General Chemistry at Penn State

CHEM 112

SPRING HOME PAGE

Instructor Info

Syllabus

General Information

Exam Schedule

News and Updates

Lecture Notes

Help Available

Spring 2008

General Information

INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION:

by appt

You are encouraged to discuss chemistry and this course with your instructor.  Meetings with your instructor can be arranged at the end of lecture, by telephone, or by email.  Simple questions or comments can also be sent via electronic mail.  For administrative questions and questions concerning exam scores contact the administrative assistant in 210 Whitmore.

 WEB PAGE: http://courses.chem.psu.edu/chem112/Spring

The course syllabus, past exams, supplementary lecture notes, exam locations, handouts, TA information, and other interesting chemistry sites are available at this location.

 TEACHING ASSISTANTS:

Experienced instructors will provide free help to Chemistry 112 students in Room 211 Whitmore Laboratory. Tutors will be available at the following hours throughout the semester except during spring break and finals week.

SUNDAY - THURSDAY, 6:30-10:30 P.M. LOCATION- 211 Whitmore. However, we suggest that you see the regular course TAs as much as possible.

TEXTBOOK AND OTHER MATERIALS:

1.  Required Textbook:  T.L. Brown, H.E. LeMay, and B.E. Bursten, Chemistry, The Central Science, 10th Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2006.

2.  Chem 112 Student Packet (required). Available at the Penn State Bookstore on campus. This packet has the syllabus, General Course Information, Supplemental Homework Problems and Practice exams.

3.  The Chem 112 web site contains a syllabus, links to lecture notes, supplementary reading assignments, and multiple choice homework problems. You will be responsible for printing out these materials as needed. You are strongly advise to bring copies of notes to lecture, so you can listen, think, and ask questions rather than spend all your time copying down what is written on the overheads. In addition to these required materials, sample exams from previous years are also available on the course Web page.  Please note that because of changes in the course old exams may not contain precisely the same collection of materials as this year’s exams.

4.  A suitable scientific calculator (one that handles numbers in scientific notation and provides log/antilog functions) is essential.  Calculators with text-storage capabilities (such as the TI-81 used in Math 140) will not be permitted for use on exams and quizzes.

5. Optional Materials:  Hill, Student’s Guide to Brown, LeMay & Bursten and Wilson, Bursten & LeMay, Solutions to Black Exercises are optional; they are available in the bookstores if you wish to use them.

LECTURES:  Chem 112 meets for three lectures each week.  You should attend every lecture even if you think you already know the material.  You are responsible for all course material and administrative announcements covered in lecture, including problem assignments, syllabus changes, and exam locations. Always read the material covered in a lecture before the lecture. Reading both the textbook and trying problems assigned from the text prior to the lecture is essential.

HOMEWORK:  Homework assignments are given in the syllabus. The end of the Chapter homework problems should be done before lecture. The supplemental multiple choice homework problems can be done after lecture. These homework problems will prepare you for the graded on-line quizzes. Doing all assigned problems is essential to success in this course. If you have questions about the homework you can raise them during class or seek help in the Resource Room 211 Whitmore.

WEB BASED BASIC SKILLS and QUIZZES:

1. Basic Skills. There are 7 Basic Skill tests available on line. Detailed instructions for taking these tests will be posted. You will be allowed to take these tests as many times as you like, however, you must achieve 100% on these tests in order to receive credit. Deadlines for each of the Basic Skill Tests are given on the Web Based instruction page. NOTE: there is an early deadline for these! You can earn extra credit by getting 100% by the early deadline. If you do not complete the Basic Skill by the FINAL deadline of APRIL 21, you will get a zero. There are no make-up opportunities for these.

2. Unit Quizzes. There will be 13 sets of quizzes that you will be expected to do on-line. These on-line quizzes will be graded. Each quiz will have about 5-7 questions. After doing the assigned homework in the syllabus, you should be able to do these problems. You will have a limited number of attempts for each quiz so it is important that you do the assigned homework BEFORE attempting the quizzes. (Note: each quiz will be unique.) Your grade for each quiz will be the highest score of your total attempts. There will be a deadline for each problem set as well. Once the deadline has passed, you will not be able to access the quizzes and there will be no make-up opportunities if you miss the quiz altogether or do not use all of your available submissions.

EXAMINATIONS:  There will be three evening examinations during the semester and a comprehensive final examination during the final exam period.  The dates and times for the mid-semester exams are fixed; you must work out any conflicts that arise.

Three evening midterm examinations will be held:
Exam 1: Tuesday  2/12 at 6:30 pm
Exam 2: Wednesday  3/5 at 6:30 pm
Exam 3: Tuesday  4/8 at 6:30 pm

We will make provisions for conflicts between these evening exams and other scheduled University activities; you must register for such conflicts in class when the request is made.  The final exam will be given at the time and place set by the University in its final exam schedule. Do not make plans to leave the University before you know the final exam date for Chem 112.  Locations for all exams will be announced in class, and posted on the web; please do not phone for exam locations!  Results of exams will be posted in the same location.  You should bring to each exam your calculator, some #2 pencils, an eraser, and your student I.D. card.  A periodic table and data sheet will be provided with each exam.  Be sure you know your correct section number and student I.D. number and that you enter these correctly on your exam answer sheet.

