Microcomputers are being interfaced with laboratory instruments in the general chemistry program. Student involvement is being maximized in the process of measurement, data acquisition, and data analysis. The efficiency and precision of laboratory measurements is being increased, as well as the student interest and understanding of the nature of the measurements and the principles of chemistry that the laboratories are designed to illustrate. Four data acquisition devices, eight microcomputers directly connected to the devices, a hard disk drive and tape backup for software and data storage as well as a fileserver system are included. Each data acquisition device serves two student workstations. The workstations were completed with the purchase of: eight digital balances for routine mass measurements, three bomb calorimeter systems for calorimetric studies of foods and fuels, two spectrometers for routine quantitative analyses as well as equilibrium and kinetic studies, four pressure transducer systems and eight thermistor thermometer systems for temperature measurements. The grantee is matching the award from non-Federal funds.
