Faculty Responsibilities Office Dr. Chriss McDonald* lectures, lab, recitations HBC 233 Mrs. Henriette Evans lab HBC G28*321-4186 (work), 433-4493 (home, call up to 10 PM [no kidding]), or e-mail (mcdonald@lycoming.edu)
Texts etc.
a. Fundamentals of General, Organic, and Biochemistry, Fifth Edition by John Holum#
b. Chemistry 115 Lab Manual, by McDonald#
c. Bound laboratory notebook by Freeman#
d. Lab safety glasses#
e. Calculator (add, subtract, multiply, divide, logs)
f. Lab deposit, $10 at lab check-in, cash only (refundable upon checkout)
#available at the bookstore
Course format
Lectures - MWF, 11:30 - 12:20, HBC G11, Attendance required.
Recitations - Thursday, 7:45 - 8:35 am and 1:00 - 1:50 PM, HBC G41. The primary method for evaluating chemistry students in testing situations is to have them work problems. In recitation we will practice the same sort of problems you will see in testing situations. Attendance expected. I will not take attendance but I might use some of the examples discussed in recitation as exam and quiz questions. I have found, that on the average, students who attend recitation in my courses get an average of one full letter grade higher than those who don't attend.
Assigned homework - Problems designed to enhance your understanding and prepare you for testing situations. A key will be posted in the secretarys office and outside the lab. Homework will not be collected. A large chunk of recitation will be devoted to working these problems.
Laboratory - T: 8:45 - 11:35 am, Tuesday (Evans), X: 8:45 - 11:35 PM Thursday (Evans), Y: 2:00 - 4:50 PM Thursday (McDonald), HBC 220, 239. Attendance required. Makeups for missed labs are usually not possible. Here you will experience what chemists actually do. Your labwork will be evaluated as described in the lab syllabus as well as on the lecture exams. Approximately 5% of each exam will be drawn from the labwork. A lab syllabus will be distributed at the first lab session. Make sure and show up with your $10 lab deposit (cash only) that first week.
Grading scheme
a. The final grade is based on the number of points obtained out of a possible 650 points. The points
will be distributed as follows:
intro/biography 10 points (02%)
quizzes 60 points (09%)
hour exams 300 points (46%)
final exam (cumulative) 100 points (15%)
laboratory 180 points (28%)
total 650 points (100%)
b. Assignment of letter grades is based on the following scale: 585 - 650 A, 520 - 584 B, 455 - 519 C, 390 - 454 D, < 390 F.
c. A word about learning chemistry. Studying chemistry is hard work for most people (this is certainly true for me). I would recommend that you work on the lecture material one hour per day outside of class for starters. Once you see how things are going this amount can be adjusted as needed (I suggest a significant increase in study time prior to an exam). If you are having trouble make sure and come and see me. Im easy to talk to and will do whatever I can to help you. A chem 115 tutor is also available (Missy DeForge, email address - defmeli@lycoming.edu). You will be responsible for all of the material listed on the following schedule for the indicated exams and quizzes. It is not sufficient to learn the material from the lecture alone. You are expected to read and think about the material prior to the lecture. We must necessarily cover a large amount of material so our pace must be geared towards those who are ready to learn. The hour exams will be somewhat cumulative in the sense that we need to know the earlier material to comprehend the latter. For an idea of what my exams are like in Chem 115 see Appendix C in the Lab Manual.
Policy on attendance-
Attendance at quizzes and exams is mandatory. Makeups will be administered only if I deem the
reason for absence to be legitimate and I am made aware of the absence beforehand. Each
documented, unexcused lecture absence will cost you one point from your total.
