshman chemistry students the technological edge they need to facilitate learning while simultaneously freeing yourself from expensive hardware upgrades, viruses and archaic forms of monitoring student progress in your freshman chemistry lab.</p> <p>When you switch to electronic data collection technology, you’ll immediately notice how much more available space you have in your general chemistry lab. In the typical, old-fashioned general chemistry lab, each student shared bench space with their own large, cumbersome PC. These PCs are at increased risk for virus infection, costly hardware and software upgrades and usually need to be replaced every three to four years. The MeasureNet MCAN, or Multifunctional Chemical Analysis Network, replaces up to 15 individual PCs with a single PC that is used by the instructor to monitor student activity and manage their data files, locally or on the cloud.</p> <p>Student workstations integrate with a wide variety of probes and other chemistry laboratory apparatus that enable your chemistry lab students to accurately perform hands-on experiments in general chemistry, environmental chemistry, STEM and biochemistry labs. These hands-on lab exercises are critical for the students’ development of basic chemistry concepts.</p> <p>Chances are good that students in your general chemistry lab are already technologically advanced and have used electronic data collection technology in high school. They are also quite accustomed to cloud computing from using products like Google Docs and Dropbox, where both software and files are saved online rather than on a personal computer. MeasureNet’s MCAN technology merges electronic data collection and cloud computing capabilities together. MCAN allows your student to measure and collect high resolution data in the lab and store it on the cloud for later analysis and lab report generation. Students, especially science students, will be excited to use the advanced technology MeasureNet MCAN offers. MeasureNet MCAN technology takes your students to the next level, giving your students the edge they need when whether they go on to industry or pursue advanced degrees in science.</p> <p>Cloud computing also helps you monitor your chemistry lab students from the instructors PC to be sure they are conducting the experiment, collecting data and analyzing information properly. You can also monitor live data collection experiments remotely. Using the internet you can connect to MeasureNet MCAN workstations from outside the chemistry lab using a computer, tablet or smart phone.</p> <p>MCAN electronic data collection technology can easily be in integrated into your current chemistry lab curriculum and can be adapted to fit a variety of teaching styles.</p> <ul> <li>POGIL</li> <li>STEM</li> <li>Self Directed</li> <li>Verification-style</li> <li>Inquiry-based Chemistry Labs</li> <li><a href="http://www.handsonsciencepartnership.org/" title="Hands-on learning" target="_blank">Hands-on learning</a></li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>You can easily integrate MeasureNet based experiments into your current lab curriculum. Here is a small sample of experiments that can be conducted with the MCAN technology.</p> <ul> <li>Gas Laws</li> <li>Colligative Properties</li> <li>Enthalpy of Reaction — Hess's Law&nbsp;</li> <li>Determination of the Heat of Neutralization of a Variety of Strong Acids and Bases&nbsp;</li> <li>Chemical Kinetics</li> <li>Determination of a Reaction Equalibrium Constant Using Absorption Spectroscopy</li> <li>pH and Buffer Solutions</li> <li>pH titrations and end-point determination using <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/multi-function-drop-counter/" title="Drop Counter" target="_blank">Drop Counter</a></li> <li>Identifying a Weak Unknown Acid</li> <li>Determination of the Molecular Weight of a Volatile Liquid Using the Ideal Gas Law</li> <li>Vapor Pressure and Heat of Vaporization</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Using MeasureNet’s MCAN technology in your lab means you’ll spend less time working as a computer repair technician and more time teaching chemistry. The MeasureNet MCAN frees you from problems usually associated with PC-based systems. Virus removal and reimaging computers will be a thing of the past.</p> <p>Get back to doing what you love – teaching chemistry to hungry minds – by replacing your old, worn out computers with intuitive space saving MCAN electronic data collection technology. Excite students in your general chemistry labs by using the same technically advanced instrumentation used by university research labs and real-world industry chemistry labs. Make your chemistry lab program exciting and technologically relevant to students by using electronic data collection technology in your labs.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/115971/Making-General-Chemistry-Relevant-by-using-Technology-in-the-Lab&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 26 Jan 2012 17:15:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:115971http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/114279/Unique-Electronic-Data-Collection-Technology-Solves-Common-Problems-Seen-in-Chemistry-Labs-Today#Comments0Unique Electronic Data Collection Technology Solves Common Problems Seen in Chemistry Labs Todayhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/114279/Unique-Electronic-Data-Collection-Technology-Solves-Common-Problems-Seen-in-Chemistry-Labs-Today<img id="img-1326819206276" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Instructor Console in Lab.JPG" border="0" alt="describe the image" width="576" height="431" class="alignLeft" /><br /> <p style="color: #000000;"><b>The MCAN<sup>&reg;</sup> Concept</b></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The MeasureNet Multifunctional Chemical Analysis Network (MCAN&reg; ) is an innovative analytical instrumentation eliminating a multitude of the obstacles that are associated with the PC-based lab systems. With the consolidation of student data acquisition workstations into a solitary network&nbsp;for each group of students, expensive hardware upgrades, computer viruses and the footprint of large equipment is eliminated.</p> <p>The student workstations we provide interface with numerous kinds of probes as well as other apparatus that are utilized in chemistry laboratories. This allows for a broad range of general chemistry, physical chemistry and biochemistry lab experiments.</p> <p>MeasureNet can be useful in a freshman chemistry lab or in advanced chemistry labs. Whether used in the freshman chemistry lab, biochemistry, STEM, or environmental chemistry laboratories, MeasureNet is an essential tool.</p> <p>With MeasureNet, the student takes the measurements at their workstation and the results of those measurements can be stored and then monitored on a single central computer. This allows the instructor to follow student progress and data files. There is no need to contend with the multiple headaches that are associated with managing student lab data because MeasureNet can do it all for you.</p> <p><strong>Solutions in the Chemistry Lab with MeasureNet</strong></p> <ul> <li>Less bench space due to energy efficient workstations with smaller foot prints.</li> <li>Securely Protected online data storage for students.</li> <li>Viruses and computer re-imaging are things of the past with MeasureNet.</li> <li>The collection of data electronically allows for more time being spent on the actual experiments.</li> <li>Eliminates the need to upgrade large numbers of computers every few years.</li> <li>The best quality, research grade chemistry probware is utilized to collect high-resolution data.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;<strong>General Chemistry Lab Experiments Performed with MeasureNet</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;MeasureNet was designed to offer instructors considerable academic flexibility with its ability to support a wide range of experiments.</p> <p>&nbsp;MeasureNet has the ability to support experiments for individual or collaborative student projects in a freshman chemistry lab or in an advanced lab.</p> <p>The adoption of electronic data acquisition does not require the disposal of experiments that have been proven to build the students&rsquo; skills or enhance their understanding of imperative concepts. The longstanding experiments can very easily be integrated into curricula combined with the experiments appropriate for MeasureNet. Other experiments requiring conversion can be modified with the assistance of our curriculum specialists.