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Project Description and Guidelines

During the second half of the semester, our laboratory time will be dedicated to student-selected projects involving the quantitative analyses of real-world samples.  Each of you (either by yourself or with a partner) will decide upon and carry out a determination of a chemical component of a real-world sample using one of the instruments we’ve used in the first part of the course.  As you move through this project, it is important that you pay attention to each step in the analytical process as discussed in chapter 0 of our textbook:

Guidelines/Expectations:

In essence, your project will be the determination of __________ in __________, with you filling in the blanks.  Here are the guidelines for you to follow as you select and carry out your project:

• The first blank must be filled by a chemical species (element, ion, or molecule) and the second blank must be filled by a real-world sample (environmental, biological, or commercial).
• Your analysis will be performed using one of the following instruments: AA, GC-MS, HPLC, IC, ICP-AES, or UV-Vis.
• You must have a literature reference for your procedure.  We don’t have time in this class to perform method development (take Analytical II for this).  A list of potential resources is provided at the bottom of this page.
• It is expected that you will find the chemical species in the sample.  In other words, don’t do a determination of neptunium in tap water.  You must detect something at a quantifiable level.
• When you report the concentration of analyte in your sample, it is important that you include the uncertainty in your measured value as well.  This means you’ll want to do multiple samples from a particular source to generate good statistics.  (Read pp. 644-650 in your textbook to learn more about the importance of sampling.)
• You must choose a chemical species for which the level in the sample is important.  People need to care about how much of this species is present, and you must make the case for why people care.  What are the consequences if the concentration is too high or too low?
• You must choose more than one source for your real-world sample.  For instance, if your sample is lake water, you must use samples from at least two different lakes.  Your data analysis should then include a statistical comparison to determine if the levels of analyte are different in the two sample sources.
• We do have some money to spend on these projects if need be.  It is important that you determine right away if your project calls for equipment and/or chemicals that we would need to order.
• At the end of the semester you will present your project in both an oral presentation to the class and in a final paper written in the format of a scientific journal article.
• I must ok your project before you begin by signing the project summary form in which you state your project, its literature reference, and the specific needs you’ll have in carrying it out.

Deadlines:

Most of the lab time for the second half of the semester is open for you to use as you wish.  I will, however, still require you to turn in your lab notebooks each Monday.  Please keep a record of all of your progress in your notebook.  Include not only the lab work and calculations you do, but every step in the analytical process as well.
The few deadlines we have are as follows:

evaluation:

The final grade for your project will be determined by the following factors:

• Quality of the final results and analysis – How good is the data and the analysis of that data?
• Completeness of the project – Did you do everything that was expected of you?
• Timeliness – Was everything completed on time?
• Quality of the oral presentation
• Quality of the final paper – Is the paper well-written?  Is it complete?  Does it follow the correct format for a scientific article?  Is it well-referenced?
• Ambitiousness of the project – Consideration will be given to the particular challenges presented by the project.  Be bold if you’d like, but definitely don’t choose a project that’s too easy.

final paper:

Each of your papers will be published in the inaugural edition of the Concordia Journal of Analytical Chemistry, an online journal that will showcase your work to the world and act as a reference for future classes to draw upon.

resources:

A number of resources are available to help you find an appropriate analytical method for your project.  These include the following:

• EPA Method Collections (www.epa.gov/osa/fem/methcollectns.htm) – A good starting point for finding EPA test methods. Test methods are approved procedures for measuring the presence and concentration of physical and chemical pollutants; evaluating properties, such as toxic properties, of chemical substances; or measuring the effects of substances under various conditions.
• National Environmental Methods Index (www.nemi.gov) – A searchable index of all chemical, microbiological, biological, toxicity, and physical methods in NEMI.
• Drinking Water Methods Developed by the National Exposure Research Laboratory (www.epa.gov/nerlcwww/ordmeth.htm) – The Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) has historically been one of the most active EPA laboratories conducting drinking water methods research. Numerous analytical methods have been written and are available
• Varian’s Scanview 8.4 – Scanview is a searchable database of more than 4600 application notes and literature references for analytical procedures.  Scanview is installed on the desktop computers in the analytical lab.  The installation CD is stored on the shelves in the analytical lab if you would like to install it on your own computer.
• Practical Ion Chromatography – This is a short book provided by Metrohm (the company that makes our IC system) that includes a number of example analyses.
• Journal of Chemical Education – This journal publishes a number of laboratory procedures suitable for undergraduate analytical laboratories.  Recent volumes are available on the shelves in the analytical lab.  The college has a subscription to the online version of the journal which can be accessed at: http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/
• LC-GC Magazine – A trade magazine that focuses on the chromatography industry.  It often includes examples of chromatographic procedures.  Recent issues are available on the shelves.
• American Laboratory Magazine – A trade magazine that focuses on a broad array of laboratory techniques.  Recent issues are available on the shelves.

© 2010 Concordia College, Moorhead, MN