A description of the essential features of the laboratory are described below:

  • Back. Clicking the back button exits the inorganic laboratory and returns the user to the portal.
  • Charts. Hanging on the wall to the left of the stockroom are two charts for an Odor Key and a pH Key. The odor key provides an interpretation of color for the different noses when a solution is smelled. The pH key is used to interpret the color of the pH paper.
  • Cation Solutions. The bottles on the shelves contain the indicated cation at a concentration of 0.02 M except NH4+, which has a concentration of 1.0 M. Cations are added to a test tube in the holder by clicking once on the bottle. These bottles are also used to define practice unknowns.
  • Test Tube Box. The test tube box contains empty test tubes for making known solutions. To get a new test tube, click on the test tube box and drag the test tube to the holder on the laboratory bench.
  • Live Data. Clicking on the live data tab displays to the user any relevant data pertaining to instruments being used at the time. The live data tab will be blank if no relevant data is available. Users can click on the various buttons in the live data tab to save data, manipulate the instruments, and adjust parameters. Any data saved is automatically sent to the lab notebook. For the inorganic laboratory the display is used to display real pictures depicting the contents of the various test tubes. The display is also used to show videos of the flame tests with and without a cobalt filter. Below the display a contents list is provided for known solutions, and above the display test tube labels are shown and a Save Image button is used to save test tube images to the lab book.
  • Unknowns. Practice unknowns can be created from the unknown tab. If an unknown is assigned, it will also show up in this tab. 
  • Unknowns Rack. To the right of the lab book on the stockroom counter is a small two-test tube rack where test tubes containing unknowns are placed.
  • Lab Book. The lab book is used to record procedures and observations while performing experiments in the virtual laboratory. Data from the experiments can also be saved as links in the lab book where it can then be copied and pasted into an external spreadsheet program for further analysis. Any data saved in the lab book is immutable and cannot be changed. All entires are timestamped. The lab book can also be exported as a PDF. 
  • Presets.  The presets tab has two sections. The first, Lab Presets, are presets created by Beyond Labz that correlate to activities designed by Beyond Labz. The second, My Saved Lab, will contain a list of the users saved lab states. 
  • Save Lab.  Clicking this button will add the lab in its current state to the users saved labs. The list of saved labs can be access from the presets tab.
  • Disposal Bucket. To the right of the lab bench is a disposal bucket for discarding test tubes that are no longer needed in the laboratory. All test tubes in the laboratory can be cleared at once by clicking the disposal bucket. The Clear Lab button at the bottom of the tray serves the same purpose as the disposal bucket. 
  • Reagents. To the back right of the laboratory bench are 11 reagents that can be added to the active test tube in the test tube holder. Reagents are added by clicking the selected bottle once and can be added in any order and any combination.
  • Test Tube Rack. On the back of the lab bench is a test tube rack that can store up to 9 test tubes. Test tubes are moved from the rack to the holder or to the disposal bucket by clicking and dragging.
  • Lab Equipment. At the front of the laboratory bench are 10 laboratory icons used for performing different laboratory functions. The indicated function or manipulation is only performed on the active test tube in the test tube holder.
  • Test Tube Holder. The test tube holder is used to hold the active test tube to which reagents can be added and the various laboratory functions and manipulations can be performed.
  • Bell.  The bell located on the stockroom counter is used to open the Beyond Labz support page.

Test Tubes

Test tubes in the virtual laboratory are used and generally manipulated as they would be in an actual laboratory. The test tube rack is used for storing test tubes and the holder is used for adding reagents and performing other laboratory functions and manipulations. As an added feature in the virtual laboratory, test tubes that are dragged from the rack and dropped over an existing test tube in the holder, or vise versa, automatically switch positions. Test tubes that are created by decanting or dividing take the first available slot to the left in the rack.


Test tubes that are created in the stockroom or in the laboratory (by decanting or dividing) are not automatically labeled. Test tubes can be labeled by clicking on the label area near the top of a test tube and typing an appropriate description. The label is stored by pressing Enter. The first three of the label are displayed on the test tube, but the full label is displayed above the display in the Live Data tab.


Pictures

The test tubes that are manipulated in the virtual laboratory are given colors that show the approximate color of the contents. For the current test tube in the holder, an actual picture of the contents is shown in the Live Data tab display. Pictures of the test tubes in the rack can also be seen by mousing over any of the test tubes. Flame tests are also shown in the same Live Data tab display using 10 second video clips.


Reagents

The available reagents that can be added to the active test tube in the holder are on the back right of the lab bench. Reagents are added by clicking the appropriate bottle and are always added in excess. The reagents have concentrations of 3 M for HNO3, NaOH, and NH3, 0.1 M for the Na2S, 3% H2O2, and 1 M for the NaCl, Na2SO4, and Na2CO3 solutions. When the pH 4, 7, or 10 reagents are selected, the pH of the solution is set to the indicated value. Depending on the speed of your computer or the number of cations in the test tube, it may take up to several seconds to determine the results of adding a particular reagent.


Laboratory Equipment

At the front of the laboratory bench are 10 laboratory icons used for performing various laboratory functions and manipulations on the active test tube in the holder. Starting from left to right, these icons perform the following functions:

  1. Centrifuges the contents of the active solution.
  2. Plays a 10 second video showing a flame test of the active solution.
  3. Plays a 10 second video showing a flame test of the active solution using a cobalt filter. The cobalt filter is usually necessary to filter out masking colors from other cations, usually Na+, that interfere with the K+ color.
  4. Decants the solution from the active test tube into a new test tube leaving any precipitate behind. The new test tube is placed in the first available slot from the left in the test tube rack and is not labeled. If the rack is full, decanting is not possible.
  5. Divides or makes a copy of the active test tube and, again, the copy is placed in the first available slot from the left.
  6. Heats the solution. The presence of the hot plate on the lab bench is equivalent to placing the test tube in a beaker of boiling water.
  7. Measures the pH of the solution using pH paper. The color of the pH paper indicates the pH of the solution. A pH Color Key is hanging on the wall in the virtual laboratory.
  8. Measures the pH of the vapor above the test tube in a manner similar to the pH of the solution.
  9. Smells the contents of the test tube with the color of the nose indicating the smell. A blue nose smells like NH3, a red nose smells like H2S or rotten egg gas, and a neutral nose has no smell.
  10. Stirs the contents of the test tube.

Disposal Bucket

Unwanted test tubes can be disposed of by dragging and dropping the test tube in the disposal bucket. All the test tubes in the laboratory can be disposed of at once by clicking on the disposal bucket or the Clear Lab button. As in an actual laboratory, there is no way to undispose an already disposed test tube. Note that clicking on the disposal bucket does not necessarily terminate a preset or “Finish” a preset that has been previously selected.