CHEMISTRY 111 / F21
Sections 009/010

Dr. Andrew Pounds,

Office: Rm. 438, Godsey Science Center, (478) 301-5627

e-mail: pounds_aj@mercer.edu

Alt. Phone (SMS) : (478) 227-3444

Office Hours: by appointment via ZOOM

CHM 111 is the first course in a two-part sequence to introduce students to the foundational principles of Chemistry. Students in CHM 111 will be exposed to the fundamental laws of mass and energy conservation and their application to chemical systems and reactions. Students will also be introduced to various models of atomic and molecular structure and, within these contexts, shown how these models can be used to explain and predict elemental and molecular properties. Students in CHM 111 are expected to read at the college level and also set up and solve algebraic and trigonometric equations. For that reason, students taking the course must have sufficent math preparation to place them into MAT 191.

Learning outcomes: As part of the natural world block in the College of Liberal Arts general education program, CHM 111 guides students toward the following learning outcomes.

  1. Generate a hypothesis to explain natural phenomena
  2. Collect and organize experimental data in a format appropriate to a scientific field
  3. Analyze data through the use of quantitative and/or qualitative scientific reasoning
  4. Interpret a hypothesis in light of experimental evidence
  5. Accurately communicate scientific knowledge, observations, analyses, and/or conclusions
  6. Coherently integrate information from a variety of sources
  7. Support valid arguments with empirical, textual, theoretical, and/or direct evidence
  8. Identify strategies to formulate judgments, reach decisions, and/or solve problems
Class Meeting Times and Locations

Lecture: MWF 8:00–8:50 a.m., GSC 103

Lab: (Section 009) M 2:30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m., GSC Lab 204

(Section 010) M 2:30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m., GSC Lab 206

Course Materials

Chemistry, 5th ed., Burdge.

CHEM 101 online homework subscription

Laboratory Notebook (numbered, carbonless pages, available at bookstore)

Scientific Calculator (graphing with numerical solver preferred)

Laboratory Instructions (From WWW)

Approved Safety Glasses/Goggles

Course Structure

Portions from eleven chapters of the text will be covered during the semester in the order listed on the class schedule. The lecture time will be used to expound on and augment the text and also discuss problem solving strategies. Students are responsible for all material covered in class as well as the material from the textual sections listed in the class schedule. While homework from the book will not be collected, students are encouraged to complete as many problems as possible to gain competency with the material. The online homework assignments will be graded. Several unannounced in-class quizzes will be given during the semester. The best five grades from the quizzes will count toward the final grade. Four 70 minute exams will be given per the schedule and the best three exam grades will count toward the final grade. A three hour final exam will be administered at the end of the term.

Grading Course Grade Scale

Tests ( 4 @ 100 pts, weighted) 400 pts A 900 pts
Quizzes (best 5 @ 20 pts) 100 ptsB+880 pts
Sapling Online Homework 100 pts B 800 pts
Laboratory (10 @ 20 pts) 200 ptsC+780 pts
Final Exam 200 pts C 700 pts
___________ D 600 pts
Total Possible 1000 pts F <600 pts

The above course grading scale is assured, but may be slightly lowered based on class exam performance.

Students who are repeating CHM 111 after receiving a passing grade in the course may use their in totum lab grade, calculated as a percentage, from the prior course. The prior grade percentage will be scaled to the point total for the laboratory component in the present course. Students wishing to exercise this option must notify Dr. Pounds prior to the first laboratory period and contact the professor from the earlier attempt and have that professor e-mail the lab grade, as a percentage to one decimal point, to Dr. Pounds.

General Information

Honor Code: All students in CHM 111 are expected to adhere to the Mercer University Honor Code. Any suspected violations will be reported to the Honor Council for further investigation.

Attendance: Attendance will be taken for the first ten class periods. Even if a student is not in class, they are responsible for all material covered in class as well as any announcements made during the lecture period. Laboratory attendance is mandatory.

Missed Quizzes: No makeup quizzes will be given.

Missed Exams: Anyone missing an exam for any reason (personal illness, death in the immediate family, or other emergency) must notify Dr. Pounds in advance via e-mail, text message, phone, or voice message. The absence will be considered unexcused otherwise and no make-up opportunity will be offered. Make-up exams will be individually scheduled.

Weighted Exam Grades: The lowest test grade of the semester will be multiplied by 0.5 and the highest test grade of the semester will me multiplied by 1.5 in the final class average.

Partial Credit: Partial credit will not be awarded on any quiz, exam, prelab, or lab report unless individuals show their work and clearly delineate how they arrived at their answers.

Re-grading Policy: If a student suspects that an error was made in the grading of a submitted work, they may return the paper for re-grading with the understanding that the entire work will be re-graded and not only the portion in question.

Posting of Grades: To protect confidentiality, grades will not be posted. Students needing information about their grades should contact Dr. Pounds via e-mail.

E-mail Listserve: I maintain an e-mail listserve which I use use copiously to send information to the class and which you can use to communicate with each other. Student Mercer e-mail addresses are automatically subscribed to the listserve. To add other e-mails to the listserve and to learn how to send information to it, please go to: http://theochem.mercer.edu/mailman/listinfo/chm111.

Online Homework: Online homework assignments will be administered via the CHEM101 platform. You must purchase an access key. Begin the assignments early so that you have an opportunity to address any technology issues. Late work will not be accepted except in extreme circumstances. Homework is an individual assignment; it is an honor code violation to work in groups or ask others how to do problems. As a group, you can study problems from the text on the same topics; however, when you are actually doing the online homework, it should reflect your individual understanding.

