Final Exam

The final is Wednesday,
May 7, 2014, 5–7 pm. It will not be given at any other time and failure to take the exam will result in a 0 score for the exam, so please make end-of-semester plans accordingly.

Welcome to CH102/104 General Chemistry. This is the second semester of a year-long course intended primarily for science majors, pre-medical students, engineering students who require a one-year course, and other interested students. This syllabus is designed to answer many questions you may have. Please read it over and then keep it handy to use throughout the semester. If you have questions about the material or the course, we encourage you to email them to ch102-questions@bu.edu. All of the CH102 staff receive email to this address and so this is typically the fastest way to get your questions answered.

Staff

The course is given by

Professor Alexander Golger (SCI/270C, 617-353-2124, golger@bu.edu) is the course coordinator and is in charge of the laboratory part of CH102.

Discussion sections are led by Senior Lecturer Natalya Bassina (SCI/270A, 617-353-4716, nbassina@bu.edu), Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow Jennifer Fore (PHO/739, jfore@bu.edu) and graduate teaching fellows, with help from undergraduate learning assistants. Natalya Bassina also is in charge of class scheduling and other administrative aspects of the course.

Required course materials

For students who did not attend CH101 Fall 2013 only: The text package for this course is based on a custom edition of the Canadian text Mahaffy et al., Chemistry: Human Activity, Chemical Reactivity custom edition. The package consists of (1) the custom edition of the longer Canadian text and (2) the OWL online homework and activities. There are three options to buy this text package.

Option 1, $100: This option must be purchased online directly from the publisher and includes the online version of the text only and access to OWL online homework and activities; it does not include a physical copy of the text. To purchase this option, go to http://goo.gl/xIQ7sD. Should you also want a printed copy of the text, it is available used in various places; the ISBN of the printed text is 978-1-133-44544-6.

Option 2: $133.55: This is the same online-only option listed above (again, with no physical copy of the text) purchased from the Boston University Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Option 3: $180: This option includes the printed version of the text in addition to the online materials listed above. It must be purchased from the Boston University Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Return policy: All returns to the bookstore for refund after September 24, 2014 will require proof of withdrawal from the course. For OWL, once it has been used, it may not be returned or exchanged. You may use OWL free for 2 weeks as described here, and so we recommend you use the OWL trial while you are deciding if you want to attend CH102 Spring 2014.

In addition to the text package above, the following seven items are required:

  1. ALEKS General Chemistry online personal tutoring. The cost is $40 and is to be purchased as described here.
  2. The Turning Technologies ResponseCard RF Keypad may may be purchased online using the Boston University school code b6sc at https://store.turningtechnologies.com/ for $28 + shipping, or from Boston University Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
  3. Golger, General Chemistry CH102 Laboratory Manual, Hayden McNeil Publishing,
    ISBN 978-0-7380-6247-1.
  4. laboratory notebook, Hayden McNeil Publishing
  5. approved safety goggles, item #9301, also required in organic chemistry
  6. laboratory coat, also required in organic chemistry
  7. A lock to secure your belongings in the locker when in the laboratory

Be aware that it is a Massachusetts State Law that safety goggles are mandatory in the laboratory. In the lab, all students who wear contact lenses should wear prescription glasses under their safety goggles. Contact lenses are forbidden in the lab. Also, all students must wear the appropriate clothing: long pants, long sleeves and closed shoes (no sandals or flip-flops).

You are also required to have your own calculator for this course. It should display scientific (exponential) notation and have logarithm functions. Be sure to bring it to discussions and laboratory sessions.

Note, however, calculators may not be used during exams and quizzes. Early in the course we will train you to be comfortable doing exam and quiz calculations without calculational aids.

Course schedule

The course consists of five required components:

Note: The 5–7 pm Monday time is a required meeting time. It will be used frequently in addition to the 3 lecture exams (see below). For this reason, you must not schedule other activities during this time.

There are three hours of lecture meetings each week, and these lecture meetings are held in SCI/109 at three alternative times:

You are required to attend your assigned lecture meeting.

There is a one-hour discussion each week, on Thursday or Friday. Discussions meet starting Thursday, January 16.

There is one three-hour laboratory each week. Lab sessions are held in the SCI/268 Monday-Friday. There will also be a laboratory lecture on Tuesday (at 1:00–2:00pm in SCI 109) or Wednesday (at 3:00–4:00pm in MOR 101). Each lab lecture is about the following week’s experiment.

The first laboratory lecture is on Tuesday, January 21. Labs begin the third week of the semester on Monday, January 27. You are required to attend your assigned pre-lab lecture meeting and lab.

The Monday 5–7 pm sessions are used for diagnostic tests, lab post tests, and lecture exams.

If you have not yet registered for all of the five components of the course (three for CH104), please do so right away. All grade records are based on the registrar information, so we require that you be officially registered and that you attend the corresponding lecture, discussion and lab.

Exams and quizzes

There will be three lecture exams, a lab exam and a course final exam as follows:

Exams are given only at the scheduled time. A missed exam counts as 0. In particular, please note the following:

Quizzes will be given during each lecture. These quizzes are meant to assess your preparation for the material to be covered that day in lecture. If you are absent, the missed quizzes count as 0. No makeup quizzes will be given. The lecture quizzes count for a total of 10% of your course score.

