Refractometer Tutorial

The Refractometer Tutorial is an interactive animation that introduces students to the use of the Bausch & Lomb Abbe Refractometer. The tutorial presents nine procedure steps covering operation, measurement, and cleaning of the instrument.

Chem21 animations provide a safe learning environment where students receive full credit once the tutorial is completed correctly, even with multiple restarts. The tutorial can be assigned before the lab to prepare students and after the lab to reinforce learning objectives.

Students learn how to:

• apply a sample to the prism
• adjust the background field
• use the light and compensator dial to sharpen the light/dark interface
• Read the refractive index
• properly clean the prism and prepare the instrument for the user

The tutorial also includes activities where students:

• order a random listing of operating steps
• perform a "virtual" reading by rotating the hand wheel to move the background in the eyepiece.
• Record multiple virtual refractive index readings (1-5, set by the instructor)

If a reading is incorrect, the tutorial restarts. The animation is touch-enabled.

At the end of the tutorial, a Tutorial Complete banner will appear.