(©2007, François G. Amar, All rights reserved)

Chemistry 121 (Amar's Sections) -- Introduction to Chemistry

September 5 - December 14, 2007

Syllabus 

Lecture in 316 Aubert
Recitation/Exams
Section 005  11-11:50 MWF
3:10-5:10 PM Wednesday
Section 006  11-11:50 MWF
6:00-8:00 PM Wednesday
 

Instructor: Dr. François G. Amar 

   Office: 253 Aubert Hall        Telephone: 581-1196
   e-mail: francois_amar@umit.maine.edu (FirstClass) or amar@maine.edu
   Office hours: M & W from 2 to 3 PM
                   Th from 10 to 11 AM or by appointment.

Text: Chemistry, The Central Science, 10th edition, by Brown, Lemay & Bursten

Dates

Topics

BLB

OWL

Week 1

9/3

9/5

9/7 
NO CLASS (Labor Day)

Introduction: Chemical concepts; composition of matter
 
Chemical formulas, units 

 

1.1-1.2

1.3-1.4

Intro to OWL

Week 2

9/10

9/12

9/14

Density Coke/Diet Coke exercise

Problem solving, dimensional analysis, math review

Atomic theory and structure

1.5-1.6;

App. A

2.1-2.4

 

Chapter 1,2

Week 3

9/17

9/19

9/21

Isotopes; the periodic table Chemical formulas and naming (Quiz 1)

Stoichiometry: chemical equations & reactivity

Molecular weights; the mole concept

2.3-2.8

2.9, 3.1

3.2-3.4
Chapter 2,3

Week 4

9/24

9/26

9/28

Empirical formulas & balancing; combustion reactions

Limiting reagent and theoretical yield

Solutions: composition and properties; molarity (Quiz 2)

3.5-3.6

3.7

4.1

Week 5

10/1

10/3

10/5

Solubility and metathesis reactions;

Acids, bases and salts; ionic reactions

Solution stoichiometry, titrations

4.2

4.3

4.5

Prelim 1

Week 6

10/8

10/10

10/12

NO CLASS (fall break)

Acids and bases; neutralization

Oxidation states, activity series

 

4.6

4.4

 

Week 7

10/15

10/17

10/19

Finish redox (quiz)

Thermochemistry: energy and the first law

Enthalpy; reaction enthalpy, calorimetry (Quiz 3)

5.1-5.2

5.3-5.5

5.5

 

 

Week 8

10/22

10/24

10/26

Calorimetry, Hess's law;

standard enthalpies of formation

Standard and alternative fuels

5.6-5.7

5.8

Week 9

10/29

10/31

11/2

Electronic structure of atoms: radiation (light waves)

Bohr model of H atom and spectroscopy

Matter 'waves', the uncertainty principle, and orbitals

6.1- 6.3

6.4-6.5

6.6-6.9

 

 

Week 10

11/5

11/7

11/9

Electron configurations and the periodic table

Chemical periodicity: size and atomic properties

Ionization, Chemical bonding

7.1.-7.3

7.4

8.1-8.2

 

Prelim 2

Week 11

11/12

11/14

11/16

Lewis symbols; ionic bonding, covalent bonding,

Lewis structures

Bond strength and bond length (Quiz 4)

8.3-8.4

8.5-8.7

8.8

 

Week 12

11/19

11/21

11/23

Molecular geometry and VSEPR

NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

9.1

 

 

Week 13

11/26

11/28

11/30

Electron domains, naming

Review; Orbital overlap

Bond polarity; covalent bonding and orbital overlap

9.2-9.3

9.4

9.5

 

 

Week 14

12/3

12/5

12/7

Hybrid orbitals and multiple bonds

Molecular orbitals and 2nd row diatomics

Gases, pressure, and the gas laws (Charles' Law)

9.5,9.6

9.7,9.8

10.1-10.3

 

Prelim 3

 

Week 15

12/10

12/12

12/14

Ideal gas law and applications;

Gas mixtures and reactions

Kinetic theory of gases, effusion

10.4-10.5

10.5-7

10.8

Week 16

12 /17

Final exam period is A2: 12:15-2:15 PM 316 Aubert

FINAL

COURSE RULES:  Attendance is expected at all lectures and review sessions. Please observe rules of common courtesy in lecture. If you arrive late for a class, you are expected to enter 316 from the back door at the top of the hall (south side). Cell phones and laptops must be turned off and stowed during class. Exams will be given during the scheduled times on Wednesday afternoon and evening. Quizzes will be given during the class period. A calculator can be used during exams and quizzes but no cell-phone calculators may be used. There are no make-ups of exams or quizzes. Help session times will be announced (usually the Sunday evening before a prelim).

GRADING POLICY: The class will be graded on the basis of 550 total points. The 3 prelims will be worth 300 points of the total grade. Quizzes and in-class work will count for 75 points: 5 quizzes will be given, the lowest one will be dropped. Online homework, using OWL, will count for 50 points (about 10%). The final exam will count for 125 points of the grade. Additional homework will be assigned from the end of chapter problems. While these will not be graded, success in this course depends upon doing the problems conscientiously. Exams consist of about half multiple choice questions and half problems similar to homeworks. Quizzes will usually consist of multiple choice and short answer questions.

The final exam will be based partly on the final 2 weeks of the course (50 pts) and partly cumulative over the previous material (25 pts per prelim section). It will be very much to your advantage to review material that you missed on prelims since questions based on the earlier part of the course will be scored so that if you do better on that portion of the final than you did on the corresponding prelim, you will be able to recover missed points. Example: Jane Godolyenko gets 70% on the first prelim and gets 18 out of 20 points (90%) on the first section of the final; she will have half of the difference in percentage points added back to her original prelim score, getting a net of 80% on the first prelim.

If you wish to request an accommodation for a disability, please contact either your instructor or Ann Smith, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities (Onward Building, 1-2319) as early as possible in the semester.

 

WEEKLY SUMMARIES of lecture material and homework assignments will be available on the WEB at

http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/~amar/fall2007/chy121fall2007.html

Links to weekly summaries will be provided from the Course page (above) and from this (Syllabus) page with its week-by-week calendar:

http://chemistry.umeche.maine.edu/~amar/fall2007/syllabus.html

The syllabus is intended as an overall guide and may be subject to change during the semester. See weekly summary pages for updated assignment information.

 

COMPUTER CONFERENCE: I will be using the FirstClass conference system to contact you with urgent class information. This information will be found in the form of messages posted to the CHY121(Amar) folder on FirstClass. The full hierarchy of relevant folders is:

Desktop:Academics:Semester Courses:Fall Courses:CHY121(Amar) Move this ICON to your FirstClass Desktop so that it will appear each time you logon to FirstClass.

The folder CHY121(Amar) can also be used to send me questions that other students can read along with my response. Students can also have a public dialogue in that conference. Trainings will be be available. If you have questions that require a private reading and response, please send e-mail to my FirstClass account rather than the public conference.

 

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