INSTRUCTOR: Frank Rioux
TEXT: General Chemistry: Atoms First, McMurray and Fay
Office Hours and Teaching Schedule
| Period\Day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| I | CHEM 123 PENGL 325 |
Office Hour ASC 241 |
CHEM 123 PENGL 325 |
Office Hour ASC 241 |
CHEM 123 PENGL 325 |
Department Meeting |
| II | Office Hour ASC 241 |
Office Hour ASC 241 |
Office Hour ASC 241 |
Office Hour ASC 241 |
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| III | ||||||
| IV | CHEM 123 Lab |
CHEM 123 Lab |
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| V | CHEM 123 Lab |
CHEM 123 Lab |
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| VI | CHEM 123 Lab |
CHEM 123 Lab |
Lecture Schedule
Lecture: 80% of your grade will be based on quizzes, exams and the comprehensive final exam. Quizes will generally be announced one class period in advance, cover a specific topic and last approximately 20 minutes. Exams will be announced one week in advance, will require the full 70 minute period and will test over all material covered since the last exam. Most likely there will be four quizzes and three exams. The date and time of the American Chemical Society standardized final exam for this course will be established by the Registrar by late October. Attendance at quizzes, exams and the final is mandatory. Make-up quizzes and exams will be given only for the most seriousreasons.
On average we will spend between three and four class periods on each chapter. Each chapter has a number of worked examples and approximately 100 problems. The first 25 to 35 problems are imbedded in the text and the balance appear at the end of the chapter. Assigned problems are listed for each chapter. These problems will not be collected or graded, but they will be discussed in class. Working the assigned problems is the best way to demonstrate that you have mastered the material in the chapter. There is an unusually strong correlation between course grade and problem working.
It is also extremely important to keep up with your chemistry assignments on a daily basis. Everyone recognizes that general chemistry is a challenging subject. Therefore, it is not advisable to leave the bulk of your study for the night before an exam or quiz. I will expect you to come to class on time and prepared. I welcome andencourage student questions during class, as this is the best way to insure that we are dealing with subjects that are of most concern to you.
There are a number of internet sites that can serve as resources for this course. They are listed below. To visit just point and click. This syllabus is posted at: http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~frioux/chem123-05.html.
Many of the scientific achievements that we study in this course have earned their discoverers the Nobel Prize. There are two web sites that have extensive treatments of the contributions of the Nobel Laureates.
The following journals report report recent advances in chemistry and other sciences.
Laboratory: 20% of your grade will be determined by your performance in the laboratory portion of this course. You must attend all assigned lab periods and turn in a report for each experiment. An important part of the laboratory work will be your laboratory notebook (available at the CSB and SJU bookstores). A permanent (ink) bound record of your observations in the laboratory is necessary for you to be able to interpret your results and answer the questions associated with each experiment. The laboratory exercises scheduled for this semester are listed below.
Students who register for a laboratory course such as CHEM 123 are charged a $90 laboratory fee. This fee is assessed to cover part of the cost of maintaining the laboratories and the equipment in them.
The laboratory manual for this course contains a statement of the Chemistry Department's policy with regard to laboratory attendance and its relation to final course grade. The departmental policy is summarized below.
Completion of a lab or lab equivalent is defined as both attendance at the lab and completion of the requisite report. Failure to complete a lab or labs, without a valid reason, will have the following consequences on the final course grade in CHEM 123:
1 unexcused absence - not eligible for S/U grading in the course. Each additional unexcused absence will result in a final course grade reduction equivalent to half a grade, e.g., from AB to B.
An unexcused lab will result in an F (0 points) grade for that lab. This grade will be averaged in with the student's other lab grades for the semester when calculating the final laboratory grade.
Students having a valid excuse may reschedule a lab if appropriate arrangements can be made.
Chapter 1 - Chemistry: Matter and Measurement
This introductory chapter attempts to define chemistry and provides a brief discussion of the methods of science. Chemistry has been described as the central science, and it certainly has lively borders with the fields of biology, physics, medicine, mathematics, and psychology. From my perspective as a physical chemist, chemistry might be described as a study of the behavior of the valence electrons of atoms and molecules.
The material in this chapter on measurement, units, accuracy, precision, significant figures, and problem solving is basic to all of chemistry. We will make reference to Chapter 1 material throughout the semester. Therefore we will give it a brief initial survey, and return to its concepts regulary during the term. For many of you Chapter 1 will be review material.
I will emphasize the scientific method and the history of science through out the course. In every chapter, questions of methodology and the nature of scientific inquiry will be important. In addition, we will always want to have the benefit of historical perspective. Who did it? When was it done? What else was going in the world at the time?
