A Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer will be used in upper level undergraduate laboratories in analytical and physical chemistry and in two new courses, Physical Polymer Chemistry Laboratory and Advanced Synthesis Laboratory. Students in these courses will learn the use of infrared spectroscopy to characterize and quantitate inorganic, organic, and polymeric materials. Many of the experiments will also utilize modern methods of sample-handling, including diffuse reflectance and both horizontal and cylindrical attenuated total reflectance. The new courses will instruct undergraduates in two important areas of chemistry, and the additional experiments in existing courses will guarantee that chemistry graduates have adequate exposure to the theory and modern applications of FTIR.