</p> <h4>Title examples for G<a class="view">uided inquiry,&nbsp;</a>Self-Directed, POGIL, Verification-style and STEM experiments utilizing MeasureNet are as follows:</h4> <ul> <li>Specific Heat of a Metal</li> <li>Hot &amp; Cold Packs- Dystan Medical Supply Company</li> <li>A Colligative Property of Solutions-Freezing Point</li> <li>Quality control at the GlassEX Company-Self-Directed</li> <li>Buffer &amp; pH Solutions</li> <li>Proteins &amp; Amino Acids</li> <li>Chemical Kinetics</li> <li>Gas Laws</li> <li>Voltaic Cells</li> <li>Substances Specific Heat</li> <li>Analysis of Metals Emissions</li> <li>Heat of Vaporization &amp; Vapor Pressure</li> <li>Determining Chromium (VI) Concentrations using Absorption Spectroscopy</li> <li>Colligative Properties</li> <li>Determining the Cause of a Fish Kill Located in the Clark Fork of the Columbia River</li> <li>Identification of a Weak Unknown Acid</li> <li>Analysis of the Phosphorus in Cola</li> <li>Identification of an Unknown Metal-Self Directed</li> <li>Determining the Ka Value of a Weak Acid</li> <li>Determining the concentration of Acetic Acid in Vinegar</li> <li>Determining the Molecular Weight, with the use of the Ideal Gas Law, of a Volatile liquid</li> <li>Hess&rsquo; Law-Enthalpy of Reaction</li> <li>Analysis of the Phosphorus in Fertilizer</li> <li>Determining the Heat of Neutralization for Various Strong Bases &amp; Acid</li> <li>Reaction Stoichiometry &amp; Moles</li> <li>Determining a Reaction Equilibrium Constant with the Use of Absorption Spectroscopy</li> <li>Analysis of Emission of Aequeous Solutions from Group IA &amp; IIA Metal Salts</li> </ul> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/114279/Unique-Electronic-Data-Collection-Technology-Solves-Common-Problems-Seen-in-Chemistry-Labs-Today&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesTue, 17 Jan 2012 16:48:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:114279http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/113425/Important-Chemists-in-History-Stanislao-Cannizzaro#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Stanislao Cannizzarohttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/113425/Important-Chemists-in-History-Stanislao-Cannizzaro<p><img id="img-1326212916234" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/stanislaocannizzarosm.jpg" alt="Stanislao Cannizzaro" /></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislao_Cannizzaro" title="Stanislao Cannizzaro" target="_self">Stanislao Cannizzaro</a> (1826-1910) Professor at Alessandria (1851-1854), Genoa (1855-1859), Palermo (1860-1869) and Rome (1870-1910), Cannizzaro is best known for his discovery of the Cannizzaro reaction in organic chemistry for the conversion of aromatic aldehydes into the corresponding acids and alcohols, and his successful resolution of the atomic weight problem. Though Dalton had introduced the idea of extracting atomic weights from combining weights in 1803, he was unable to do this in a completely unambiguous fashion and, as a result, 50 years of chaos followed during which chemists used a variety of competing atomic and equivalent weight values. In 1858 Cannizzaro published a small pamphlet in which he reasserted Avogadro's earlier hypothesis (1811) that gas densities at equal pressures were directly proportional to molecular weights. Whereas Avogadro had attempted to extract atomic weights from the resulting molecular weights by using the stoichiometries of gas reactions - a procedure that could be applied only to a few elements - Cannizzaro showed how this same information could be extracted by using the gravimetric composition of an element's volatile compounds - a procedure that was virtually universal. With Cannizzaro's advance, chemists finally acquired a standard set of atomic weights and were able to determine unambiguous and universally accepted compositional formulas for their compounds.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the <a href="http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/oesper/history/index.html" title="History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati" target="_self">History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</a></em></p> <p><em><br /></em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/113425/Important-Chemists-in-History-Stanislao-Cannizzaro&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesTue, 10 Jan 2012 16:26:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:113425http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108296/Analysis-of-Vitamin-B1-Thiamine-by-Fluorescence-Kinetics#Comments0Analysis of Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) by Fluorescence Kineticshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108296/Analysis-of-Vitamin-B1-Thiamine-by-Fluorescence-Kinetics<p><img id="img-1322686013627" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Vitamin B1 Plot-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="Vitamin B1 Plot resized 600" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>Measurement of molecular fluorescence is an important analytical technique in chemical and biological sciences. The capacity of detecting very small fluorophore concentrations, or small changes in its concentration, combined with high specificity make this technique a very powerful analytical tool.</p> <p>&nbsp;Kinetic methods for determining reaction rates are commonly used. While most experiments are designed to determine the order of a particular reaction in order to gain insight to the reaction mechanism, kinetic methods are also used for quantitative analysis. Determination of the initial reaction rate is one way of quantitatively analyzing a compound within a suitable reaction system.</p> <p>&nbsp;The following experiment is designed to introduce students to both of these concepts, fluorescence and kinetics as analytical method. This combined technique has the advantage of increased analyte specificity over equilibrium-based fluorescence measurements. As only the compound that is reacting is causing a change in the measured fluorescence signal, steady-state interferences are largely eliminated.</p> <p>&nbsp;Thiamine (vitamin B1) is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates and normal function of he nervous and cardiovascular systems. Severe vitamin B1 deficiency will eventually lead to beriberi, characterized by abnormal functions of the muscular and nervous systems, as well as heart and brain abnormalities. Vitamin B1 occurs naturally in foods like whole grains, nuts, vegetables, pork, and liver.</p> <p>&nbsp;Thiamine (TM), a non-fluorescent compound, has been found to be oxidized selectively by mercuric oxide (HgO) at a rate suitable for monitoring with standard fluorescence spectrometers.<sup>1 </sup>The oxidation product, thiochrome (TC), is fluorescent with a strong absorbance maximum at 367 nm and fluorescence emission at 444 nm. Deprotonation of TM yields a non-fluorescent tricyclic intermediate (CI), which is oxidized to TC as outlined in Scheme 1. Immediate oxidation of CI is essential to avoid the formation of several non-fluorescent productions.<sup>1</sup> Thus, it is important to follow the sequential addition of reactants as outlined below... To view the complete experiment <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-company/news/analysis-of-vitamin-b1-thiamine-by-fluorescence-kinetics-full?hsCtaTracking=87be5658-b142-459e-9ae2-2766f3b51f83%7C6fdd81e6-442f-4712-a22f-d8f4a961e243" title="Click Here." target="_self">Click Here.</a></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108296/Analysis-of-Vitamin-B1-Thiamine-by-Fluorescence-Kinetics&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesWed, 30 Nov 2011 20:27:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:108296http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108240/Important-Chemists-in-History-Svante-Arrhenius#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Svante Arrheniushttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108240/Important-Chemists-in-History-Svante-Arrhenius<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img id="img-1322659808197" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/SvanteArrheniussmaller_000.jpg" alt="Svante Arrhenius" /></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svante_Arrhenius" target="_blank">Svante Arrhenius&nbsp;</a>(1859-1927). Swedish Chemist. Lecturer and Professor at the Technical Institute in Stockholm (1891-1904). Nobel Prize Winner (1903) and later Director of the Nobel Institute (1905-1927). Arrhenius is best known for his theory of ionic dissociation, which evolved out of his doctoral thesis of 1884, his ionic acid-based definitions (1887), and his introduction of the concept of activation energy in chemical kinetics (1889). He later did pioneering work on the physical chemistry of serums, ecology (where he is responsible for much of our early understanding of the greenhouse effect), and cosmology.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/108240/Important-Chemists-in-History-Svante-Arrhenius&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesWed, 30 Nov 2011 13:28:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:108240http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/104756/Important-Chemists-in-History-Joseph-Priestley#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Joseph Priestleyhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/104756/Important-Chemists-in-History-Joseph-Priestley<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Joseph-Priestly.gif" alt="Joseph Priestley" /></p> <p><strong>"Gas"</strong></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley" target="_blank">Joseph Priestley</a>&nbsp;(1733-1804). British chemist and Unitarian Minister. Priestley earned his living as a minister and teacher at various dissenting academies. His work in chemistry was done in his spare time and largely during the period when he served as private librarian to Lord Shelburne. It dealt almost exclusively with the use of the pneumatic trough to discover a large number of new "airs" or gases, including nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide, dinitrogen oxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide and, most famously of all, oxygen (1774). He also investigated the processes of brewing, photosynthesis, respiration, and invented soda water.&nbsp; Priestley was a prolific writer, not only on chemistry, but also on the subjects of theology, history, geography, natural philosophy, and electricity.&nbsp; Due to<br />his liberal political opinions, his home and laboratory were destroyed by a Birmingham mob in 1791, and he spent his final years in Northumberland Pennsylvania, where he wrote several pamphlets defending the outdated phlogiston theory against Lavoisier's newer oxygen theory of combustion.