Assigned problems: 1-18
Recommended problems: 20-27 62 66 76 78 86 88 100 103 104
Chapter 2 - Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
The understanding that the incredible diversity of the universe can be understood in terms of a handful of elementary particles acting under the influence of a small number of fundamental forces is one of the great achievements of 20th century science. This chapter provides a brief introduction to our contemporary understanding of atomic and molecular structure. These subjects will be studied in further depth later in Chapters 3, 4, and 5.
In order to understand the various ways atoms bond to form chemical substances we need to study, at this point, the primitive but useful shell theory of atomic structure. This model will be used throughout the term and will be embellished latter in Chapter 5 with the quantum mechanical model of atomic structure.
The various ways matter manifests itself in nature are defined in terms of a small number of categories: pure solids, liquids, and gases, and various homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures involving solids, liquids, and gases. Elements, compounds, and chemical change are defined in this chapter.
Assigned problems: 1-21
Recommended problems: 34 38 40 42 52 54 56 58 96 106
Chapter 3 - Periodicity and Electronic Structure of Atoms
Dalton's atomic theory implied that atoms were indestructible. By the middle of the 19th Century evidence began to accumulate that atoms were not indestructible and that they were composed of more elementary objects. By 1932 it was clear that the basic building blocks of the elements were electrons, protons and neutrons.
This chapter deals with the attempts by scientists to develop a model of the structure of the atom that was consistent with experimental evidence, in particular atomic spectroscopy and chemical periodicity of the elements as manifested in the periodic table. J.J Thomson, discoverer of the electron, developed a model of the atom (plum pudding model, he was English) using the principles of classical physics. It was not successful. Bohr developed a model of the atom which retained some of the elements of classical physics, but also introduced new concepts such as quantization and stationary state. It successfully explained the atomic spectrum of the hydrogen atom, but was unsuccessful in other applications.
After Thomson and Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg developed, with the help of many others, the currently accepted wave mechanical model of atomic structure. This theory, which also goes by the name quantum mechanics,retains even less of classical physics than the Bohr model. It is this model that we will emphasize and use to explain chemical periodicity and the periodic table. The concepts and principles encountered in this chapter will serve as a foundation for the study of chemical bonding and molecular structure which follow in Chapters 6 and 7.
Assigned problems: 1-19
Recommended problems: 27 30 36 40 54 60 62 68 98 104 112
Chapter 4 - Ionic Bonds and Some Main Group Chemistry
Section 2.8 provided a terse over-view of the two major types of chemical bonds that a chemist deals with - ionic bonds and covalent bonds. This chapter presents an in-depth treatment of ionic bonding. Chapter 7 will do the same for covalent bonding.
Atoms interact electronically to produce molecules and compounds. In an ionic interaction there is a complete transfer of a valence electron from a metallic to a non-metallic element. In covalent bonding it is assumed that valence electrons are shared by two elements.
After a study of ionic bonding, we will consider the chemistry of the most important metallic and non-metallic elements. Every effort will be made to interpret this descriptive chemistry in terms of the principles of atomic and molecular structure we have previously studied.
Assigned problems: 1-25
Recommended problems: 27-35 60 62 64 107
Chapter 5 - Covalent Bonds Molecular Structure
The main subject of this chapter is the nature of the covalent chemical bond. G. N. Lewis formulated the localized electron pair model of chemical bonding in the early part of 20th century. This model, when combined with the concepts of formal charge and resonance, provides a reasonably accurate qualitative picture of the electronic structure of many inorganic and organic molecules.
The Lewis model, however, is too simple to account accurately for all types of molecular bonding and we will spend some time studying those cases for which it fails. The failures can be grouped into three major categories: electron deficient molecules, hypervalent molecules, and molecules with an odd number of electrons.
The Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory can be viewed as an extension of Lewis's model and is used to predict the molecular geometries of molecules. The goal in this chapter is to use these qualitative models to describe the electronic structure of molecules and predict their molecular geometries and other physical properties which depend on electronic structure and molecular geometry. We will also study the various types of molecular isomerism.
In chapter 5 we saw that wave mechanics applied to the hydrogen atom yielded s, p, d, and f atomic orbitals each having a distinct shape and orientation in space. In this chapter we will see how these atomic orbitals can be mixed together to form hybridized orbitals which can then be used in the formation of chemical bonds. We will find that the geometry of the molecule can be related to the type of hybrid orbital.
Assigned problems: 1-37
Recommended problems: 48 50 54 58 60 64 90 94 96 106
Chapter 6 - Mass Relationships in Chemical Reactions
In this chapter we will study some of the most important quantitative aspects of modern chemistry. These include the concepts of atomic mass, the mole, molecular weight, empirical and molecular formulas. In addition to learning the origin of these concepts we will work problems based on them. We will also learn how to balance chemical equations and how to determine the stoichiometric amounts of reactants and products from a balanced chemical equation. In other words we will use the concepts of the mole, atomic mass, molar mass, and the balanced chemical equation in a quantitative study of chemical reactions.