Three to four days after each exam you should check your grade on your email access account.  When viewing your grade report in Eudora, it is important that you set both screen and print fonts to Courier so that “Item Number,” “Correct Choice,” and “Your Errors” line up properly.  To use Courier, click on “special” in the menu on the top of the screen, click on “configuration” in the next menu, set screen AND print fonts to “Courier” in the lower portion of the next screen.

MAKE-UP EXAM:  A student having a legitimate excuse for missing any of the three scheduled tests will be provided with a single make-up opportunity near the end of the semester.  This make-up test will cover the material of all three exams.  It is your responsibility to obtain permission from your lecturer to take this exam and to respond to the in-class request to sign up for this exam; this will be made shortly after the third exam.

GRADING:  Your course grade will be completely determined by your on-line quiz scores, three mid-semester exam grades and your final exam grade.  These will be weighted as follows:

These minimum summary scores will be needed to receive the following letter grades:

A/ A-                88%     176 course points

B+/ B/ B-         77%     154 course points

C+/ C               66%     132 course points

D                     55%     110 course points

These grade cuts are absolute and immutable. If you are grieving because you came close to a grade cut, you will find it much more rewarding to complain to your friends and family than to your instructor. 76.98% is still a C.

CHEMISTRY RESOURCE ROOM:  The Department operates a Resource Room, 211 Whitmore Lab, which provides free help to Chemistry 112 students.  It will open early in the semester and its hours of operation will be announced in class. The Chem 112 TAs will be available in the Resource Room on a regular basis. You are strongly encouraged to make use of this service as soon as you discover any need for help.  Delay may put you too far behind to catch up.

LECTURE RECORDINGS: The audio part of the lectures will be taped as each is given. The recorded lectures will then be available for replay through Dial Access online. The recordings are not intended to be a substitute for the lectures, since they are incomplete (all visual aspects of the lecture, such as board work, demonstrations, slides, etc. will be missing). The purpose in recording the lecture is to provide a back-up, if you are forced to miss a lecture because of illness or some other emergency. You may occasionally also wish to review a lecture you have attended. If you find it necessary to listen to the recording of a lecture you missed, you will undoubtedly find it helpful to borrow class notes from someone else so that you can follow the nonverbal part of the presentation. If you want to listen to the lecture in one of the computer labs on campus, remember to bring along a headset. To listen to a lecture, go to http://tips.libraries.psu.edu/dialaccess. On the left-hand side of the screen, click on the appropriate course on the menu. Then, in the middle of the screen, click on the date of the lecture you wish to listen to. The recorded lecture will then play.

GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY:

Chem 113 is a 1-credit laboratory course that complements Chem 112. If you need the laboratory component (not all majors require it), we recommend that you take it concurrently with Chem 112. The first day of Chem 113 lab will begin with an introductory lecture. Signs will be posted on the first floor of Whitmore giving the location of the lecture. Please bring the following items with you on the first day: (1) Lab Manual, "Penn State Version of Chemtrek,"; (2) Chem 113 Packet (analogous to the Chem 112 Packet); (3) Lab Kit (this zip lock bag contains a variety of lab related items from pH paper to a blank lab notebook, it is sold only in the Penn State Bookstore); (4) Eye Protection (regular eyeglasses are not sufficient). If you took Chem 111 recently, then you only need to purchase the Chem 113 packet, and a new notebook. Get additional information by calling the Undergraduate Chemistry Office at 865-9391.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: All Penn State policies regarding ethics and honorable behavior apply to this course. Academic dishonesty, including any form of cheating, is regarded as a very serious offense and may result in a failing grade in the course.  In an examination or quiz setting, unless the instructor gives explicit prior instructions to the contrary, violations of academic integrity shall consist of any attempt to receive assistance from written or printed aids, from any person or papers or electronic devices, or of any attempt to give assistance, whether the student doing so has completed his or her own work or not. Other violations include, but are not limited to, any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in regard to an examination, such as tampering with a graded exam or claiming another's work to be one's own. Failure to comply will lead to sanctions against the student in accordance with the Policy on Academic Dishonesty in the Eberly College of Science. (http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/integrity/)

PLEASE NOTE: starting in Summer 2007, Chemistry courses will be renumbered.

The following information may be useful:

CHEM 13 will be CHEM 112
CHEM 15 will be CHEM 113
CHEM 38 and 39 will be CHEM 210 and 212
CHEM 36 (LAB) will be CHEM 213
CHEM 34 will be CHEM 202
CHEM 35 will be CHEM 203