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/104756/Important-Chemists-in-History-Joseph-Priestley&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesFri, 04 Nov 2011 13:15:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:104756http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/102618/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-4#Comments0MeasureNet's Versatile Colorimeter Part 4http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/102618/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-4<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Glow Stick-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="Glow Stick resized 600" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />&nbsp;LUMINESCENCE/PHOSPHORIMETRY&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Last, but certainly not least, is the use of the MeasureNet &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; as a &ldquo;Phosphorimeter&rdquo;&hellip; also called a &ldquo;Luminometer&rdquo;&hellip; which, &nbsp;is one of the more versatile Analytical &ldquo;tools&rdquo; not readily found in most laboratories. A &ldquo;Phosphorecent&rdquo; response can be induced by UV-fluorescence AFTER the light souce is removed&hellip; or it can be caused by a chemical reaction that causes the &ldquo;emission&rdquo; of VISIBLE Light photons. The proprietary design of the &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; optical layout allows the analyst to get the desired response from their sample material&hellip; again using the same high-sensitivity optics.</p> <p>Bio-Luminescence in Fish and Algae, Luciferin/Luciferase Reaction in Fireflies, UV-Blocking capacity of SPF Lotions, the &lsquo;controllable' oxidation of Luminol Light-Sticks, the newly developed photo-luminescent additives for plastics used in skyscraper building and more are beginning labs you can use directly as-is, or modify for your own specific curriculum&hellip; as outlined for your review:</p> <p>&nbsp;<span>Luminescence (&ldquo;Phosphorescence&rdquo;) for Kinetic &amp; Relative Comparison values:</span><br />&bull; Check out these Glow-in-the-Dark Plastics&hellip; some are made of material quite Fantastic!<br />&bull; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence" title="Bio-Luminescent" target="_self">Bio-Luminescent</a> Algae and Bacteria are found in &ldquo;Healthy&rdquo; Waters&hellip; See anything &ldquo;Fishy&rdquo;?<br />&bull; P-AminoBenzoic Acid is the SPF of &ldquo;Old&rdquo;&hellip; using Luminscence its tale can be told!<br />&bull; &ldquo;UV&rdquo; Light causes &ldquo;Glow-in-the-Dark&rdquo; Photon Motions&hellip; &ldquo;Block&rdquo; it with some SPF Lotion!<br />&bull; &ldquo;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciferase" title="Luciferase&rdquo; is the enzyme in the Fire-Fly" target="_self">Luciferase&rdquo; is the enzyme in the Fire-Fly</a>&hellip; catch a few &amp; give this Phosphorimetry Lab a try!<br />&bull; The Luminol &ldquo;Light Stick&rdquo; reaction&hellip; uses Organic Oxidation to set those Photons in action!</p> <p>Many current MeasureNet users that have the <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/dual-beam-colorimeter/" title="MDBC-138" target="_blank">MDBC-138</a> &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo;&hellip; and potential customers, too&hellip; may not be aware of the tremendous versatility of this spectral device&hellip; and many potential *new* Customers in academia can save a significant amount of time, money and resources by implementing this &nbsp;technology for their teaching laboratories and educational curricula. Designed for simple, direct plug-n-play capability with any MeasureNet Workstation.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/102618/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-4&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesFri, 21 Oct 2011 19:18:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:102618http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/101564/A-Small-Sample-of-National-Chemistry-Week-2011-Activities#Comments0A Small Sample of National Chemistry Week 2011 Activitieshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/101564/A-Small-Sample-of-National-Chemistry-Week-2011-Activities<div></div> <div>The <a href="http://www.acscincinnati.org/acs/" title="Cincinnati Local Section of the American Chemical Society" target="_self">Cincinnati Local Section of the American Chemical Society</a> National Chemistry Week Activities</div> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chem.byu.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Ffile%2FUndergrad%2520tab%2FNCW2011.pdf"><span>National Chemistry Week</span></a><span>&nbsp;will take place the week of Oct. 17-22 on the campus of <a href="http://www.chem.byu.edu/nationalchemistryweek" title="Brigham Young University" target="_self">Brigham Young University</a>.&nbsp;</span></div> <div></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div><span><a href="http://www.princetonol.com/polCalendarEvent.cfm?Event_Id=13684" title="The&nbsp;Princeton Section of the American Chemical Society " target="_self">The&nbsp;Princeton Section of the American Chemical Society </a>will be holding their annual National Chemistry Week Activities Night On Friday evening, October 21 from 7-9 pm. &nbsp;It&nbsp;</span>will be held at Princeton University, Frick Laboratory, located on Washington Road, Princeton NJ. &nbsp;This year's theme is "Chemistry - Our Health, Our Future!</div> <div></div> <div>A week of fun and educational activities are planned in <a href="http://www.k-state.edu/today/announcement.php?id=1557&amp;category=events&amp;referredBy=categoryRSSFeed" title="Manhattan to showcase how chemistry makes life better" target="_self">Manhattan to showcase how chemistry makes life better</a>. The events are part of National Chemistry Week, Oct. 16-22, and are sponsored by Kansas State University's local section of the American Chemical Society and the department of chemistry.</div> <div></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div>Join the <a href="http://www.slsc.org/Calendar/tabid/231/ModuleID/1010/ItemID/2314/mctl/EventDetails/Default.aspx" title="St. Louis Section of the American Chemical Society " target="_self">St. Louis Section of the American Chemical Society </a>as they celebrate National Chemistry Week with table top activities and demonstrations.</div> <div></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <h5><a href="http://www.chemistry2011.org/participate/activities/show?id=1618" title="National Chemistry Week celebrates IYC 2011" target="_self">National Chemistry Week celebrates IYC 2011</a></h5> <p>We will celebrate IYC 2011 at our yearly NCW Event held at the NY Hall of Science on Sat., 10/22! Local universities and companies will have a variety of cool hands-on demos for kids ages 5-15! We will also host a "Chemistry Bingo" where winners will win an IYC 2011 lapel pin and other neat goodies!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div id="footerCopyright"><a href="http://www.mcwane.org/calendar_items/957-national_chemistry_week" title="McWane Science Center Activities" target="_self">McWane Science Center Activities</a></div> <div>Enjoy classic chemistry experiments and learn the positive impacts of chemistry as it relates to nutrition, hygiene, and medicine.<br /><br />10:00 - Chemistry activities, Protozone - Level 1<br />11:30 - Chemistry activities, Protozone - Level 1<br />1:00 - Cool Chemistry Program, Demonstration Station - Level 1&nbsp;</div> <div></div> <div><b><span class="kwds">The No. <a href="http://njacs.org/ncw.html" title="Jersey Section's NCW" target="_self">Jersey Section's NCW</a> celebration and student poster session</span></b>&nbsp; will take place at a<span class="kwds">ChemExpo</span>&nbsp;celebration at Liberty Science Center on&nbsp;<b>Saturday, October 22 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM</b>.</div> <div></div> <div> <h1><span class="summary"><a href="http://events.mercurynews.com/san-jose-ca/events/show/209312345-national-chemistry-week-celebration-2011" title="National Chemistry Week Celebration 2011" target="_self">National Chemistry Week Celebration 2011</a></span></h1> <div class="date"><abbr class="dtstart" title="2011-10-22T10:00:00-07:00">Saturday, Oct 22 10:00a</abbr>&nbsp;to 1:00p</div> <div class="venue">at&nbsp;<span><a href="http://events.mercurynews.com/san-jose-ca/venues/show/4526-martin-luther-king-library">Martin Luther King Library</a></span>,&nbsp;<span class="adr"><span class="locality">San Jose</span>,&nbsp;<span class="region">CA</span></span></div> <div class="text" id="summary"> <p>The Santa Clara Valley section of the American Chemical Society will hold a National Chemistry Week Celebration for kids of all ages. The Wheel of Chemistry Fortune will be spinning for all kids to win a prize, and there will be fun hands-on chemistry including a slime lab! This will also be an opportunity to pick up a free copy of &ldquo;Celebrating Chemistry&rdquo;, the NCW newsletter for elementary-aged children.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.newyorkacs.org/meetings/NCW/2011_ncw.php" title="The New York Section of the American Chemical Society" target="_self">The New York Section of the American Chemical Society</a> will be celebrating National Chemistry Week on October 22, 2011 at the Great Hall in the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nysci.org/">New York Hall of Science</a>. This day-long event will showcase chemistry principles using demonstrations performed by local college students and volunteers from local industries for children of all ages. This year's theme is "Behind the Scenes with Chemistry" and the event will run from 11 am to 4 pm.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As part of the National Chemistry Week 2011 celebration, the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) and in recognition of its theme, "Chemistry - Our Health, Our Future!" The American Chemical Society (ACS) and the <a href="http://www.chem.tamu.edu/openhouse/" title="Department of Chemistry at Texas A&amp;M University " target="_self">Department of Chemistry at Texas A&amp;M University </a>are sponsoring an illustrated poem contest for students living in the Brazos, Robertson, Burleson, Washington, Grimes, Madison, and Lean Counties in grades K-12.