DATE TOPIC READING ASSN. Q/E DEMO/DISEASE
1/6 introduction 12.1
1/8 bonding and hydrocarbon structure 12.2,3, 5.2,3
1/10 alkane and cycloalkane nomenclature 12.5,6
1/13 alkane physical properties 12.5,6
1/15 functional groups, alkane reactions 12.4,7 bromine + alkene
1/17 acid/base and how rxns occur 8.2,4, 5.8 quiz 1
1/20 alkene nomenclature 13.1-3
1/22 alkene addition rxns 13.4
1/24 as above 13.4, 9.1 quiz 2
1/27 arenes and substitution rxns 13.7
1/29 alcohol properties and nomenclature 14.1,2, 6.6, 6.8, 7.2 Elmers + Borax
1/31 alcohol rxns 14.3 quiz 3
2/3 thiols 14.6
2/5 aldehyde/ketone nomenclature 15.1,2
2/7 - - *exam 1*
2/10 A/K redox behavior 15.3,4 Tollen's
2/12 A/K and alcohols 15.5
2/14 carboxylic acid nomenclature, acidity 16.1,2
2/17 as above + ester synthesis 16.2,3 benzoic acid + OH-(aq)
2/19 amines, structure and basicity 17.1,2
2/21 amides, structure/rxns 17.3 fatquiz 4
2/24 dead of winter
2/26 break
2/28 week
3/3 nylon 66, penicillin 17.3 nylon
3/5 enantiomers 18.1
3/7 - - *exam 2*
3/10 plane-polarized light and polarimetry 18.3
3/12 diastereomers 18.2 thalidomide
3/14 biochemistry overview 19.1, 24.1
3/17 monosaccharides 19.2-4
3/19 disaccharides 19.5 lactose intolerance
3/21 polysaccharides 19.6 fatquiz 5
3/24 amino acid structure 21.1
3/26 pKa, pH, pI, and amino acids 21.1, 9.6,8
3/28 Good Friday
3/31 protein structure 21.2-7
4/2 - - *exam 3*
4/4 more protein structure 21.2-7 sickle-cell anemia
4/7 enzyme intro 22.1
4/9 how enzymes work 22.2-4
4/11 medical applications of enzymes 22.5 myocardial infarction
4/14 nucleic acid structure 24.1,2
4/16 dna --> rna --> protein 24.3,4
4/18 dna --> rna --> protein 24.3,4
4/21 - 4/25 *F I N A L S W E E K*
week dates experiment(s) read
(due date)
1 1/7,9 Check in/Introduction Introduction - Obtaining Moles in Various Situations,
Appendices B, D
2 1/14,16 Simple and Fractional Distillation of a Mixture Exp. 1 (Part 1,2)
3 1/21,23 Isolation of Limonene from Orange Peel, Part 1 Exp. 8 (Part 1)
(Exp. 1 writeup due)
4 1/28,30 Identification of Analgesic Drugs by TLC Exp. 2
Isolation of Limonene from Orange Peel, Part 2 Exp. 6 (Part 2)
(Exp. 8 writeup due)
5 2/4,6 Qualitative Organic Analysis Exp. 4
(Exp. 2 writeup due)
6 2/11,13 Oxidation of Benzoin to Benzil, Part 1 Exp. 6 (Part 1), Oquantitave Treatment of a Typical Organic Reaction
(Exp. 4 writeup due)
7 2/18,20 Separation of Acidic and Neutral Sub., Part 1 Exp. 5 (Part 1)
Oxidation of Benzoin to Benzil, Part 2 Exp. 6 (Part 2)
8 3/4,6 Synthesis of Dilantin, Part 4 Exp. 7 (Part 4)
Separation of Acidic and Neutral Sub., Part 2 Exp. 5 (Part 2) Melting points
Oxidation to Benzoin to Benzil, Part 3
(Exp. 6 writeup due)
9 3/11,13 Synthesis of Dilantin, Part 5 Exp. 7 (Part 5)
The Isolation of Limonene from..., Part 2 Exp. 8 (Part 2)
(Exp. 5 writeup due)
10 3/18,20 Characterization of Carbohydrates Exp. 9
Synthesis of Dilantin, Part 6 Exp. 7 (Part 6)
(Exp. 7 writeup due)
11 3/25,27 Amino Acids and Proteins Exp. 10
(Exp. 10 writeup due)
12 4/1,3 Enyzmes 1 Exp. 11
(Exp. 10 writeup due)
13 4/8,10 Enzymes 2 Exp. 12
(Exp. 11 writeup due)
14 4/15,17 Checkout
(Exp. 12 writeup due)
GRADING: The lab component of your grade is 180 points out of the 650 for the course. There will be 11 grades for writeups (15 points
each). Makeups for missed labs are usually not possible. A typical grade for a writeup can be broken down into three parts: content of the writeup
(60%), yield of the product (20%), purity of the product (20%). Late lab writeups will cost you 5% per school day. The remaining 15 points of the
lab grade will be based on an assessment done by the instructor and TA of your performance in the lab. Three areas will be evaluated: 1) preparation -
have you read the lab and do you have a fair idea of what should transpire? 2) lab etiquette - do you clean up after yourself (including the common
areas of the lab such as balances, melting point apparati...) and treat your labmates with respect?; 3) safety - are safety rules followed? USEFUL SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES: One part of your lab writeup requires you to list several physical properties for the compounds involved in that particular experiment. This information can be obtained most conveniently from one of the following: 1) The Merck Index - located in the lab, the reading room, and the library reference collection (RS.51); 2) The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - located in the lab, the reading room, and the library reference collection (QD.65); 3) The Aldrich Catalog - located in the lab and the reading room.
Last updated February 2, 1997.
The URL for this page is
http://lyco2.lycoming.edu/dept/chem/spring1997/115syl.htm