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2001
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Chemistry for Everyone
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LEDs: New Lamps for Old and a Paradigm for Ongoing Curriculum Modernization
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S. Michael Condren*
Department of Chemistry, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN 38104
George C. Lisensky*
Department of Chemistry, Beloit College, Beloit, WI 53511
Arthur B. Ellis*
Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396
Karen J. Nordell
Department of Chemistry, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 54909
Thomas F. Kuech
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
Stephen A. Stockman
LumiLeds Lighting, San Jose, CA 95131
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August 2001
Vol. 78 No. 8
p. 1033
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| Abstract |
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Advances in science and technology afford new opportunities for enriching and updating the chemistry curriculum by connecting such developments and their products to core chemical principles. This article illustrates this approach to curriculum modernization using advances in lighting and display technologies with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). As noted in an industry summary, an excellent resource for this topic, LEDs are replacing traditional incandescent sources in many lighting and display technologies for reasons of energy efficiency, safety, and conservation. Their widespread use in vehicle, traffic, display, home, and workplace lighting provides opportunities to directly engage students' interest.
The chemistry underpinning LEDs spans many core chemistry curriculum topics, because the semiconductors in the light sources comprise a family of essentially isostructural solids that embrace a variety of periodic trends. Bonding trends exemplified by the solids include electronegativity, atomic radii, bond polarity, isoelectronic principles, and spectroscopic transitions. The solids also provide an acid-base and concentration cell system that complements traditional presentations of aqueous systems. At a more advanced level, the quantum mechanics of spatially confined particles can be presented with this family of solids. This approach to curriculum modernization also affords opportunities to establish interdisciplinary links between chemistry and other scientific and engineering fields.
Featured on the Cover
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| Supplement |
The full-text PDF file contains color versions of many of the figures for this article.
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| More Information |
 Citation |
Condren, S. Michael; Lisensky, George C.; Ellis, Arthur B.; Nordell, Karen J.; Kuech, Thomas F.; Stockman, Steve. J. Chem. Educ. 2001 78 1033.
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Keywords |
Inorganic Chemistry; Light-emitting Diodes; Materials Science; Nanotechnology; Semiconductors; Solid-State Chemistry
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History |
Created:
Last Updated: |
July 10, 2001
August 31, 2005
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| Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues >
2001
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August
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1033
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