Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

"Audibilization" in the Chemistry Laboratory: An Introduction to Correlation Techniques for Data Extraction

Supporting Info

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

James W. Hovick , Michael Murphy and J. C. Poler

Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina–Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223

J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84 (8), p 1331

DOI: 10.1021/ed084p1331

Publication Date (Web): August 1, 2007

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

A sequence of experiments has been developed that introduce junior-level undergraduate chemistry students to data correlation techniques. We describe these experiments and how they can be implemented in physical chemistry or analytical chemistry laboratory courses. These experiments use sound as a medium for the learning process. Whereas visualization techniques brought computational chemistry into the undergraduate curriculum, we take advantage of the auditory response to small differences in an acoustic signal, to "audibilize" how the data correlation process helps extract useful data from an acquired signal. This method of "listening to complex signals" to extract data is described. Students listen to a mixture of known "standard" sounds and identify its components. This process is compared to more traditional correlation techniques such as Fourier transform and phase locked loop analysis. Students also listen to free induction decays to aid their interpretation of NMR signals. Audibilization complements the students traditional introduction to Fourier transform techniques they use in the laboratory experience.