A Community of Science


The Department of Chemistry, housed on the third floor of Richardson Hall, features spacious teaching labs, research labs, and classrooms with state-of-the-art technology.  From freshman to senior and from courses to research projects, students gain extensive first-hand experience using a variety of modern instruments.  The Chemistry Department also shares a biochemistry lab and research space in recently constructed Lassiter Hall.  Furthermore, the close-knit relationships between the departments of chemistry, biology, physics and computer science, math, and the School of Pharmacy expand students’  and faculties’ resources beyond just the chemistry department.  PC is truly a community of science.



The GC/MS is a powerful analytical instrument used for separating, identifying, and measuring trace amounts of chemical compounds.








GC is a useful tool for separating components in a mixture.  It is often employed as a quick and easy means for measuring the purity of a compound, but it can also be used to determine the amount of substance in a mixture.







HPLC is a superb technique for separating, identifying, and recovering chemical components in a mixture.  This instrument is equipped with a UV-Vis diode-array detection system and is also an efficient quantitative instrument.









The FT-IR measures the vibrational frequency of bonded atoms.  This is a useful technique for identifying specific reactivity groups in a compound.








The Raman spectrometer is a complimentary tool to FT-IR.  It also measures the vibrational frequency of bonded atoms.








The UV-Vis measures the absorbance of visible and ultraviolet light through solid, liquid, and gaseous samples.  This is an extremely versatile instrument employed in quantitative, kinetic, and thermochemical analysis.







CV measures the electrochemical properties of materials.  It is used to answer the question, “Where are those electrons going?”