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| Chem 110 | ||
| Fall 2003 | Syllabus | Office: SA470b |
| Office Hours: TTh 1300-1400 other times by appointment |
Phone: x 5719 Home: 822-1116 |
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| e-mail: rap1@humboldt.edu |
Lecture Schedule: See General Chemistry on my Web Page (http://www.humboldt.edu/~rap1)
Laboratory Schedule: See General Chemistry on my Web Page (http://www.humboldt.edu/~rap1)
Required Materials:
Prerequisites: You must have passed Chem 109 (or an equivalent transfer course) with a C- or better to take Chem 110. If you took "Chem 109" at another institution I recommend you talk to me and/or look at my Chem 109 web-site to make sure you are prepared for Chem 110. If you have any doubts about your preparedness for Chem 110, please see the instructor as soon as possible.
Chem 110 is the second half of an integrated, two-semester course, General Chemistry. In the first half of Chem 110 we finish the study of equilibrium begun in Chem 109 and provide further introduction to general chemical principles and concepts. The second half of the course focuses on the descriptive chemistry of the elements and an introduction to nuclear chemistry. Most upper division chemistry courses require Chem 110 as a prerequisite. Chem 110 cannot be taken Credit/No Credit!
An average student should expect to spend about three hours studying for each hour of lecture to get a "C" in this course!
My attitude towards texts is that they are resources to repeat, expand, clarify (or confuse!), and otherwise aid you in your endeavor to understand chemistry. Zumdahl and I may sometimes disagree. In such cases of disagreement between a text and myself, I am the "ultimate authority" and you must "do it my way." This doesn't mean that I am right, but rather that we need a common, defined set of knowledge for effective communication.
The text is a critical source of information; read it regularly and carefully. Unless you are informed otherwise, you will be held responsible for all text material, whether or not it is covered in the lecture. The questions and problems at the ends of the chapters are important! Chemistry cannot be learned by merely reading or listening to lectures - you must actively practice it. Although none of the end-of-chapter questions and problems will be assigned as "turn in" homework, they should be taken seriously; your success in Chem 110 will probably depend on how much time you spend on them. (In fact, you should expect to spend at least ten to twenty hours per week outside of class studying and doing homework for this course. If you are not prepared to make this commitment of time, you should consider dropping the course.) As you do the problems you must think about the principles involved. The goal is to understand what you are doing! Exams will present you with questions and problems you may have never seen before. If you understand the principles and can solve the problems in the text, lab manual and on the ChemSkill Builder CDROM, rather than memorize a pathway to a solution, you should have little trouble with exams or quizzes.
End-of-chapter problems are assigned for your benefit - they will not be graded. The points you recieve on exams will be the benefit you gain from doing them. In each of the textbook chapters to be covered in this course, it is to be clearly understood that all of the odd-numbered exercises at the end of each chapter are assigned for the student to work out and understand. Similar exercises are paired such that if one exercise causes difficulty, a similar exercise preceding or following the difficult exercise will provide additional practice on the same concept. Even though these exercises are not to be turned in, the student is strongly encouraged to work out all of the exercises at the end of the each chapter.
I will attempt to post a complete set of my lecture notes in this course. You should be critical when using them - its incredibly easy to screw up and enter small errors into these notes. If you use the notes and think you've found an error please tell me via e-mail so I may correct them immediately rather than forgetting your comments on the way to my office! I will atttempt to put all of the lecture examples into my web notes to help you out.
Attendance: Attendance in lecture will not be taken, nor will it be used by the instructor to influence your grade in any way. HOWEVER, you are most strongly urged to attend every lecture and to take thorough notes. Historically this approach has worked better than missing classes and taking sketchy notes. (I suggest taking the best notes you can, and then use my web notes to check them - past students have found it deterimental to depend on my web notes rather than taking their own!)
Exams: Midterm exams will be given during lecture hours. Note the in-class exam dates and be certain you can make them. I do not generally give make-up exams, but can often make an accommodation if notified in advance. So if you think you can't make an exam, please call me in advance. If you can't reach me, leave a message with the Chemistry Department secretary or on my voice mail on email.
Laboratory attendance is mandatory and role is taken. Missing three or more laboratory sessions will result in an automatic "F" for the course! Failure to turn in a lab report will count as a missed lab! Unless you are informed otherwise, the written report for each lab exercise will be due at the beginning of the following lab. Late reports will not be accepted, except when they are necessitated by illness or some other unavoidable circumstance. It is impossible to overestimate the potential value of the lab and of the preparation of the lab reports in helping you to learn chemistry. The work you put in on the preparation of your lab reports will have a direct effect on your quiz and examination scores. Bring a scientific calculator to every laboratory. Come prepared to the labs - i.e., know what you are about to do in lab.
Be punctual. Laboratory instructions and safety information is given at the beginning of lab. You will not be allowed to do lab work if you have misseed this information!
The laboratory part of Chem 110 begins with a continuation of the types of experiments done in Chem109. After following this format for the first seven experiments, the lab switches over to qualitative analysis for the remainder of the semester. You will be asked to identify cations and/or anions in unknowns provided to you during this phase of the laboratory. Unlike Chem 109, a substantial fraction of your grade (points earned) will depend on your performance in the lab.
You are strongly encouraged to work ahead of schedule. If you finish all of the unknowns before the end of the semester, you may check out of the laboratory early. No unknown will contain either the mercury(I) ion or the mercury(II) ion. No unknown will contain the acetate ion.