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>National Chemistry Week, sponsored by the American Chemical Society, is celebrated at <a href="http://www.gordon.edu/page.cfm?iPageID=2567&amp;iCategoryID=73&amp;Chemistry&amp;National_Chemistry_Week" title="Gordon College" target="_self">Gordon College</a> by our department. See some of the different ways students and faculty get involved.</p> </div> </div> <div></div> <div></div> &nbsp;</div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/101564/A-Small-Sample-of-National-Chemistry-Week-2011-Activities&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 16 Oct 2011 23:38:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:101564http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100710/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-3#Comments0MeasureNet's Versatile Colorimeter Part 3http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100710/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-3<p><img id="img-1318468739840" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/turbidity.jpg" border="0" alt="Turbidity" width="550" height="410" class="alignLeft" />&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>#3) TURBIDIMETRIC / NEPHELOMETRIC LIGHT-SCATTERING SPECTROMETRY&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>The &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; can also be used in the &ldquo;Turbidometer&rdquo; mode&hellip; or more precisely, as a &ldquo;Nephelometer&rdquo;, since nephelometry uses a Near-IR LED (@ 880nm) to measure the SCATTERED light at a 90&deg; angle from the light source, as it is done on the MeasureNet unit. Tests can be made on sample solutions that have existing particulate suspensions&hellip; or a reaction can be made to produce a range of particulates for relative and direct measurements. Originally used for Clinical Chemistry applications, Turbidometry/Nephelometry can be applied to a wide range of curriculum subjects&hellip; from Organic Synthesis &amp; Analytical Chemistry to Environmental &amp; Biochemistry Labs. Some of these unique and educational labs are shown here:</p> <p>&nbsp;<span>Turbidity (&ldquo;Nephelometry&rdquo;) for Kinetic &amp; Relative Comparison at Single values:</span><br />&bull; Environmental Testing of &ldquo;Settleable Solids&rdquo; for River / Stream &amp; Estuarial Waters<br />&bull; Reducing Sugars by Benedict&rsquo;s Test... great for Diabetics, Atkins-Diets and all the rest!<br />&bull; Collect some of the DUST from your &ldquo;Air&rdquo;&hellip; is it okay to breathe or is something there?<br />&bull; Rate of Reaction of Silver Ion + Chloride Ion to form AgCl precipitate&hellip; Kool Kinetics!<br />&bull; The classic Princeton &ldquo;Nassau Clock&rdquo; Reaction&hellip; makes for a great teaching Lab attraction!<br />&bull; Measurement of Yeast Growth in Beer&hellip; is it fermenting slow or in high-gear?</p> <p><b><br /></b></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100710/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-3&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 13 Oct 2011 01:15:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:100710http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100302/Remote-Monitor-for-STEM-Outreach-Collaboration-and-Research-with-MeasureNet#Comments0Remote Monitor for STEM Outreach, Collaboration and Research with MeasureNethttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100302/Remote-Monitor-for-STEM-Outreach-Collaboration-and-Research-with-MeasureNet<p>&nbsp;<img id="img-1318298813450" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/slide_Rocket_Pres.jpg" alt="Collaborative Synergy" /></p> <p>Have you ever wanted to look in from your office or remote location to check on the progress of your lab students or an experiment you are running? Or what about sharing experiment data from this morning&rsquo;s lab with rural student miles away with no lab access? With MeasureNet&rsquo;s new Remote Monitor software, you can&mdash; whether you&rsquo;re down the hall or across the country.</p> <p>Designed with STEM partnerships and outreach activities in mind, Remote Monitor gives institutions without MeasureNet a chance to participate through the graphical viewing of acquired data files and the analysis of collected data via most any statistical or spreadsheet software. It also allows lab directors, instructors, and teaching assistants to monitor their MeasureNet networks from different physical locations.</p> <p>Any station on any network can be monitored live or its saved files can be downloaded to any PC running Remote Monitor. Network chat boxes make it easy for teaching assistants to communicate with each other or with the lab manager. Remote Monitor also enables MeasureNet&rsquo;s Cincinnati offices to quickly troubleshoot a network anywhere in the world as long as it is connected to the Internet. With appropriate IDs and passwords, a collaborating institution can have access to partner real-time lab experiments or saved data for research or outreach activities. Remote Monitor installs on any Windows-based PC connected to the Internet and doesn't require additional software or MeasureNet hardware.</p> <p>MeasureNet Technology Ltd. manufactures patented, network-based data acquisition interfaces for science teaching laboratories. It is a spin-off of the University of Cincinnati's Department of Chemistry and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Measurenet's award-winning, PC-reducing design helps reduce laboratory maintenance and operational costs while giving students access to high quality shared UV-vis spectroscopy, gas chromatograph connectivity, and an array of innovative probeware. Its acclaimed intuitive design provides improved transparency to enable better science-focused, not technology-focused, learning. Winner of the Ohio Governor's Award For Excellence in Energy Efficiency, MeasureNet networks are found in universities, community colleges, high schools, and vocational training centers across the United States and around the world.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100302/Remote-Monitor-for-STEM-Outreach-Collaboration-and-Research-with-MeasureNet&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesTue, 11 Oct 2011 01:55:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:100302http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100031/Title-V-HSI-STEM-Grant-Awards-Announced#Comments0Title V HSI STEM Grant Awards Announcedhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100031/Title-V-HSI-STEM-Grant-Awards-Announced<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/mnet_chem_lab1-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="describe the image" />On Sept. 26 the U.S. Department of Education announced that 97&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hacu.net/hacu/default.asp" title="Hispanic-Serving Institutions " target="_self">Hispanic-Serving Institutions&nbsp;</a>(HSIs) are the recipients of&nbsp;awards given through the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Science, Technology,&nbsp;Engineering and Mathematics, and Articulation Programs (HSI STEM and&nbsp;Articulation Programs).<span>&nbsp;The program had about $100 million&nbsp;</span>for 109 grants that will support the<span>&nbsp;</span>development of articulation between two and four year institutions or<span>&nbsp;</span>enhance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs at HSIs.<span>&nbsp;</span>The grant funds may be used for:</p> <ul> <li>&nbsp;scientific or laboratory<span>&nbsp;</span>equipment for teaching</li> <li>&nbsp;the construction or renovation of facilities</li> <li><span>&nbsp;</span>purchasing educational materials</li> <li>&nbsp;academic tutoring or counseling programs</li> <li><span>&nbsp;</span>teacher education</li> <li>&nbsp;student support services.</li> </ul> <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Title-V-HSI-STEM-Grants/" title="More...." target="_self">More....</a> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/100031/Title-V-HSI-STEM-Grant-Awards-Announced&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 09 Oct 2011 17:56:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:100031http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/99920/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-2#Comments0MeasureNet's Versatile Colorimeter Part 2http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/99920/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-2<div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong>&nbsp;QUANTUM FLUORESCENCE &amp; KINETIC SPECTROMETRY</strong></h2> <p><img id="img-1318076337491" src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/quinine.jpg" alt="quinine" width="500" height="362" /></p> <p><b><br /></b></p> <p><strong></strong><br />Many types of organic molecules will exhibit a VISIBLE fluorescent &ldquo;emission&rdquo; when exposed to high energy ULTRA-VIOLET light to create the &ldquo;excitation&rdquo;. This spectro-chemical response is due to the interaction of the energetic UV photons with the loosely-held pi-electrons and other &ldquo;labile&rdquo; functional groups in aromatic, olefinic, alkaloidal, xanthinoid and poly-cyclic compounds&hellip; and there are many important applications for this little-understood, rarely-taught, under-utilized technology. Using the newest in LED technology, the MeasureNet &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; has several &ldquo;excitation&rdquo; sources available&hellip; with the 375nm UV-LED providing the most useful range of responses for relative fluorescence analyses (since it is very close to the classic 366nm long-wavelength UV from a mercury lamp)&hellip; although several alternate user-defined Wavelengths are available from a growing list of LED sources. Please inquire for more information!