General Chemistry 102 Laboratory
Fall 2006

"Dr V" (Carl W. Vermeulen, PhD)
A.B. Hope College (Holland, Michigan) Chemistry major
M.S. Univ. of Illinois - Biochemistry (organic chemistry and radiochemistry, minors)
Ph.D. University of Illinois - Microbiology (Molecular Biology)
www.science-projects.com/biosketch.htm

757-508-0852 (phone), ecoligist@yahoo.com (note: Ecoli + gist...)

Camp Hall 302 (office), 306 (laboratory)
Office hours: Tuesday 10-11; Wednesday 11-noon; Thursday 10-11
Text: the same as in the lecture section of General Chemistry 102; lab notes are found in
WWW.SCIENCE-PROJECTS.COM/ChowanChem.html

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Chem 102 - General Chemistry: A continuation of Chemistry 101 with equilibrium and its many modifications being a central topic. Specific topics include crystal structure, kinetics, equilibrium constants, LeChatelier's principle, solubility-product constants, spontaneity, and electrochemistry. The laboratory is on collection and treatment of data. Three hours of lecture and one three-hour laboratory per week. Credit: 4 hours (Spring). Prerequisite: Chemistry 101. Co-requisite: Mathematics 133

GOALS OF THE COURSE

    The purpose or educational outcome of this lower-division laboratory course is to give both those students who intend to continue in the sciences and those from other disciplines a feel for what laboratory-based experimental science is like. Science is not only composed of the facts gleened in the past, but is even more importantly the art of exploring and discovering new knowledge in and from the physical world around us. An appreciation of this is necessary for the modern, generally-educated person. For those continuing on in the sciences, this lab with its attendant lecture is one of the key foundations, and as such is to prepare the students for taking their next steps into biology, chemistry, geology and physics.

OFFICE HOURS

Of course, because Dr. V is a commuter from Williamsburg, VA, his office hours are somewhat limited. Besides the LUNCH opportunities, and those times listed above, there are also extensive opportunities for you to converse with him via email. He is used to that: he runs an international website that helps students and teachers do science projects and research. So email your questions to him, and you will likely get an answer back within 3 to 6 hours. Or you can phone him between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. for more immediate response.

Grading

Missed lab? Two percent of your overall grade will be deducted for each unexcused absence. Work can for the most part be made up by surfing to the proper webpage within www.science-projects.com/ChowanChem . Make ups? Yes, sort of-, because most things are due the next week or later. Of course, that 2% is not the only loss you suffer: you might have missed the quiz for the week, and there are no make-ups for that.

QUIZZES

Quizzes - 70% of your grade. There will usually be a quiz each week. 60-80% of the quiz will cover the previous labs, and 20-40% the current week's lab (to encourage you to come to lab prepared!). Sometimes the quizzes will contain a question that actually tells you to show the instructor that you can do a particular sub-task in the lab. Thus do not sit back and allow your partners to do all the work. "Show-me" questions will be a significant portion of the quiz grade! For those who do the work in lab, these "show-me's" will be a "free gift", but will condemn those who sit back and let others do the work. Just remember that while most disciplines require only intellectual gymnastics, the sciences are sports that require mind-body control! Grading is done using the standard curve such that the average grade translates to 80, with each standard deviation translating to 10 pts above and below that 80. Thus the std dev of 60-70 = D; 70 to 80 = C; 80 to 90 = B; 90 and above = A. The average of the ten highest of 12 quiz grades tempered with the lab grade and report grades and is submitted to the lecture instructor for 25% of the overall course grade. If absence is caused by matters beyond the student's control - hospitalization, death in the family, etc., the 12-2 policy will be prorated (e.g.: if 10 quizzes are taken, 1.67 of the lowest will be dropped).

One other inducement to getting a really good grade: Get a 90.01 or above on a quiz, and you don't have to take the next quiz and you will automatically get a 90.00. But if you take the next quiz and get a less grade than 90, you are awarded that lesser grade! (For those less lucky, if those stars do opt for a free 90, that 90 will not be part of the curve, and thus it should be easier for the rest of the class.)

This will entail your using computers, so become friendly with yours! Hint: scientists like looking at graphs, diagrams and/or photographs.

OTHER GRADING ASPECTS

Subjective opinion (20% of grade) of your lab deportment. You will start out with a perfect score, but if you are caught goofing off, making a nuisance of yourself, acting in a non-safe manner as per the rules of conduct posted in the lab, etc., you will accrue demerits. Also 2% will accrue for each absence without a good excuse such as the White House needed you for a consultation. A major thing that the instructor will be observing is the student's participation in teamwork. Science is usually a team sport.

Bonus items. (10% of grade) The most common bonus items you are likely to come across are "Mary Lou Quizzes." These will be group quizzes, and will be due whenever the first ones are turned in that are correct. Yes, you can repeat and repeat and repeat: you will only be told that you are either right or wrong. But you will only get the bonus prize if you are the first of so-many-specified groups to hand it in correctly done. Answers must be in writing. The prize will be mentioned within each Mary Lou Quiz - it might be as little as a free 5 points on your next regular quiz, or as much as 5 points on your semester average.

About Mary Lou: There is a pretend group of students in a chemistry class. Mary Lou is a happy-go-lucky high school senior, whose other name might be Miss Fortune (or is it really Misfortune?-!). She bumbles around in lab, but invariably does something wonderful that the others in her group consider to be extremely insightful and important. Despite often not understanding what she did that was so great, she is happy to have the affection of her partners - and especially of handsome Jimmy. It is your group's responsibility to interpret the results and arrive at what that great insight was. Usually the answer can be stated in 20 words or less.

"Groups? I thought working with others was cheating." Why is Science a social activity? We didn't get to the moon by one person's working alone. Within a group are individuals of differing experiences. By conversing, you each bring these differences to bear upon the problem at hand. Each of you has a different expertise from the others. It is thus much more likely that together you will crack the problem than by working alone.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHEM 102 LAB (SPRING 2007)
(subject to change until the lab is given)
(The lab protocols from 1 through 9 were primarily devised
by Dr. Garth Faile of Chowan University, Murfreesboro, NC, USA.)

Week	Main Topic
1 1/11	Crystallography and Steel
2 1/18	Measuring Interionic Distances
3 1/25	Effects of Concentration on the Physical Properties of Aqueous Solutions
4 2/01	Determining Molecular Weight
5 2/08	Chemical Kinetics - the Iodine Clock
6 2/15	Paperwork of previous lab Inorganic Qualitative Analysis - 1 (the silver group)
7 2/22	Inorganic Qualitative Analysis - 2 (the copper/tin group) And learning how to work with noxious substances.
8 3/01	Measuring Carbon-Carbon Bond Distances
9 3/08	Chemical Equilibrium using FeSCN (remember the Thermodynamic Shaker Box!)
10 3/22	Solubility Product of Ca(IO3)2
11 3/29	Inorganic Qualitative Analysis - 2
12 4/05	Inorganic Quantitative Analysis of Iron Ore
13 4/12	Analysis of Your Unknown
14 4/19	Analysis of Your Unknown (cont'd)
15 4/26	HELP SESSIONS FOR FINAL EXAM led by Dr. Faile