Homework (50 points possible): CSB homework problems will be assigned and graded weekly (due dates on the Tentative Schedule). You will have to purchase a CDROM called CHEMISKILL-BUILDER 2001 version 6.1 ("CSB"). For each major topic covered in the course there is a program that presents questions to be answered and also records the percentage of questions answered correctly. A computer in the lab will transfer your record into a class gradebook (database). In order to use CSB you need to use a Windows-based computer. (An Apple Macintosh on which software such as Soft Windows has been installed or a Mac having a PC card will also work.) Be sure to follow the instructions that come with CSB! Your scores will be recorded on a 1.44M diskette. Diskettes can be easily damaged by dust, cracker crumbs, heat, coffee, cat urine, crazed hamsters, etc. Keep them protected whenever they are not in a computer.
CSB initialization information: In addition to your personal information (name, SSN) you must use Course Number 110 and Section Number 1 to complete the initialization process before you begin using the CSB. If you make a mistake with the course number or section number, we can correct it the first time your data diskettes are read by the computer in the lab.
It is your responsibility to ensure your diskettes are properly initialized and free from errors. Occassionally homework is recorded on problem diskettes. In these cases the users will need to reinitialize their diskettes, repeat the exercises, and record their scores a second time.
HACKERS BEWARE! It is possible to use an editor and replace the name and ID in the record file of someone else's diskette and enter this diskette into the class record file. However, the data file is encrypted and this change will be noted as will more subtle forms of tweaking. This sort of behavior constitutes cheating and will be dealt with appropriately.
CSB scoring (100 points possible): You must do all the CSB Chapters assigned (see the Tentative Lecture Schedule) to get full credit. The CSB scores will be scaled so that full credit is 100 points. Failure to meet the deadlines shown in the Tentative Schedule will cause you to lose points.
You will recieve full credit for CSB scores of 80% or better. Although you are encouraged to attain 100%, once you have achieved 80% on a given problem set you have earned the maximum possible points on that set. If you are repeating a section and get a higher score, the new score will replace the old one. If your new score is lower than the previous one, the new score will not be entered. (The purpose of this feature of the program is to encourage you to review older material without worrying about lowering your total score.) From the main menu you can view your scores by selecting the box labeled Scores.
If you are repeating a section and get a higher score, the new score will replace the old one in the class database. If your new score is lower than the previous one, the new score will not be entered. (The purpose of this feature of the program is to encourage you to review older material without worrying about lowering your total score.) From the main menu you can view your scores by selecting the box labeled Scores.
Laboratory Written Reports: Unless you are informed otherwise, the written report for each lab exercise will be due before the beginning of the following lab. Late reports will not be accepted, except when they are necessitated by illness or other unavoidable circumstance. Lab reports will be graded; each report is worth a maximum of 15 points.
Laboratory Cation and Anion Reports: The report for each unknown must be submitted on or before the due date. No unknown may be attempted more than once. In addition to identifying the cations and/or anions in each unknown, you will be required to correctly write out the balanced net ionic equations which govern the analytical procedures you carried out for the identified cation and/or anions. An example of this is provided for the mercury(I) (a Group I cation not present in any of your unknowns) and the acetate ion (also not present in any of your unknowns).
Laboratory Quizzes: Five quizzes, each worth 10 points,
will be given during the laboratory time as scheduled (see attached
Tentative Lab Schedule). These quizzes will cover primarily the
theory and procedures of the qualitative analysis groups that
you have been responsible for up to the date of the quiz.
EXAMINATIONS: Two scheduled 50 minute, 100 point exams
will be given during lecture time plus a 110 minute, 200 point
final exam given during finals week. Each exam will have a Periodic
Table and a page containing various equations and numerical values
of important constants. To obtain maximum credit possible on the
exam, you must use these numerical values for your calculations.
There will be no separate lab final. No extra time will be allowed
for a student who arrives late. No make-up exams will be given,
and no exam may be taken early or late. Do not plan on catching
an early flight or ride out of town before an upcoming holiday,
as this is not considered an excuse to take an exam early or late.
If you miss an exam for legitimate reasons totally beyond your
control, see your instructor.
Cheating on exams, quizzes, or unknowns will result
in administrative action though the Office of the Vice President
for Studnet Affairs and may result in an "F" in the
course and expulsion from the University.
Grading: Successful completion of the lab is necessary to pass this course -
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Drop Policy: I will give you until I return the first hour
exam to drop this class with a "W." After that time,
failure or other academic problems, as well as time management
(work, kids, etc., but see below) will not be considered to be
among the category of "serious and compelling reasons"
needed to drop this course. Serious and compelling reasons are
considered to be problems outside of the student's control
and which could not be anticipated, such as serious illness
or hospitalization. If you do have a problem, please notify me
as soon as possible if you think it may require your dropping
the class.
Incompletes: Incompletes are generally reserved for students who are unable to complete the class for serious and compelling reasons which occur after the last drop period.
If you have a documented learning disability and would like to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. Our campus Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) can assist you with the accommodation process and can be reached at (707) 826-5392 (TDD). The SDRC is located in House 71 (Little Apartments) off Library Circle.
If you have a physical situation which might interfere with lab work please contact me as soon as possible. Many accomodations require lead time for implementation, so don't delay! We will work with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) to determine optimal accomodations/working conditions.
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© R A Paselk
Last modified 24 August 2003