In this chapter we also emphasize solution chemistry. For example, we look at electrolytes and non-electrolytes and come to a qualitative understanding of their structures. In addition, we will study the quantitative methods chemists use to describe the composition of solutions - molarity, molality, and mole fraction.
Because this is a problem oriented chapter I will lecture very little. The main emphasis in class will be to work as many problems as possible with the goal of improving problem solving skills. It is, therefore, crucial that you work a representative number of problems before coming to class. This will insure that you get maximum benefit from class time.
Assigned problems: 1-29
Recommended problems: 32-40 42 64 66 70 82 92 98 122
Chapter 7 - Reactions in Aqueous Solution (omit section 9)
The elements are the building blocks for the molecules which are of primary interest to chemists. As Nobel Laureate, Raold Hoffmann, has said chemistry is the "science of molecules and their transformations." In this chapter we will be concerned with the various ways elements combine to form chemical substances and classify them for the time being as: covalent, polar covalent, ionic, and metallic. We will also consider several methods for describing the composition of compounds.
Modern chemistry emerges with the French scientist Antoine Lavoisier. He made many contributions to chemistry: he proposed a modern theory of combustion, he recognized the importance of careful quantitative measurement and formulated the principle of conservation of mass, and he introduced the first modern, self-consistent nomenclature. Lavoisier is also credited with the first modern chemistry textbook in 1789,Elementary Treatise on Chemistry, in which he outlined his revolutionary ideas.
Chemists are not as devoted to classification as are biologists, but they do try to organize the myriad of chemical reactions that occur in nature and the laboratory into a small number of groups. In this chapter we shall look at these important types of chemical reactions: exchange reactions, decomposition reactions, combination reactions, oxidation-reduction reactions, acid-base reactions, precipitation reactions, gas producing reactions, etc.
Assigned problems: 1-16 19 20
Recommended problems: 25-28 32 34 36 40 60 62 64 72 74 82 104 106 110
Chapter 8 - Thermochemistry: Chemical Energy
The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of energy in the universe is constant. Energy is conserved and, therefore, it can be neither created nor destroyed, it can only be converted from one form to another. Therefore there are no "energy consumers" or energy producers," there are only energy transformers. There are no known exceptions to the energy conservation principle. Thus, when scientists do a proper energy audit the books must balance exactly. This fact provides scientists with a powerful mathematical tool for the analysis of natural phenomena.
In this chapter we will apply the First Law to chemical reactions. We will first look at two forms of mechanical energy - kinetic energy and potential energy. Then we will look at heat and work as two methods of energy transfer. Then we will apply these ideas to the field of calorimetry, the source of most of the thermochemical data found in the appendices of your textbook. We will conclude our study of the First Law with Hess's Law and the concept of enthalpy of formation.
Assigned problems: 1 8-24
Recommended problems: 60 62 70 76 90 92 104 112 114
Chapter 9 - Gases: Their Properties and Behavior (Sections 1-4, 6 and 7)
Galileo, Kepler, and Boyle, who were the immediate predecessors of Issac Newton, all formulated precise mathematical descriptions of natural phenomena during the early to mid 17th Century. Galileo described free fall and projectile motion, Kepler formulated the first mathematical statements for planetary orbits and Boyle discovered a relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas. We study the work of Boyle and those who followed him (Charles, Avogadro, and Dalton) as they developed the ideal gas law (PV = nRT) which is a terse, mathematical summary of many empirical observations about the behavior of gases.
Besides terse mathematical summaries of data, scientists seek their theoretical explanations. These are generally called theories or hypotheses. Just as Dalton's Atomic Theory attempted to explain the laws of chemical reactions (law of definite proportions, the law of multiple proportions, etc.), so the Kinetic Molecular Theory has as its goal to explain the gas law and the laws of effusion and diffusion.
Deviations from ideal behavior in gases occur because of the finite size of gas particles and because of intermolecular interactions. These forces are used to account for the formation and properties of liquids and solids. The intermolecular interactions are simply different manifestations of the same fundamental force - the electrostatic force (Coulomb's Law). Those of most importance to us are: ion-ion, ion-dipole, dipole-dipole, the van der Waals interaction, and the hydrogeng bond. These interactions will aid us in the study of liquids, solids, and solutions next semester in Chapters 10 and 11.
Assigned problems: 6-13 18-21
Recommended problems: 44 46 48 54 66 68
Chapter 10 - Liquids, Solids and Phase Changes (Sections 1-4)
Our purpose in this chapter is the study of liquid and solid condensed phases and, to understand their relationship to gases using the variety of intermolecular interactions that operate in matter.
Assigned problems: 1-6
Recommended problems: 30 32 34 40
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