While every effort has been made to make sure this electronic syllabus is error-free, it is not official.
The definitive source of course information remains the original (paper) syllabus distributed in class.

Lycoming College                  Chemistry 111

General Chemistry

Syllabus

Spring 2007

Course Description

The material presented in this course covers advanced principals of general chemistry.  Topics to be covered include organic chemistry, covalent bonding, properties of solids and liquids, thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium, chemical kinetics, electrochemistry, and nuclear chemistry.   The concepts presented will be used to understand the chemical nature of the major classes of matter—solids, liquids, and gases.

The instructors’ goal is to see each student gain a working knowledge of basic chemistry skills and we are dedicated to reaching this goal.  The motivation, however, must begin with you.  The material in this course builds upon the fundamentals presented in Chemistry 110 and knowledge of these concepts will be expected.  Many students that do well with the material in Chemistry 110 have difficulty with the material in this class.  The course will be challenging and will require a lot of hard work for its mastery.  A wealth of opportunities exists to assist you with your studies so please take advantage of them.  If you do, I am confident that we can achieve our goals for the semester.

Prerequisites

• Chemistry 110

Because this course meets a distribution requirement, it includes a writing component.  At least 10 pages of writing will be expected from each student during the semester, some of which will be formally evaluated. If you need help with writing, please feel free to ask the instructors for assistance.  You can also get assistance with writing at the writing center on the third floor of Snowden Library.

Meeting Times

                Lecture                                   MWF                                     11:30 am-12:20 pm                                G09 Heim

                Recitation                              Th                                           7:45 am or 1:00 pm                                G09 Heim                                                                                                              

Course Materials

• Textbook:  Chemistry: The Molecular Science, 2^nd Edition by Moore, Stanitski, and Jurs
• Bound laboratory notebook (available at the campus bookstore)
• Safety Glasses ($9.00; made available by the Chemistry Club for purchase 30 minutes before the first lab session)
• Non-programmable calculator capable of performing logarithmic functions and scientific notation (no passing or sharing allowed in exams)
• On-line Laboratory Manual (See Moodle website)

Special Needs

If you have a specific disability and choose to request academic accommodations to meet your needs, please consult with Mr. Dan Hartsock, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities.  His office is in the Academic Resource Center on the third floor of Snowden Library.  You can also reach him by phone (570-321-4294). 

Office Hours

Office hours are for the purpose of walk in instruction, discussion, or just to chat.   Unless otherwise announced, the instructors will be available during their office hours, but you are always welcome to make an individual appointment.  The Academic Research Center (ARC) is available for course tutoring, including writing.  ARC is on the third floor of Snowden Library.  If possible, do not wait until the night before an exam or assignment is due.  The path to success in this course is through hard work.  If you find yourself struggling with the material, please get help before you get behind.

Grading

• Grades will be scaled to the number of points in the table below.

• Your highest eight quiz scores plus one contribution toward the molecule library will count toward your quiz grade.
• There will be no makeup examinations or quizzes.  One legitimate exam absence (for instance, an illness or a funeral) can be replaced by the average exam score for the semester.
• The grading scale will be as follows.  Adjustments to this scale are possible, but unlikely.

³ 90%                     A

80-89%                   B

70-79%                   C

60-69%                   D

< 60%                     F

• In order to receive a passing grade, you must achieve at least 60% of the points in both the lecture (exams/quizzes) and laboratory portions of this course.

Academic Honesty (from the Student Handbook):  

Academic dishonesty is a willful perversion of truth, or stealing, cheating, or defrauding in instructional matters. Students will have engaged in academic dishonesty if they copied the work of another without attribution, willfully allowed another to copy their work, falsified information, submitted the work of another as though it were their own, or committed other acts of plagiarism or actions deemed to be dishonest by the instructor.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY IS A VERY SERIOUS CHARGE, WHICH CAN LEAD TO SUSPENSION FROM THE COLLEGE.  All students should become familiar with the rules of academic honesty and apply them in ALL academic work. 

