Instrumentation
Southwestern College Chemistry Department Instrumentation
The chemistry department has modern equipment that all majors have a chance to work on. Students gain experience through coursework and potentially in independent research projects.You are guaranteed hands on instrumentation experience.
Major instrumentation includes:
Nanalysis 60 MHz (NMR) Spectrometer Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) helps determine the structure of compounds. Any student taking organic chemistry will utilize the NMR.
Perkin-Elmer FT-IR. IR or infrared spectroscopy is used by chemists to determine the major functional groups of organic compounds. The Southwestern instrument includes a diamond ATR unit, which is the most modern data collection technique.
Gas Chromatography (GC) The deparmtent has four GCs in order for students in General Chemistry to have exposure to this important technique for separarting molecules after they have vaporized into a gas.
Thermo Fisher Ultimate 3000 HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). HPLC is an important technique in industrial chemistry and biochemistry. It is used by all students in CHEM324: Analytical Chemistry and for research projects.
Spectrophotometers The department has numerous visible and UV spectrophotometers for general lab use and research. The visible spectrophotometers are used in General Chemistry and other courses.
The department also has other standard equipment such as pH meters, electrophoresis equipment, water testing equipment, temperature controlled rooms, and a 160 acre field station.
