CHEMISTRY 1 AND 2

These two terms provide a good introduction to the principles of chemistry. Students should really take both terms if they want to understand the subject.

The first term focuses mostly on atomic and molecular structures and on how such structures account for the physical properties of materials. You know - how come nothing sticks to teflon - when somehow the teflon sticks to the pan?

The second term 2 focuses more on reactions. You know, like, how come marshmallows burn to form carbon dioxide and water, but exhaling into a water bottle never produces marshmallows?

CHEMISTRY 1 -------------FALL 1999

My General Philosophy

Resources

Text: This year, we'll be using a new text, Chemistry: Structure and Dynamics by Spencer, Bodner and Rickard. I chose this text partly because it is relatively inexpensive (most chem texts are >$100!), relatively brief (additional info is contained in the accompanying CD) and because the authoring team includes both chemists and education specialists. The text has been well reviewed as being very readable and for including learning aids such as 'core checkpoints' (with answers) for you to work on while reading to test your mastery of the material and answers to the odd exercises in the back of the text. Included on the CD in the directory "1188" is a file "ModCh.pdf" which contails several additional chapters not found in the text: CHEMISTRY OF THE NONMETALS, TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS SCIENCE, SOLUBILITY EQUILIBRIA, COMPLEX ION EQUILIBRIA, NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, POLYMER CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY. This file is readable with the free Acrobat Reader program.

Class Structure

I'm in a bit of a quandry about this. In the past, I've given what I think most folks have found to be pretty informative and entertaining lectures using Powerpoint slides, videos, demos, etc. I have, however, become more and more convinced that students would learn a lot more if they were more active during classes. So I think we'll begin this term with you doing more work. I'll try to come in with a worksheet each day that we can go over in class. You'll work in 2-3 person groups on several exercises per chapter. I hope that classes will typically consist of alternating 10min of lecture with 10 min of group work. You'll save some problems to work on at home. I'll try to include questions that ask you to sketch pictures of what's happening microscopically, and ask you some ‘what would happen if' questions. First thing next class, you'll work in groups on any any at-home problems that still don't make sense, then we'll tackle any remaining problems as a group, and then move on to a new worksheet. Each class will end with a graded, group quiz with ? cards about that class, and a pretest to see what you ‘know' about the next day's topic.

Assessment

This fall, I'd like your assessment to include 4 components:

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR FALL 1999

 class

 day

 topic

 text pages

 lab
 1: 9/9  Fri 1) elements & compounds   1-9: properties
24-28: quantitation		  purification
 2: 9/14  Tues  9-20: atomic structure
 3: 9/17  Fri  2) moles  30-47: moles & compound composition  stoichiometry
 4: 9/21  Tues  51-66: stoichiometry
 5: 9/24  Fri  47-51 & 60-69: solutions  light
 6: 9/28  Tues   3) atomic structure  81-98light & bohr
 7: 10/1  Fri  98-113: shell models  periodic properties
 8: 10/5  Tues  113-124: periodic properties
 9: 10/8  Fri  4) covalent bonds  141-165: Lewis dots  EXAM
 10:1 0/12  Tues  165-179: 3D shapes
 11: 10/15  Fri  179-200: hybrids & MOs  molecular structures
 12: 10/19  Tues  5) ionic bonds  201-225: metals & ions
 13: 10/22  Fri  225-237: redox reactions  redox
 14: 10/26  Tues  6) Gases  246-264: T & P & gas laws
 15: 10/29  Fri  264-278: ideals & kinetics
288-292: vanderwaals gases		 heat
 16: 11/2  Tues  7) Energy  295-315: heat & enthalp
 17: 11/5  Fri  315-325 & 333-339: DHf  intermolecular forces
 18: 11/9  Tues  8)Liquids& Solutions  343-354:intermol. forces
354-365properties of liquids
 19: 11/12  Fri  365-380: solutions
388-397: colligative properties		 FINAL EXAM
 20: 11/16  Tues      

IN ADDITION TO THE TEXT,

YOU CAN GO HERE TO ACCESS THE POWERPOINT SLIDES FROM CLASS

YOU SHOULD GO HERE TO ACCESS THE HOMEWORK PROBLEMS

YOU MIGHT ALSO CHECK OUT THESE GOOD WEB SITES

Collections of Links

INTRO CLASSES AT OTHER PLACES

Reference Data

Kinetics

ETC