Unannounced quizzes will be given in discussion. Each discussion quiz will count equally. These quizzes are meant to assess your understanding of topics covered in previous lectures and homework. If you are absent, the missed quiz counts as 0. No makeup quizzes will be given. The discussion quizzes count for a total of 15% of your course score.

No electronic devices in classes

We require that no electronic devices (cell phones, computers, tablets, etc.) may be used in lectures, discussions, and labs.

Why?

To help you get the greatest benefit you are able to during these class times.

We realize that some of you use computers and tablets to take notes, but it is our strong feeling that taking notes by hand is the most effective way to help you be fully engaged and participating with the lecture development.

We also realize that some of you may use cameras to make images of slides, etc. However, since all lectures are recorded (and available here), you have full access to everything that is being presented.

Academic Conduct

All students at Boston University are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty and integrity. It is the responsibility of every student to be aware of the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions, as detailed at

http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/

Please note carefully that we treat cheating with zero tolerance. The consequences of cheating are at a minimum that the score for work on which cheating occurs counts as 0, and a letter detailing the cheating is sent to the student's advisor, the Dean of CAS, and placed in the student's academic file. Possible further consequences are referral to the Academic Conduct Committee and additional penalties, including possible expulsion from the University.

Course Web, Help Forum and Email

The course Web at

http://quantum.bu.edu/courses/ch102

and the online discussion forum Piazza are used extensively in this course. Sign up for Piazza at

https://piazza.com/bu/spring2014/ch102spring2014

All posts to Piazza go to everyone in the course and so this is the fastest way to get your questions answered and to help your classmates with their questions.

Finally, should you have personal concerns, please email them to ch102-questions@bu.edu.

Each student is required to have an email account on the Boston University computer network. It is easy to activate your account, if you have not already done so (there is no charge to use your account): Go to Information Technology, 111 Cummington Street, and they will set you up. Be sure to ask for their handouts on how to use the World Wide Web and email. Your email address will automatically be added to the course email list. Please note that use of University computing facilities is governed by the BU Conditions Use and Policy on Computing Ethics,

http://www.bu.edu/tech/policies/computing-ethics/

Abuse can result in severe sanctions, including fines and academic probation or suspension.

What we will cover

We have designed the course as an introduction to general chemistry that integrates laboratory explorations with the development of the analytical tools necessary to understand and guide those explorations. Some particular aspects that we will emphasize are

Our goal is to help you share in our excitement for the wonder of science, to challenge you to excel, to give you a sense of empowerment about science, and to encourage you to continue study in science—and hopefully chemistry. We intend to focus especially on the core ideas of chemistry.

Lecture

In the second semester we cover Mahaffy et al., chapters 10 through 18. There are 41 MWF lectures and the schedule below refers to these lecture numbers. The lecture numbers are displayed on the course calendar here.

Mahaffy et al., chapter and notes Start date MWF lectures
10. Modeling bonding in molecules

Hybrid AO's and polyatomic MO's, PDF, 39 pages, http://goo.gl/sLWWtk		 First class 1 through 3
11. States of matter

Kinetic molecular theory
PDF, 10 pages, http://goo.gl/Ep4Xb		 1/24/2014 4 through 6
12. Solutions and their behavior

 1/31/2014 7 and 8
13. Dynamic chemical equilibrium

Logarithm tutorial
PDF, 5 pages, http://goo.gl/RZ4P2		 2/7/2014 9 and 10
14. Acid-base equilibria in aqueous solution

Titration-region & buffer calculations
PDF, 9 pages, http://goo.gl/QW8DH		 2/12/2014 11 through 17
15. Solubility, complexation and precipitation

 3/3/2014 18
16. Electron transfer reactions and electrochemistry

Oxidation numbers and balancing redox equations
PDF, 6 pages, http://goo.gl/XNRjx		 3/5/2014 19 through 22
17. Spontaneous change: How far?

Spontaneity: Second law of thermodynamics
PDF, 14 pages, http://goo.gl/7rEE2

Spontaneity is due to blind chance & dumb luck
PDF, 14 pages, http://goo.gl/nur9b		 3/21/2014 23 through 31
18. Spontaneous change: How fast?

Michaelis-Menten theory of enzyme action
PDF, 7 pages, http://goo.gl/w7sh1t		 4/11/2014 32 through 40

Laboratory

The detailed laboratory schedule is here.

The laboratory part of the course will let you see first-hand chemical principles and processes in action. It will also give you experience with some of the methods scientists use to do chemical research. Your laboratory will consist of the following.