</p> <p>When used in the &ldquo;Fluorometer&rdquo; mode, the detector is situated at a 90&deg; angle from the UV LED Source, to generate TRUE fluorescent &ldquo;emission&rdquo; data without potential interference from the &ldquo;excitation&rdquo; wavelength. Laboratory exercises for both qualitative comparisons and quantitative analysis of many materials are possible with the <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/dual-beam-colorimeter/" title="MDBC-138 Dual-Beam Colorimeter" target="_self">MDBC-138 Dual-Beam Colorimeter</a>. Some applications in Organic Chemistry, Analytical Sciences, Biology/Biochemistry, Environmental and Nutritional Science programs, are highlighted here:</p> <p>&nbsp;<span>UV-LED Fluorometry for Single-range EMISSION Values:</span><br />&bull; &ldquo;Zap&rdquo; UV against Chlorophyll from things that Grow&hellip; and see what makes it Glow<br />&bull; The Highlights of Highlighting Markers: How bright is bright?<br />&bull; Evaluation of Cigarette Second-Hand Smoke: Nicotine for the Masses in your Breathing &nbsp; &nbsp;Gases?<br />&bull; Analysis of Alkaloid Materials like Quinine<br />&bull; Measure Amino Acids in &ldquo;Energy Drinks&rdquo;&hellip; Are their labels Accurate&nbsp;<br />&bull; Check Ground-Water &ldquo;Plumes&rdquo; with Fluoresceine&hellip; Water-Table extracts will also be green!</p> <div></div> </div> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/99920/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-2&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 08 Oct 2011 12:18:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:99920http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98315/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-1-of-4#Comments0MeasureNet's Versatile Colorimeter: Part 1 of 4http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98315/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-1-of-4<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Crystal Violet Kinetics Reaction-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="Crystal Violet Kinetics Reaction resized 600" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>A typical colorimeter is usually a simple, single-beam optical system to measure &ldquo;color&rdquo; in the VISIBLE Spectrum of light and provide ABSORBANCE data at a single wavelength. These systems can cost $1,000 or more for stand-alone colorimeters that merely provide simple ABS data&hellip; unless you consider the MeasureNet <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/dual-beam-colorimeter/" title="Model MDBC-138 " target="_self">Model MDBC-138 </a>true Double-Beam, Multi-Functional &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; based on a unique set of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes)... for under $500! The MeasureNet &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; is actually FOUR (4) instruments in ONE (1) compact and rugged box&hellip; and works as a colorimeter (to make Beer&rsquo;s Law Curves for VISIBLE Wavelengths), a UV fluorometer (to demonstrate fluorescence &amp; quenching in certain organic molecules), a turbidometer (to measure the turbidity of particulate &amp; colloidal suspensions) and a phosphorimeter (to analyze the phosphorescence [&ldquo;glow&rdquo;] of specific materials).</p> <p><strong>#1) BEER&rsquo;S LAW ABSORBANCE &amp; KINETIC SPECTROSCOPY&nbsp;<br /></strong>This unit can be used as a &ldquo;simple&rdquo; Colorimeter to demonstrate Beer&rsquo;s Law using three (3) high-output VISIBLE Light LEDs at 472nm (BLUE), 525nm (GREEN) and 630nm (RED); which cover over 75% of the classic General Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory experiments that teach spectrophotometric measurements. The wavelength coverage of these LEDs allows highly accurate relative measurement of almost all the ROYGBIV Colors. The disposable &amp; unbreakable 10mm pathlength, near-UV plastic cuvettes included with the &ldquo;Colorimeter&rdquo; can be used from ~300nm (in the near-UV) to over 1000nm (in the near-IR) for analytical measurements&hellip; and come with sealing caps to preserve prepared solutions for future tests. Some of the popular Laboratory experiments for your Academic Lab curriculum programs &nbsp;Gen Chem, Analytical or Student Research are:</p> <p>&nbsp;<span>Red / Blue / Green Colorimetric ABS Data for Beer&rsquo;s Law plots:</span><br />&bull; Test for Mineral IRON in your food&hellip; check your Cereals, Breads and more<br />&bull; Unsaturated FATS can be easily seen&hellip; just get a purple Color using some IODINE!<br />&bull; Evaluation of Nutritional Food Proteins&hellip; React it to get a &ldquo;BLUE&rdquo; and see what can be seen!<br />&bull; Consistency of M&amp;M and Skittles Candy Colors: Is the "blue" true blue or &ldquo;faux&rdquo; to you!<br />&bull; Changing &ldquo;Colors&rdquo; of some pH Dyes&hellip; [H+] makes them look *new* to our eyes!<br />&bull; General Colorimetric Assay&hellip; for ANION (X, PO4, SO4, NO3, NO2, etc)&nbsp;</p> <p>The MDBC-138 is a TRUE Double-Beam Optical System&hellip; and provides a reference cell to &ldquo;blank&rdquo; out the reagents used to create a very stable ABS reading for several Organic Reactions. Data from these Labs can be used to calculate rate constants, equilibrium factors and reaction conditions (for thermal, ionic and electrochemical variables). This is a MUST for making accurate kinetic experiment tests. A few of them from our &ldquo;Library&rdquo; include:</p> <p>&nbsp;<span>Dual-Beam ABS Data for Kinetic Measurements:</span><br />&bull; The Iodine Test for Starches&hellip; just Hydrolyze with Amylaze to get a Kinetic Rate<br />&bull; Perform REDOX &ldquo;Clock&rdquo; Reactions&nbsp;<br />&bull; pH-based Hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylacetate Ester</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98315/MeasureNet-s-Versatile-Colorimeter-Part-1-of-4&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesWed, 05 Oct 2011 18:26:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:98315http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98261/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Wilhelm-Bunsen#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Robert Wilhelm Bunsenhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98261/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Wilhelm-Bunsen<h1><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/RobertBunsen_003.jpg" alt="Robert Wilhelm Bunsen" /></h1> <h1>"Burner"</h1> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bunsen" target="_blank">Robert Wilhelm Bunsen&nbsp;</a>(1811-1899). German chemist. Professor of chemistry at the universities of Kassel (1836), Marburg (1841) and Heidelberg (1852-1889), Bunsen is perhaps best known for his work on spectrum analysis (1860), done in collaboration with the German physicist, Gustav Kirchhoff, and their subsequent discovery of the elements cesium (1860) and rubidium (1861). He also did notable work on the chemistry of organoarsenic compounds (1837-1842),the laws of photochemistry (1855-1867), and the refinement of gas analysis (1857). Known to students of general chemistry for his introduction of the tubular laboratory gas burner in 1855, Bunsen was a prolific inventor of chemical apparatus, including the Bunsen carbon battery (1841), the grease-spot photometer (1843), the hydrogen chloride actinometer (1857), and an improved ice calorimeter (1870).</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/98261/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Wilhelm-Bunsen&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 02 Oct 2011 00:48:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:98261http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/91987/Acid-Resistant-Temperature-Probes-for-the-Chemistry-Lab#Comments0Acid Resistant Temperature Probes for the Chemistry Labhttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/91987/Acid-Resistant-Temperature-Probes-for-the-Chemistry-Lab<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/tempProbe.png" border="0" alt="tempProbe" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br /><br /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>What makes the <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/temperature/" title="MeasureNet temperature probe" target="_self">MeasureNet temperature probe</a>&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">unique</span>? Two features in combination are what set this&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">probe</span>&nbsp;apart from other stainless-steel sheathed probes on the market; its rapid four-second response time and its acid resistant coating. These two characteristics are essential for conducting experiments like thermometric titrations and freezing point depressions in the general chemistry lab.