General Chemistry 111 Fall 2005

General Syllabus

THE GENERAL CHEMISTRY TEAM

Class Instructors:

Dr. Kris Wammer (Section 01) Office: 457 Owen Science Hall (OWS)

E-mail: khwammer@stthomas.edu

Phone: 651-962-5574 Mail# OSS 402

Dr. Lynn G. Hartshorn (Sections 02 and 03) Office: 455 Owen Science Hall (OWS)

E-mail: lghartshorn@stthomas.edu

Phone: 651- 962-5581 Mail# OSS 402

Laboratory Instructors: instructors listed above, and:

Dr. Michael Jung Office: OWS 475

E-mail: myjung@stthomas.edu Mail: OSS 402

Phone: 651-962-5588(2)

Mr. Duane Krueger MS Office: OWS 485

E-mail: dakrueger1@stthomas.edu Mail: OSS 402

Phone: 651-962-5664

Ms Nancy Lane MS Office: OWS 475

E-mail: nalane@stthomas.edu Mail: OSS 402

Phone: 651-962-5588(1)

Dr. Kevin West Office: OWS 475

E-mail: knwest@stthomas.edu Mail: OSS 402

Phone: 651-962-5639

Dr. Joseph McGrath Office: OWS 475

E-mail: jmmcgrath@stthomas.edu Mail: OSS 402

Phone: 651-962-5672(2)

Text (Required): “Essentials of General Chemistry, Second Edition” by Ebbing, Gammon and Ragsdale, with associated Web linkages and “Eduspace” access code.

Lab Manual (required): General Chemistry 111 Lab Manual (produced by Dr Hartshorn and Dr Ojala) will be available in the Chemistry Department in the stockroom: OWS 485. (Not available in bookstore).

Eduspace access: Required (see flyer, and see below)

Office Hours: Will be announced in the first classes.

Class sections and schedule: The class will meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday as follows:

Section 01 meets 8:15 am -9:20 am in OWS 153 (3M Auditorium)

Section 02 meets 9:35 am –10: 40 am in OSS LL 18

Section 03 meets 10:55am to 12 noon in OSS LL 18

Your laboratory section will meet as announced on your schedule. You must attend the lab section that you are registered for.

Note that you should not schedule classes, team practices, work, and meetings etc. before the scheduled end of your lab period.

Objectives of Course: One of the objectives of General Chemistry is to give you a basic knowledge of the principles of chemistry, its importance in our world and its connection to other sciences. Other objectives of the course are fostering critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, and developing an ability to think your way through problems. In many cases chemical knowledge is used as a basis for later work in chemistry, and in other disciplines which use chemistry, particularly biology, health sciences, physics, engineering, and geology. In some cases the work you do in General Chemistry will give you the knowledge of chemistry required later in your career; even if you are not a science major. The knowledge and skills acquired will be useful in a variety of fields and in your everyday life. We hope that you will enjoy the course also!

During the first semester of General Chemistry, we shall study some of the fundamentals of chemistry, including the structure and states of matter, chemical formulae, reactions and equations, moles and molarity, bonding, the periodic table, thermochemistry, reactions in solutions, gases and the atmosphere. We shall also review associated topics such as measurement, significant figures and units. These topics will be found mainly but not entirely in the first half of the text, Chapters 1 through 11. A detailed Syllabus will be given to you from time to time (the first one is attached). We shall also be working on analytical thinking skills and problem solving.

Course Expectations: All chemistry students are expected to attend all classes, since these help you to comprehend and classify the material in the text. Sometimes material not in the text will be covered. Frequent absences will show up as poor grades and may be used in assigning your grade.

You should prepare for the classes by doing the assigned reading and problems. If you have done these before the class, the class is much more useful for you. (Try it--you will be amazed!)

You should also take summary notes from your reading before the class. Taking your own notes is one of the best ways of learning the material. And then you will be able to use the class time to listen, participate, and add an occasional note, rather than taking extensive notes. Sometimes you will be assigned homework to hand in. Sometimes there will be quizzes. You will be required to submit homework on Eduspace, and we recommend that you take advantage of the many self-help problems on this site (See below). The problems assigned from the text are a minimum number so if you need more practice then do extra ones. The reading assigned consists of ten to fifteen pages—short sections, but you will need to read them carefully and slowly, and often read them more than once.

During our classes we shall also be working in groups, doing activities and problems. Some of this group work will be graded. No group work may be made up (even for excused absences—the whole point of group work is being there in the group and working together).

Quizzes may be given in class. Quizzes may not be made up. Note that the chemistry department expects a grade of C- or better in CH 111 as a pre-requisite for CH 112.

Laboratory. The lab is closely linked with the classes, so that working in the labs will help you with the course material. All students are also expected to attend each lab, and hand in the short lab reports on time. Preparation for the labs means reading the lab manual with care and making sure you understand it. There may be pre-lab writing tasks too. Any questions should be brought to the pre-lab discussion. The total possible points from lab are 220. This includes ten experiments and 20 points for the lab notebook. In order to pass CH 111, you need to achieve a passing grade in the lab as well as separately in the class work.

Make the most of the small lab sections! We help you by placing you in a small lab section (not more than 20 students). There will be a member of our faculty/staff in charge of the lab section. The entire general chemistry team including the class instructor and the lab instructors works closely together. We plan the course in weekly meetings, and even if your lab instructor is not the same as the class instructor, he or she knows what you should be learning, and will work problems with you and help you through difficult material. We discuss exam questions together. What you do in lab may even be on the tests. Use the extra time in the lab sections as extra help time. Bring questions to the lab. Bring your text too.