  1. Gas laws. You will establish the relationship between the volume, pressure, temperature and the number of moles of a gas sample. Combining them together, the Ideal Gas Law and the value of the gas constant R will be determined. In one of these experiments, the lowest possible temperature that can be reached in nature, −273.15 oC, will be found!  
  2. Colligative properties (1 period lab).  In this experiment you will discover how to control the freezing temperature of any liquid.  You will investigate the freezing point depression effect, which lowers the freezing point temperature of a solution when some chemicals are added to the pure liquid.
  3. Equilibrium formation of ferric thiocyanate complex (1 period lab).  What happens in a reaction depends not only on the reactants, but also on the conditions under which they are combined.  This gives us some control over the outcome of chemical reactions. In this experiment, you will investigate the sensitivity of the reaction equilibrium to the ratio of reactants and to the temperature of the reaction mixture.
  4. Acid-Base titration (1 period lab).  How can you tell when a reaction is finished? This question is very important in all areas of chemistry. You will evaluate several titration methods for determining when an acid-base reaction is completed.
  5. Solubility properties: The common ion effect (1 period lab). In this experiment, you will explore the nature of solubility equilibria and investigate the solubility of one sparingly soluble salt in different solvents. This lab will be an open project experiment, so we hope you will enjoy your research work.
  6. Electrochemistry: Electrochemical cells (2 periods). You will study some practical applications of electron transfer reactions by constructing various voltaic cells and investigating different approaches for reaching the highest possible cell voltage.  The second part of this experiment is an open project, which gives you a chance to apply your lab experience gained in the course of General Chemistry.
  7. Kinetics: Iodine Clock Reaction (2 periods). You will explore how fast chemical reactions proceed, what factors influence the reaction rate, and by what molecular mechanism a reaction occurs.

Grading

Your scores for each part of the course will always be available to you at http://learn.bu.edu. Also you will find there the running total of your overall course score, computed as described below. You may use this to compare your performance to the class average.

We do not assign letter grades to exams, labs or quizzes. Your course grade will be determined based on your overall course score. This score is determined as follows:

Contributions to overall course score
  CH102 CH104
Lecture exams 30% 37.50%
Final exam 15% 18.75%
Laboratory 20% 0%
Lecture quizzes 10% 12.50%
Discussion quizzes 15% 18.75%
ALEKS mastery 10% 12.50%

CH104 (lecture-only) students will graded based on their relative score for the lecture-only part of the course: Lecture exams count as 30/80 * 100% = 37.50%, the final exam as 15/80 * 100% = 18.75%, lecture quizzes as 10/80 * 100% = 12.50%, discussion quizzes as 15/80 * 100% =18.75% and ALEKS as 10/80 * 100% =12.50%.

For CH102 students, the lab score counts for 20% of your course grade. The various components of the lab will be graded as follows: The lab experiments (30 points for each lab period), lab quizzes (10 points each), pre-lab lecture quizzes (5 points each), and the lab exam (60 points). Lab quizzes are given at the beginning of each lab to check your familiarity with the basic features of the lab to be done.

A missed discussion quiz counts as zero. The lowest two quiz scores will be dropped.

A missed lab counts as zero. The lowest lab score for a one-period lab experiment will be dropped. A missed two-period lab experiment can be made up in the make up lab week at the end of the semester. If, due to unusual circumstances, such as prolonged illness, you miss more than one lab, please contact Dr. Golger (golger@bu.edu) as soon as possible so that special arrangements can be made to catch up with your work.

There are no fixed percentages of A grades, B grades, etc. Rather, we assign course letter grades based on our assessment of how someone should have performed to receive an A, B, etc. Based on past experience, it is likely that the average grade in the course will be in the C+ range.

Questions about grading

Any question concerning the grading of a lecture exam, quiz, or laboratory report must be brought to the attention of your discussion or laboratory teaching fellow during the class session in which it is returned to you; material will not be accepted for regrading afterwards.

Indicate on the face of the exam, quiz or laboratory report the questions you wish re-graded and your reasons for believing that they were mis-graded. The entire work will be re-graded. Be sure you have made no alterations in your work. We occasionally photocopy your graded work as a check. Please note that the penalties for academic misconduct are severe, as detailed in Boston University's Academic Conduct Code,

http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/

Suggestions for success

Learning chemistry requires persistence, diligence and hard work. We suggest that you plan to spend about 20 hours per week on this course over and above the scheduled class contact hours. If you are willing to devote this time, and you spend it wisely and effectively, you will be able to perform your best. In an effort to provide some more specific guidance, we offer detailed suggestions here:

http://quantum.bu.edu/courses/ch102/help.htm#helpingYourself

The teaching staff will hold office hours each week. These and many others resources are detailed at

http://quantum.bu.edu/courses/ch102/help.html

If you have concerns

If you are experiencing difficulty, please come to see your lecture professor or Professor Golger without delay. Often, students in this course perceive that they are doing poorer work than they actually are. Particularly for first-year students, we recognize that it may be difficult for you to judge your academic standing in the course, since we do not use the same type of grading scheme with which you may be familiar from high school. That is why it is important for you to speak to us before making any major decision, such as dropping the course.

If dropping the course appears to be in your best interest, we still would like to work through the decision with you. We are also happy to advise you on appropriate choices for your academic program. If you drop the course by Thursday, February 20, no record of it will appear on your transcript. After that date, until the end of the day Friday, March 28, you may drop the course but with a W grade (withdrawn). If you must drop the course, note that CH102 will be given during the Summer and Fall sessions of 2014.