</p> <p>Before I go into the details of how we achieve these two essential characteristics, lets examine the most common temperature sensor options found in the chemistry lab. Listed in the table below are the three types most commonly used sensors and their properties:</p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p> <ul> <li> <p>Thermocouple</p> </li> <li> <p>Thermistor</p> </li> <li> <p>Resistive Temperature Device (RTD)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </li> </ul> <div class="center"> <table class="large"> <tbody> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="25%">Attribute</td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="25%">Thermocouple</td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="25%">RTD</td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC" width="25%">Thermistor</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Cost</td> <td>Low</td> <td>High</td> <td>Low</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Temperature Range</td> <td>Very wide<br /> -350<sup>o</sup>F<br /> +3200<sup>o</sup>F</td> <td>Wide<br /> -400<sup>o</sup>F<br /> +1200<sup>o</sup>F</td> <td>Short to medium<br /> -100<sup>o</sup>F<br /> +500<sup>o</sup>F</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Interchange ability</td> <td>Good</td> <td>Excellent</td> <td>Poor to fair</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Long-term Stability</td> <td>Poor to fair</td> <td>Good</td> <td>Poor</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Accuracy</td> <td>Medium</td> <td>High</td> <td>Medium</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Repeatability</td> <td>Poor to fair</td> <td>Excellent</td> <td>Fair to good</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Sensitivity (output)</td> <td>Low</td> <td>Medium</td> <td>Very high</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Response</td> <td>Medium to fast</td> <td>Medium</td> <td>Medium to fast</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Linearity</td> <td>Fair</td> <td>Good</td> <td>Poor</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Self Heating</td> <td>No</td> <td>Very low to low</td> <td>High</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Point (end) Sensitive</td> <td>Excellent</td> <td>Fair</td> <td>Good</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Lead Effect</td> <td>High</td> <td>Medium</td> <td>Low</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Size/Packaging</td> <td>Small to large</td> <td>Medium to small</td> <td>Small to medium</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <address>(Table is courtesy of <a href="http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/temperature-sensors-d_448.html" title="The Enginneering ToolBox" target="_blank">The Enginneering ToolBox</a>)&nbsp;</address><address>&nbsp;</address> <p>One sensor not mentioned is the solid-state temperature sensor. We selected the <a href="http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LM35.pdf" title="LM35CH" target="_blank">LM35CH</a> solid-state sensor for the MeasureNet temperature probe for three reasons; its response time, temperature range, and its easy interface to the measurement stations.&nbsp;<br class="para" /><br class="para" />In designing the MeasureNet temperature probe, we focused on two characteristics; response time and acid resistance. The response time is particularly&nbsp;<span class="modif">pertinent</span>&nbsp;when selecting a temperature probe. When &nbsp;trying to&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">measure</span>&nbsp;a fast thermal&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">reaction</span>&nbsp;with a temperature probe that has a slow response time, as they say, garbage-in equals garbage-out! The other consideration is acid resistance, which impacts the probes durability.&nbsp;<br class="para" /><br class="para" />This is where MeasureNet's acid resistant and thermally conductive coating comes in to play. It maintains its superior protective properties over long periods of time with minimal impact on its response time. It has passed extensive tests for protecting the&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">probe</span>&nbsp;in hydrochloric, phosphoric, sulfuric and nitric acid solutions. Most of the temperature probes on the market designed for rugged lab use&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">embed</span>&nbsp;the temperature sensor in a stainless-steel sheath. Although this gives the probe&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">superior</span>&nbsp;mechanical strength and some protection against&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">weak</span>&nbsp;acids, it &nbsp;slows the response time of the&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">probe</span>&nbsp;to 8-30 seconds depending on the sensor used and the&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert">design</span>&nbsp;of the sheath. MeasureNet designed the temperature probe with the end user in mind, students in the chemistry lab.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/91987/Acid-Resistant-Temperature-Probes-for-the-Chemistry-Lab&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 11 Sep 2011 17:28:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:91987http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93154/pH-Electrode-for-General-Chemistry-Labs#Comments0pH Electrode for General Chemistry Labshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93154/pH-Electrode-for-General-Chemistry-Labs<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/probe_ph.jpg" alt="pH Electrode" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">MeasureNet's ElectroJelly&trade; pH electrode&nbsp;<span class="PassiveVoice alert">has been designed</span>&nbsp;with students and the chemistry teaching lab in mind. What is ElectroJelly&trade;? It is a&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">solid</span>&nbsp;material with highly concentrated&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">salt</span>&nbsp;(most times it is KCl) that can effectively&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">hold</span>&nbsp;reference electrode electrolytes and&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">prevent</span>&nbsp;it from contamination by&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">sample</span>&nbsp;back-flow. The ElectroJelly&trade; filled (sealed) electrodes have a longer life and&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">need</span>&nbsp;less calibration than&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">regular</span>&nbsp;gel filled electrodes, saving time and money. Two other features unique to the MeasureNet pH probe are the SilverCap&trade; for noise reduction while handling the&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">probe</span>, and the epoxy&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">body</span>&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">design</span>&nbsp;uses holes instead of tabs&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">too</span>&nbsp;better protect the glass bulb from the rough handling of students. You use the pH probe with our <a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/the-components/probeware/multi-function-drop-counter/" title="Drop Counter " target="_blank">Drop Counter </a>for pH titrations.<br class="para" /><br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <h4><span style="font-family: Arial;">ElectroJelly&trade; pH&nbsp;Electrode &nbsp;Features:</span></h4> <ul> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Superior Stability</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fast response</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Minimum sodium (alkaline) error</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">pH 0 -14 full range measurement</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Special internal fill offers full range linear temperature compensation</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Very low sensor glass membrane resistance</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Zero and Isopotential: ~pH 7</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unique Glass Bulb protection design</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="WordySentence alert">MeasureNet's ElectroJelly&trade; probes are ideal for undergraduate research projects.</span>&nbsp;The&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">probe</span>'s&nbsp;<span class="WordBooster alert active">stability</span>&nbsp;and long life span are ideal for 24/7 monitoring applications and experiments involving temperature cycling. If pH titrations are an&nbsp;<span class="modif">fundamental</span>&nbsp;part of your curriculum or research, the ElectroJelly&trade; probes stability and rapid response time makes it the perfect choice.<br /></span></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93154/pH-Electrode-for-General-Chemistry-Labs&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 08 Sep 2011 14:02:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:93154http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93043/Chemistry-News-Miniature-Chemical-Analyzer-for-Complex-Samples#Comments0Chemistry News - Miniature Chemical Analyzer for Complex Sampleshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93043/Chemistry-News-Miniature-Chemical-Analyzer-for-Complex-Samples<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-capabilities-miniature-complex-samples.html"><img src="http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2011/4-researcherse.jpg" alt="Researchers expand capabilities of miniature analyzer for complex samples" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-capabilities-miniature-complex-samples.html">Researchers expand capabilities of miniature analyzer for complex samples</a></p> <p>(PhysOrg.com) -- It&rsquo;s not often that someone can claim that going from a positive to a negative is a step forward, but that&rsquo;s the case for a team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and private industry. In a recent paper,* the group significantly extended the reach of their novel microfluidic system for analyzing the chemical components of complex samples. The new work shows how the system, meant to analyze real-world, crude mixtures such as dirt or whole blood, can work for negatively charged components as well as it has in the past for positively charged ones.