The first thirty minutes of each lab period will be used for a “recitation”. The idea of this is that you and your lab instructor do problems together. This is to help you with your problem solving ability. If you have read this far in the syllabus, you can score two bonus points in your lab score by e-mailing your LAB instructor with your name and the comment ”I have read about the recitations”. This must be done by Wednesday September14.

HINT: DO NOT GET BEHIND. This is a very valuable rule to live by in any science course. Students who have let themselves get behind in the past have found it very difficult to catch up. We recommend two to three hours of study outside class for every hour in class. No, we are not kidding.

It is better to study chemistry frequently for short periods, than just once a week for a longer period.

Absences. We expect students to attend ALL classes and ALL labs. However, in the event that you must miss a class because of an emergency, you are expected to make up the class work yourself. You might for example borrow notes from another student, and find out if any work was assigned during the class. The instructor will answer questions you may have after you have worked through the class notes and any other work relating to the class. This applies to “Excused” absences also (e.g. sports trips, band trips, etc).

If you miss a lab, this cannot be made up because our labs are used all the time and extra labs cannot be scheduled. If you miss group work, this cannot be made up either for obvious reasons.

Student Disabilities

To request special accommodations because of a recognized disability, first contact the Enhancement Program-Disability Services (651-962-6315) located in room119 OEC and get the necessary forms. Then speak to your instructor. Make sure you do this early in the semester--no later than the end of the first week.

Eduspace

We have acquired an excellent tool to help you study. This self-help tool is called “Eduspace.” With this on-line study help, which is keyed to our text, you will be able to do practice test questions and see how you are doing. We shall also require you to do several sections for credit and submit for grading.

First—you need to register.

If you bought your copy of the text from the St Thomas bookstore, then the access to Eduspace was included in the price and you will find a card or page with your code inside the text. Don't throw it away! If you bought the book used, then you should also purchase the on-line access separately from the bookstore or by calling Houghton Mifflin Customer Service (not Technical Support) at 877-859-7241. The product ISBN is 0618-52634X. The cost is approximately $25. A single page flyer with some instructions is included with your handouts today.

When you register, make sure you do so in the correct school, the correct section and with the correct text (Ebbing, Essentials.)

When this is done, you will be able to try practice questions keyed to the topics that you choose. During the semester you will also be required to submit several sections for credit (your instructor will announce them).

Blackboard

Blackboard is a program accessible by all students and faculty from the main St Thomas Web page. You will be able to use it to find course documents (such as the General Syllabus and unit syllabi) and also to look at your individual grades on tests etc.

Tutoring Help

We have a group of helpful and knowledgeable tutors who are available in OWS 484 from 6pm to 9pm on Sundays through Thursdays. Show up any time during this period, and they will help you with your difficulties and work with you on homework problems. You do not need to spend the entire three hours there—stay as long as you like and leave when you want.

Examinations: The exams will consist of problems (similar to, but obviously not identical to, homework problems) and short answers, descriptions, true-false problems, multiple choice problems or definitions. There will be four in-class exams during the semester and a cumulative final during finals week. Hint--it is easy to cope with a cumulative final if you have worked slowly and regularly over the semester. It is very difficult to cope with it if your studying has been last minute cramming for each test. You do not retain the information. Another reason to work regularly is that there may be material from previous units on the tests. Dates of exams are:

Wednesday September 28

Monday October 24

Friday November 18

Wednesday December 7

Please make a note of these dates so you do not plan trips away etc. when an exam occurs. We do not give make-up exams. Not being ready is not a reason to postpone an exam.

The final exam will be held in the lecture room during finals week from December 13-December 16

See Finals Schedule for your time.

Note that this final is cumulative.

Hint: CHEM 111/112 is normally a two-semester sequence. Most students take CHEM111 in the fall and CHEM 112 immediately following in the spring. One reason for this is that the two semesters are designed to make a complete course together. Also note that the final for CHEM 112 is a standardized test, cumulative over both semesters of CHEM 111 and CHEM 112.

Grading: Approximately 60 % of the final grade will be from the four tests and the final. The remaining 40 % will be from the labs, lab reports, group work, quizzes and project.

Approximate Point Counts: (may be changed slightly)

Four exams at 100 points------------------400 points

Final at 200 points--------------------------200 points (cumulative)

Labs ------------------------------------------220 points

Quizzes, group work and projects--------180 points

TOTAL POINTS---------------------------1000 points

Approximate Grading Policy: (This may vary slightly)

90 -100 A 79-89 B 65-78 C 55-64 D below 55: F

Note the grade definitions from the UST Catalogue Page 30:

A: Excellent work B: Very good work C: Satisfactory work

D: Poor but passing work F: Failing work

Help Available: If you are having trouble with some of the material, don't be afraid to ask for help. We are available in office hours, and also outside them if you make an appointment. We are also available for questions during our lab periods, and so are our teaching assistants. Your lab instructors will also be happy to answer questions during the lab periods. Also see all the other sources of help listed above!

We want you to succeed in your study of chemistry, so we will do our best to help you, if you will do your part. There is lots of help available—you need to make the effort and take the time to seek out the help if you need it.

READ THIS INFORMATION AND KEEP IT WITH YOUR CHEMISTRY NOTES. YOU WILL NEED TO REFER TO IT LATER ON, FOR EXAMPLE TO CALCULATE YOUR GRADE AT ANY TIME.