Chemistry 112     Spring 2006

Announcements: (5/2/06): Here is a preview sheet for the final.  Thanks for a great semester (and school year), and enjoy your summer!

(4/26/06): (1) You are all done with graded homework for the semester!  However, to help you learn the kinetics material not covered by Problem Set 9, I have a suggested list of problems. (The answers to each of these problems can be found in Appendix E.) They are 16.47, 16.49, 16.60, 16.62, and 16.69.  (2) I will allow you to bring to the final exam a cheat sheet--a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper filled front and back with whatever information you wish.  On the final exam, I will provide constants, but not equations.  (3) Here's the link to the course evaluation form.  While the College decided to grant me tenure (i.e. lifetime employment) this year, that certainly doesn't mean that I have achieved perfection as a teacher, or that the Chemistry 112 curriculum has been perfected. In fact, I think that one thing the College considers in granting tenure is whether the faculty member in question is someone who will be committed to growth and the pursuit of excellence as a teacher for decades to come. One way for me to continue to grow is to continue to seek feedback from you.

Chemistry Tutoring in Olin-Rice 341 (the Chemistry Department Computer Lab)
A chemistry major is available every day of the week (except Friday and Saturday) to answer your general chemistry questions. Here is the schedule:
Sunday: 1:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Monday - Thursday: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
I highly encourage you to benefit from the expertise and helpfulness of your fellow Mac students!

See the bottom of the page for old announcements.

Syllabus (.html or .pdf formats) 

Homework and Tests:

      Problem Set 1 (due 1/30/06):   Assignment   Key

      Problem Set 2 (due 2/10/06):   Assignment   Key

      Test 1 (2/13/06):     Key     Score Distribution    Estimated Grades

      Problem Set 3 (due 2/20/06):   Assignment   Key

      Problem Set 4 (CHANGE--due 3/1/06):   Assignment   Key

      Test 2 (3/3/06):     Key     Score Distribution    Midterm Grades

      Problem Set 5 (due 3/20/06):   Assignment   Key

      Problem Set 6 (due 3/27/06):   Assignment--has revised course schedule   Key

      Test 3 (3/29/06):     Key     Score Distribution    Estimated Grades after 3 Tests

      Problem Set 7 (due 4/5/06):   Assignment   Key

      Problem Set 8 (due 4/17/06):   Assignment   Key

      Test 4 (4/19/06):     Key     Score Distribution    Estimated Grades after 4 Tests

      Problem Set 9 (due 4/26/06):   Assignment   Key

Lecture Handouts and Transparencies:

        Introduction to Molecular Thermodynamics (IMT) Chapter 1

                Link to the Isotope Exchange Reaction Simulator (1/25/06)             

                Isotope Exchange Calculation--corrected (1/27/06) 

                Possible Distributions with 250 H + 450 D Atoms  vs.  0.250 mol H + 0.450 mol D Atoms (1/27/06) 

        IMT Chapter 2

                Example Problem (2/1/06)           

        IMT Chapter 3

                Vibrations in Solids (and Liquids) (2/3/06)             

                Population of H2 vs. D2 Vibrational Energy Levels and Energy Level Summary (2/3/06)  

        IMT Chapter 4

                Notes on Heat and Work (2/15/06)             

        IMT Chapter 7

                Example Problems (2/20/06)

                Link to Professor Hanson's WINTROPY Program (2/20/06) 

        IMT Chapter 8

                Expansion of a Gas (2/24/06)

                Entropy of Changing Volume (correcting comments in class on 2/24) (2/27/06)      

        IMT Chapter 9

                A Bad BDE Calculation (3/1/06)

        IMT Chapter 10

                A Primer on Phase Changes and Intermolecular Forces (3/10/06)

        Silberberg Chapters 4/21

                Prof. Fischer's Rules for Balancing Redox Reactions (3/31/06)

                Thermodynamics Calculations for Silver Tarnishing (4/10/06)

        Silberberg Chapters 16

                Thermodynamics Calculations for the Hydrogen-Oxygen Reaction (4/17/06)

                Method of Initial Rates Example (4/21/06)

                Reaction Mechanisms (4/26/06)

                Notes from Last Day of Class (5/1/06)

Old Announcements:

(4/17/06): Here is the Test 4 Preview Sheet. I will have extra office hours from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday.  You may start Test 4 at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

(3/24/06): Here is the Test 3 Preview Sheet.  Note that Chapter 11 will not be covered on the exam, since we did not cover it (explicitly) in class this past week.  However, your Chapter 11 homework problems are still due as part of Problem Set 6 on Monday, and we will be coming back to Chapter 11 material when we cover IMT Chapter 13 (on electrochemistry) starting the week I come back.

(3/10/06) Problem Set 5 will now be postponed to the Monday after Spring Break (March 20). Problem Set 6 is postponed to Monday, March 27. Test 3 is posponed to Wednesday, March 29.
       Also, Professor Fischer will be guest lecturing in our class for the two weeks after spring break. During the week of March 20, I will be sitting in on his classes. Professor Fischer will be applying for tenure this summer, and, as part of my responsibilities as a newly tenured professor, I am supposed to "observe his teaching." (Something about this makes me feel like I should be sitting in class with a clipboard and wearing a white lab coat.) During the week of March 27, I will be visiting Atlanta, presenting a paper at the Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. You will certainly be in great shape with Prof. Fischer; he was responsible for introducing Prof. Hanson's text to Macalester.
       Finally, for those of you who are carefully reading Chapter 10 right now, there is one critical misprint: On p. 10-12, Figures 10.10 and 10.11 are switched. Also, the caption for Figure 10.10(c) has a small typo: it should read 25oC.

(2/28/06): Here is the preview sheet for Test 2 this Friday.  Note that (1) I will have office hours from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday night; (2) you may start your work on Test 2 at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.

(2/24/06): Test 2 has been postponed to Friday, March 3, and Problem Set 4 has been posponed to Wednesday, March 1.  Please let me know if you have a major scheduling conflict on March 3.

(2/10/06): (1) Here is the preview sheet for Monday's test. (2) I will have office hours from 7-9 p.m. on Sunday night--the night before the exam. (3) You are encouraged to come to Olin-Rice 350 at 8:00 a.m. Monday to start Test 1.  You can work on the exam until 9:30 a.m.

(1/27/06): Thanks for a good first week of the semester, and thanks especially to Zainab for correcting my calculation of K on today's handout!  Enjoy your first full weekend back at Mac, and see you Monday.  (Remember the tutoring available from 1-10 p.m Sunday in the chem computer lab.)

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Last modified 26 September 2006