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/93043/Chemistry-News-Miniature-Chemical-Analyzer-for-Complex-Samples&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 03 Sep 2011 13:24:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:93043http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92762/Sample-Acid-Base-Titration-Experiment#Comments0Sample Acid-Base Titration Experimenthttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92762/Sample-Acid-Base-Titration-Experiment<p align="center"><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/pH Titration Setup-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="pH Titration Setup resized 600" />&nbsp;</p> <p align="center"><b><br /></b></p> <h4 align="center"><b>Electronic Measurement and Data Collection in the Chemistry Laboratory</b></h4> <h4 class="NCS"><b>Hands-on Experiment - pH Titration Curve</b></h4> <p class="NCS">In this experiment, you will generate a <a href="http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/acidbaseeqia/phcurves.html" title="titration curve" target="_blank">titration curve</a> for an unknown acid or base. Using a drop counter, you will add titrant and display a plot of pH <em>vs.</em> drops on the MeasureNet&trade; workstation.</p> <p class="NCS"><b>Procedure</b></p> <h4 class="NCS"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Calibrating the pH electrode</span></h4> <p class="NCS">1. Move the black band on the pH electrode to uncover the hole in its side. Mount the electrode in a vertical position with a universal clamp on a ring stand (not the same one holding the burets), and connect it to the workstation. Place a waste beaker under the electrode and rinse the electrode with distilled water, then gently touch a Kimwipe to the electrode tip to remove the remaining drop of water. Pour a sample of a standard buffer solution into a disposable cup. Lower the pH electrode into the solution.</p> <p class="NCS">2.&nbsp;&nbsp; Press MAIN MENU on the workstation. A list of measurement types will appear on the screen. (Make a note of the station number listed at the top of the screen.) Press the function key listed for pH, then the function key for pH versus drops, and then press CALIBRATE. Follow the instructions on the screen, which will prompt you first to enter the temperature (if not known, just assume ~22&deg;C), then to enter the known pH of the standard solution, and finally to monitor the pH displayed. Be sure to press <b>Enter</b> after the pH reading becomes steady. You are performing a single point calibration, so press <b>F1</b> when prompted by the message on the workstation screen. Press DISPLAY and note the pH value on the workstation screen. If it is not within 0.02 pH units of the actual pH of the standard buffer solution, you should redo the calibration.</p> <h4 class="NCS"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Titration Experiment</span></h4> <p class="NCS">(Consult Figure 1 on the last page for a picture of the experimental setup.)</p> <p class="NCS">3.&nbsp;&nbsp; Select an unknown solution, which will contain either a mono- or diprotic weak acid, or a mono- or dibasic weak base. Pipet 25 mL of the unknown solution into a 50-mL beaker equipped with a stir bar. Place the beaker on the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">center</span> of the stir plate. Place the pH<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span>electrode in the holder in the drop counter, and lower it into the beaker (near the wall of the beaker to avoid the stir bar) so that the protective shield rests lightly on the bottom of the beaker. Clamp the drop counter to a ring stand. Turn on the stir plate so that the stir bar is turning at the lowest sustainable speed. Note the initial pH of the solution. Based on this pH, decide which titrant (HCl or NaOH) you will use to titrate the solution. Fill a 50 mL buret with the appropriate titrant.</p> <p class="NCS">4.&nbsp;&nbsp; Position the buret containing the selected titrant so that its tip is over the appropriate opening in the drop counter, making sure that this is also over the beaker, probably near the wall opposite the pH electrode. It gets a little crowded here, and you will need to take care not to change the position of the beaker in the center of the stir plate. <b>Don't let any titrant fall into the sample yet! </b>When everything is arranged as in Figure 1 (except the temperature probe, which we aren&rsquo;t using in this experiment), begin the titration by pressing START/STOP on the workstation. The station will first ask you to enter the starting reading on the buret. It need not be exactly 0.00 mL. Just read what it is and enter the appropriate value. The station display will now show the pH and the number of drops counted, 0 so far. Carefully turn the stopcock on the buret to begin adding the titrant. The red LED on the drop counter will flash each time a drop is counted. Try to maintain a rate of approximately 1 drop per second. A flow restrictor is used in the stopcock to make this easier to accomplish. Your only duty while the titration is running is to monitor the drip rate and make small adjustments of the stopcock if needed.</p> <p class="NCS">5.&nbsp;&nbsp; When you have followed the titration far enough, press START/STOP to stop the titration. The station will now ask you for the final volume reading on the buret. Read and enter the value.</p> <p class="NCS">6.&nbsp;&nbsp; Print your titration curve. Press FILE OPTIONS, read the menu that appears, and press the function key listed for PRINT DATA (standard). Enter the number of copies to be printed, and press ENTER. Your plots will appear on the printer attached to the PC. They will be labeled at the top with your station number.</p> <p class="NCS">7.&nbsp;&nbsp; Use the printed plot to estimate the pK<sub>a</sub>(s) for the substance you titrated, then ask the instructor to compare your results with what was expected for your unknown.</p> <p class="NCS">&nbsp;</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92762/Sample-Acid-Base-Titration-Experiment&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 01 Sep 2011 18:09:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:92762http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92568/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Boyle#Comments0Important Chemists in History: Robert Boylehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92568/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Boyle<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/RobertBoyle_001.jpg" border="0" alt="Robert Boyle" /></p> <h1>"The Sceptical Chymist"</h1> <p>September 2011</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Boyle" target="_blank">Robert Boyle</a>&nbsp;(1627-1691). Irish chemist and natural philosopher. As a son of the Earl of Cork, Boyle was independently wealthy and so was able to live the life of an independent scientific "virtuoso." Best known for his advocacy of a mechanical corpuscular or particulate approach to physics and chemistry, as opposed to the older hylomorphic doctrines of Aristotle and Paracelsus, Boyle authored numerous books, of which his most famous was perhaps&nbsp;<em>The Sceptical Chymist</em>, first published in 1661. He is known to students of introductory chemistry largely through his discovery of Boyle's law (1662), which states that the volume of a gas varies inversely with applied pressure at constant temperature.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Professor William Jensen, Oesper Chair of the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education, University of Cincinnati</em></p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92568/Important-Chemists-in-History-Robert-Boyle&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 01 Sep 2011 12:50:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:92568http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92660/Chemists-Identify-New-Way-to-Create-Photovoltaic-Devices#Comments0Chemists Identify New Way to Create Photovoltaic Deviceshttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92660/Chemists-Identify-New-Way-to-Create-Photovoltaic-Devices<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news189352994.html"><img src="http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2-umassamherst.jpg" alt="UMass Amherst Chemists Identify an Exciting New Way to Create Photovoltaic Devices to Convert Solar Energy to Electricity" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news189352994.html">Chemists Identify New Way to Create Photovoltaic Devices</a></p> <p>(PhysOrg.com) -- A promising new polymer-based method for creating photovoltaic devices, which convert sunlight into electricity, has been identified by chemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Their new technique should lead to more efficient power production than achievable by the current generation of semiconductors.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/92660/Chemists-Identify-New-Way-to-Create-Photovoltaic-Devices&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesThu, 01 Sep 2011 00:46:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:92660http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90447/ACS-Receives-NSF-Grant-to-Communicate-How-Chemistry-Benefits-Public#Comments0ACS Receives NSF Grant to Communicate How Chemistry Benefits Publichttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90447/ACS-Receives-NSF-Grant-to-Communicate-How-Chemistry-Benefits-Public<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/chemical education.jpg" border="0" alt="chemical education" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The <a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content" title="American Chemical Society" target="_blank">American Chemical Society</a> has been awarded a $1 million chemistry public outreach grant from NSF. According to C&amp;EN editor <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/cen/staff/biosw.html" title="Sophia L. Rovner," target="_blank">Sophia L. Rovner,</a> the grant will be used to communicate the contributions of chemistry to society. This chemical education grant &nbsp;from NSF is timed perfectly because, 2011 is the <a href="http://www.chemistry2011.org/" title="International Year of Chemistry" target="_blank">International Year of Chemistry</a>.