1. UTILIZING SPECTROSCOPIC RESEARCH TOOLS AND SOFTWARE IN THE CLASSROOM RC10, 70 th International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy June 22-26, 2015, Urbana, IL, USA G. S. Grubbs II

2. Pioneering Microwave Educational Efforts S. A. Cooke and P. Ohring Nick Walker’s Rotational Spectroscopy Wikipedia Page – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_spectroscopy Many of you also had/have talks in this area today! A.J. Minei and S. A. Cooke Journal of Spectroscopy, 2013, 698392, DOI: /10.1155/2013/698392 WH06, 68 th ISMS, Columbus, OH

3. Tools We Use Laboratory Analysis – Computers, Software Packages, Internet, Open Source Software Classroom – Computers, Software Packages, Internet, Open Source Software There is a big need here to integrate the tools we use in the Lab with the tools we use in the classroom!

4. Software Packages Used Gaussian09®, SPFIT/SPCAT 1, AABS 2, LabView TM – Classroom Project with Gaussian09® (Graduates) – Group Meetings (Undergraduate Group) introducing SPFIT/SPCAT with AABS as a front end – Classroom demonstration and ease of LabView TM operating a HP8340 MW Synthesizer (Mix) Not Used: SpecFitter 3, AUTOFIT 4, PGOPHER 5, JB95 6 1.H. M. Pickett. J. Mol. Spectrosc. 148 (1991) 371. 2.Z. Kisiel, L. Pszczolkowski, I. R. Medvedev, M. Winnewisser, F. C. De Lucia, C. E. Herbst, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 233 (2005) 231. 3.S. A. Cooke and P. Ohring. Journal of Spectroscopy, 2013 (2013) 698392, DOI: /10.1155/2013/698392 4.N. A. Seifert, I. A. Finneran, C. Perez, D. P. Zaleski, J. L. Neill, A. L. Steber, R. D. Suenram, A. Lesarri, S. T. Shipman, and B. H. Pate 5.Colin Western, doi: 10.5523/bris.huflggvpcuc1zvliqed497r2 6.Dave Plusquellic, http://www.nist.gov/pml/div686/molec-biophotonics/jb95.cfm

5. Gaussian09® Project Thermodynamic calculations of Complexes, Individual Molecules, etc. Success: Students start to connect principles of QM all the way to Thermodynamics Failure: Calculations under deadlines on the cluster are unreliable and students have a tough time learning inputs

6. SPFIT/SPCAT with AABS Successes: Students can pattern match easily and see the transition assignments in real time Problems: Need a good starting calculation and predetermined SPFIT files to be intuitive

7. LabView TM Interfacing with instrumentation important part of spectroscopy/physical chemistry Learn small amount of coding with LabView TM ; Have published a paper with undergraduates who picked up LabView TM quickly Advantages: very flexible and easy to pick up and use Disadvantages: Cost, if your school does not at least have an educational version, it is very expensive to purchase license

8. Teaching Spectroscopy to the Masses Spectroscopy is a field that unites many areas – Chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science/programming, instrumentation, electrical engineering and vacuum technology. Want to be able to be able to teach multiple concepts (QM, Stat Mech, Thermodynamics) Needs to be easily attainable by students

9. Some (unfortunate) General Misconceptions Spectroscopy is “hard” – Ordiate.com ranks Mathematics, Electromagnetic Field Theory, Thermodynamics, and Quantum Physics as 10, 8, 2 and 1, respectively in ranking subject difficulty 1 Spectroscopy is only a characterization tool, not an analytical tool (FTIR, NMR, and UV-Vis) You have to be excellent at math to do spectroscopy 1. “Top 10 Most Difficult Subjects to Understand and Study” http://ordiate.com/misc/facts/top-10-most-difficult-subjects-to-understand-and-study/

10. Spectroscopy is “Hard” NMR and FTIR disciplines have found a way to make transitions easily understandable by pattern recognition. This is typically taught in Organic Chemistry Picture from http://www.rsc.org/learn- chemistry/wiki/Introduction_to_NMR_spectroscopy Picture from http://wwwchem.csustan.edu/Tutorials/INFRARED.HTM

11. ONLY a Characterization Tool One setback of the “pattern-recognition” is students do not get much exposure to transition assignment which is closely related to the physical interpretations of the spectra Recognizable patterns directly related to assignment exist! S. A. Cooke and P. Ohring A.J. Minei and S. A. Cooke Journal of Spectroscopy, 2013, 698392, DOI: /10.1155/2013/698392 WH06, 68 th ISMS, Columbus, OH

12. Developing an Undergraduate Laboratory Laboratory sequence to consist of calculating a simple hydrocarbon for thermodynamics and frequency Will follow with bomb calorimetry experiments and FTIR of the species in question to understand concepts Possibly extend to heat capacity measurements on DSC for more insight

13. Acknowledgements My FS 2014 Molecular and Solution Thermodynamics Course Students! Group Members A.J. Minei and S. A. Cooke You!!!