Thermal Analysis in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum

该项目正在将热分析仪器纳入化学系的课程。差示扫描量热法和热重分析是互为补充的技术，可提供有关样品中发生的化学反应和物理变化的独特而重要的信息。该仪器正在三门高级化学课程中使用，让学生体验它作为一种定量分析工具的使用。它还被用作获得物理变化数据的一种方式，例如聚合物中的玻璃化转变温度，这些数据是通过其他方法难以获得的。这种仪器被用来进行将化学领域与其他密切相关的科学联系起来的实验，如材料科学、聚合物科学和生物学。它让学生熟悉一种通常不包括在本科课程中的技术，但经常在商业和工业实验室使用，特别是那些处理与材料相关的问题的实验室。热分析仪器为学生提供了在化合物表征方面的额外经验，这是对已经使用的微尺度技术的补充。

The project is integrating thermal analysis instrumentation into the curriculum of the Chemistry Department. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis are complementary techniques that provide unique and significant information about both the chemical reactions and the physical changes occurring in a sample. The instrumentation is being used in three upper-level chemistry courses, to allow students to experience its use as a quantitative analytical tool. It is also being used as a way to obtain data on physical changes, such as glass transition temperatures in polymers, that are difficult to obtain by other means. This instrumentation is being used to perform experiments that connect the field of chemistry to other closely related sciences, such as materials science, polymer science, and biology. It is familiarizing students with a technique that is not commonly included in the undergraduate curriculum, but is frequently used in commercial and industrial laboratories, particularly those that deal with materials-related problems. Thermal analysis instrumentation provides additional experience to students in the characterization of compounds, which is complementary to the microscale techniques already used.