</p> <p>The grant "enables ACS efforts to sustain the momentum of IYC 2011," says ACS Executive Director and CEO Madeleine Jacobs . "Our members, committees, local sections, technical divisions, and our external IYC Partners&mdash;and their networks&mdash;will be vital to help the project be a success."</p> <p>To learn more go to C&amp;EN article&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/89/i34/8934news4.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cen_latestnews+%28Chemical+%26+Engineering+News%3A+Latest+News%29" title="ACS Wins $1 Million NSF Grant" target="_blank">ACS Wins $1 Million NSF Grant</a>.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90447/ACS-Receives-NSF-Grant-to-Communicate-How-Chemistry-Benefits-Public&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSun, 21 Aug 2011 16:51:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:90447http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90359/Bill-Jensen-s-Famous-Chemists-Caricatures-Are-Back#Comments0Bill Jensen's Famous Chemists Caricatures Are Back!http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90359/Bill-Jensen-s-Famous-Chemists-Caricatures-Are-Back<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/christianschoenbein.jpg" border="0" alt="christian schoen bein" /></p> <p>MeasureNet is pleased to announce that its blog will feature caricatures of notable chemists drawn by Professor William Jensen of the University of Cincinnati. The series will include a brief biographical summary of each individual authored by Jensen. The drawings will appear regularly on MeasureNet's its blog beginning in September, 2011.</p> <p>I'm thrilled to have these Jensen works associated with MeasureNet. They'll add a very nice visual element to our media products. At the same time, they have a high degree of relevance to chemical education. Bill's drawings fit with our efforts to make the study of chemistry more interesting and germane to students of all academic backgrounds.</p> <p>William B. Jensen, Ph.D. holds the Oesper Chair in the History of Chemistry and Chemical Education at the University of Cincinnati. He is also curator of the Oesper Collection of Rare Books and Portraits in the History of Chemistry and of the department of chemistry's apparatus museum. In the area of the history of chemistry, Dr. Jensen's interests center on the development of late 19th and early 20th century physical chemistry and inorganic chemistry, with special emphasis on the origins of chemical thermodynamics and solid-state inorganic chemistry. He also has made a detailed study of the origins and development of the 19th century scientific community in Cincinnati. Photos of his early 20th-century chemistry laboratory assembled at the University of Cincinnati have been used in MeasureNet brochures and exhibit displays.&nbsp;</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/90359/Bill-Jensen-s-Famous-Chemists-Caricatures-Are-Back&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 20 Aug 2011 20:06:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:90359http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87696/242nd-American-Chemical-Society-Conference#Comments0242nd American Chemical Society Conferencehttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87696/242nd-American-Chemical-Society-Conference<p>The 242nd <a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content" title="American Chemical Society" target="_self">American Chemical Society</a>&nbsp; is approaching fast. This year the conference will be held on August 29 - August 31st in Denver. <img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/Denver-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="Denver resized 600" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" />The theme of this years conference is " The Chemistry of Air, Space and water". Ironically the theme fits the current heat and drought conditions plaging many areas of the US and the sad ending of the space shuttle program.</p> <p>Here is a breif list of some of the more interesting programs at the conference.</p> <h4>Foods for Extreme Environments</h4> <h4>Modern Agriculture and Biotechnology &ndash; Tools for Sustainability</h4> <h4>Chemistry in Mobile Spaces: Chemical Apps for Mobile Devices:</h4> <h4>Novel Solutions to Water Pollution</h4> <h4>Urban Greehouse Gas Emissions, Climate Change, and Mitigating Impacts</h4> <p>Irv Levy, The Division of Chemical Education program chair has created a great program line up for this years conference.</p> <h4>Greening Undergraduate Education: Lecture and Laboratory Innovations</h4> <h4>Jerry Bell and the Joy of Chemistry</h4> <h4>Celebrating IYC 2011 through Education and Community Outreach</h4> <h4>Research at Community Colleges: Strategies for Enhancing Student Transfer and Success</h4> <h4>Creating Innovation by Collaboration in Green Chemistry Between Industry University Centers and Students</h4> <h4>Chemistry on Stamps Exhibition</h4> <p>For a complete program list -&nbsp;<a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&amp;_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&amp;node_id=585&amp;content_id=CNBP_027595&amp;use_sec=true&amp;sec_url_var=region1&amp;__uuid=e9e7ac12-d261-4f5e-9bca-39073f34dbc5" title="242nd ACS Program." target="_blank">242nd ACS Program.</a></p> <p><a href="http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&amp;_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&amp;node_id=585&amp;content_id=CNBP_027595&amp;use_sec=true&amp;sec_url_var=region1&amp;__uuid=e9e7ac12-d261-4f5e-9bca-39073f34dbc5" title="242nd ACS Program." target="_blank"></a>&nbsp;Please make sure to take some time to visit the Vendor exposition. MeasureNet will be at booth 1505, &nbsp;Mark Hoffman will be manning the booth this year. Mark will be happy to tell you about some of the new products MeasureNet has introduced this year. Here are of some the exciting new additions to our Multifunctional Chemical Analysis Network ( MCAN ) technology for chemistry lab.</p> <p><strong>Cloud based Student Lab Report feature</strong> has been added to student data storage site - <strong>LabLinx</strong>. Students will now be able to submit their lab reports online saving time and paper. We have also a Click and View capablity so students can instantly view their laboratory data without having to download and import into Excel to view their data, another big time saver.</p> <p>For upper level courses we have added a <strong>cloud based experiment remote monitor and alert feature</strong>. This allows students and researches to monitor their experiments over the internet with computers or smart phones. It even has a text alert feature to let you know if something has gone wrong. We will be adding many more features to this remote monitor capability in the coming months.</p> <p>We look forward to another great conference in Denver and hope &nbsp;to see you there.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87696/242nd-American-Chemical-Society-Conference&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 20 Aug 2011 19:14:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:87696http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87866/Cloud-Computing-Managing-Students-Electronically-Collected-Laboratory-Data#Comments0Cloud Computing, Managing Students Electronically Collected Laboratory Datahttp://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87866/Cloud-Computing-Managing-Students-Electronically-Collected-Laboratory-Data<p><img src="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/Portals/117882/images/mnet_chem_lab1-resized-600.JPG" border="0" alt="mnet chem lab1 resized 600" />A&nbsp;<a href="http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/">Journal of Chemical Education</a>&nbsp;article titled&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed1005745">Managing Laboratory Data Using Cloud Computing as an Organizational Tool</a>&nbsp;by Jacqueline Bennett and Harry E. Pence (J. Chem. Educ. June 2011:Vol. 88 no. 8) brings to light the the key role cloud computing will play in laboratory instruction.</p> <p>The authors summarized the benefits of the cloud from a research and educational perspective nicely... "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing">Cloud computing</a>, where both software and computer files reside online, offers a solution to this data-management problem and allows researchers to coordinate their efforts just as easily whether they are working in the same laboratory or laboratories halfway around the world ".</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>MeasureNet Technology has been supplying chemistry lab instructors with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/news/data_storage.html">cloud based tools</a>&nbsp;for data-management, data security and Collaborative/Cooperative Learning solutions for many years. MeasureNet's Laboratory Electronic Measurement and Data Collection Technology is used in university chemistry labs by students to measure and collect data sets in the lab, store and share on the cloud and analyze these data sets from anywhere via the cloud.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.measurenet-tech.com/index.html">MeasureNet's patented unique Network design</a>&nbsp;takes cloud computing to the next level by connecting students to the lab TA or instructor while they are are conducting the experiments. Using MeasureNet's real-time monitoring capablities, TA's in the lab can monitor student experiments to make sure they are conducting the experiments properly. Instructors or collaborators can also monitor the live data collection with their computers from any remote location via the internet.</p> <img src="http://track.hubspot.com/__ptq.gif?a=117882&k=14&bu=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/&r=http://www.measurenet-tech.com/blog/bid/87866/Cloud-Computing-Managing-Students-Electronically-Collected-Laboratory-Data&bvt=rss">Robert VoorheesSat, 20 Aug 2011 19:12:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:87866