Moodle

This course utilizes a content management system (fancy name for a website) called Moodle.  You will be expected to check this website frequently for announcements, course information, laboratory procedures, and scheduling.  The web address for the site is

http://moodle.lycoming.edu/moodle/course/view.php?id=123

Quizzes

Quizzes will be announced at least one lecture before they will occur and will be given during lecture.  The purpose of these quizzes is to provide you with an opportunity to determine where your deficiencies may be and to provide a “gentle” reminder of how important it is to stay current with the progress of the course.  In order to emphasize the importance of homework, the quiz questions will be drawn directly from the assigned homework problems.  As with the examinations, quizzes should be considered cumulative and may contain information from the laboratory or lecture portion of the course.  Quizzes will be given on Wednesdays, unless otherwise announced.

Examinations

Examinations will be given during lecture and will be administered on the following dates.  Because the material presented later in the class builds upon concepts presented earlier, all exams should be considered cumulative. 

** The final examination time and date is established by the registrar.

Homework

In this course, homework assignments will not be collected, but it is strongly suggested that you attempt them.  The selected homework problems provide an indication of the topics that are important.  This makes solving them of utmost importance to your grade and your performance in the course will likely correlate with the amount of time spent solving problems.  Because learning can be much more efficient through failure, I feel strongly that they should be attempted individually before seeking help from others.  Please feel free to stop by my office or make an appointment to discuss any difficulties you may have with any of the suggested problems.

Attendance/Class Participation

Regular attendance at lecture is expected.  If you have more than 3 absences, your grade will be reduced by 2.5%.  For more than 5 absences, your grade will be reduced by 5%.  While attendance will not be formally monitored, I will check to see if you are present during quizzes/exams and whether you pickup your graded work during lecture.  Recitation attendance will not be monitored, but there is a direct correlation between recitation attendance and grades.  If at all possible, you should attend.  There may be new material presented at recitation that will be reflected on exams and quizzes.

In addition to attendance in lecture, you will be required to attend at least three chemistry colloquium presentations.  Colloquium is held on Fridays and some Wednesdays from 3-4:15 pm throughout the semester.  In the case that you are unable to attend colloquium (due to a class conflict or college sanctioned sporting event), you will be able to upload molecules to the Moodle site as a substitute (We will discuss how you can do this in class).  Three points of extra credit will be awarded for attending each colloquium presentation beyond the required three (up to a maximum of 4 colloquium presentations or 12 extra credit points).

While you are expected to attend and participate in this class, your cell phone, computer, and iPod are not.  Use of cell phones, computers, and iPods during class (and especially during quizzes and examinations) will not be permitted and may result in your dismissal from the class for the day and a zero for the day’s assignment.

Laboratory

Acceptable performance in the laboratory is imperative for success in chemistry.  No student will pass the course with less than a score of 60% in the laboratory portion of the course.  Attendance in laboratory is mandatory.  You will be expected to arrive to laboratory on-time.  Missing the prelab session may result in your dismissal from the lab for the day and a zero for the day’s work.  Makeup laboratory experiments will be difficult, if not impossible, and will only be permitted for legitimate reasons.  All laboratory makeup sessions must be approved by the laboratory coordinator (Dr. Ramsey).

Safety

Safe laboratory practices, including proper attire, will be expected at all times.  Long pants are required as well as closed toe shoes (no sandals or bare feet).  Wearing contact lenses during laboratory session is strongly discouraged.  If you feel you need to wear your contact lenses during laboratory session, you should first discuss this with the laboratory coordinator (Dr. Ramsey).  You will not be permitted to begin any experimental procedures until all safety concerns have been addressed.  Repeated safety violations will cause your expulsion from the laboratory and a zero for the experiment.

Topic Schedule

The order of topics that will be covered this semester is presented here.  It is tentative and may change during the semester.

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