Starfish: This course will use Mercer’s web-based success platform, Starfish. Throughout the term, you may receive Starfish emails containing feedback. These communications are sent to support your success at Mercer. You can access Starfish through your MyMercer portal.

Course Evaluations: In an ongoing effort to improve the quality of instruction, each student enrolled in this course is required to complete an end-of-semester course evaluation. Details about the evaluation process will provided at the end of the term.

University Compliance Statements

Accommodations and ADA/504: “Students in need of accommodation due to a disability should contact the Access and Accommodation Office to complete the verification process to become approved for services. In order to receive accommodations, each term, students will request accommodation and faculty notification forms through the Access Office online system Accommodate. Students are strongly encouraged to schedule a meeting with each professor in a timely manner to discuss arrangements. Accommodations are not retroactive in nature. Note - Disability accommodations or status are not reflected on academic transcripts. Students with a history of a disability, perceived as having a disability or with a current disability who do not wish to use academic accommodations are also strongly encouraged to complete the verification process with the Access Office. Students must request accommodations in a timely manner to receive accommodations in a timely manner.

The Access Coordinator for Macon Campus is

Katie Johnson, Director and ADA/504 Coordinator.
Phone: (478) 301-2778; email: johnson_kc@mercer.edu
Website:
https://access.mercer.edu

Please note the following additional information from the Access and Accommodation Office (AAO):

In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2009 (ADAAA), “otherwise qualified” students with disabilities are protected from discrimination and may be entitled to “reasonable accommodations” intended to ensure equal access to all courses, programs, and services without a change of curriculum. Examples of accommodations include but are not limited to: testing accommodations, providing alternative format textbooks and tests, note-taking support, and modifications of policies or procedures. Equal Access may require moving a class or event to a physically accessible room, making websites accessible to screen readers, providing sign language interpreters, and captioning videos. All students requesting to be recognized as a student with a disability or requiring accommodations must first self-identify by requesting accommodations with the designated Access Coordinator for their campus or program and complete the verification process.”

Mental Health and Wellness: “Mercer University faculty and staff recognize that mental health concerns can impact academic performance and interfere with daily life activities. Please notify your faculty member or academic advisor for academic assistance, as needed. The office of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) can also provide support if you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, lost, or are struggling with personal issues. Please call (478) 301-2862 or visit the CAPS website for more information. These services are free and confidential, and support non-traditional, graduate, and undergraduate students. The CAPS office on the Macon campus is located in Linden House (attached to the MEP Residence Hall).”

Electronic Submission of Materials: “Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that papers or assignments submitted electronically to a professor are received in a timely manner and in the electronic format(s) specified by the professor. Students are therefore obliged to have their e-mail client issue a receipt verifying that the document has been received. Students are also strongly advised to retain a copy of the dated submission on a separate disk. Faculty members are encouraged, but not required, to acknowledge receipt of the assignment.”

Cell Phones and Pagers: “Out of courtesy for all those participating in the learning experience, all cell phones and pagers must be turned off, or placed on vibrate, before entering any classroom, lab, or formal academic or performance event.”

FERPA and Assessment: The College of Liberal Arts is keenly interested in assuring the quality and integrity of its general education program. Every semester, randomly selected samples of student work from general education courses will be independently and objectively assessed. No personally identifiable information about any student will be used for the purposes of this assessment, and assessment results will have no bearing whatsoever on student grades.

FALL 2021 COVID-19 Policies:

Tentative Class Schedule1




Week Starting Chapter Sections Lecture and Problem Solving Topics






August 22nd 1.1 – 1.3 Classification of Matter
Measurement



August 29th 1.4 – 1.6, 2.1 – 2.5 Significant Figures
Unit Conversions
Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
Atomic Mass and the Periodic Table



September 5th 2.6 – 2.7, 3.1 – 3.5 LABOR DAY 9/6/21
Chemical Nomenclature
The Mole and Molar Mass
Stoichiometry of Compounds



September 12th3.6 –3.7 EXAM #1, 9/13/21
Stoichiometry of Reactions
Limiting Reactant



September 19th4.1 – 4.6 Stoichiometry in Solutions
Aqueous Solution Chemistry
Acids & Bases
Oxidation/Reduction and Charge Balance
Concentration



September 26th5.1 – 5.4 Intro to Thermodynamics
Enthalpy and Calorimetry



October 3rd 5.5 – 5.6 Hess’s Law and Standard Enthalpies
Enthalpies of Reaction
EXAM #2, 10/7/21
FALL BREAK 10/8-10/9



October 10th 10.1 – 10.5 Properties of Gases
Derivation of the Ideal Gas Law
Gas Mixtures and Stoichiometry



October 17th 10.6 – 10.7 Kinetic Theory of Gases
Real Gases, Intermolecular Forces
6.1 – 6.4 The Nature of Light
Light, Photons, and Quantum Theory
Bohr and the Old Quantum Theory



October 24th 6.5 – 6.8 Modern Quantum Theory and Wave-Particle Duality
EXAM #3, 10/27/21
Solutions to the Schrödinger Equation
Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configurations
Withdrawal Deadline, 10/29/21



October 31st 6.9 Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configurations
7.1 – 7.7 The Periodic Table, Ionization Energy and Electron Affinity
Periodic Trends and Properties



November 7th 8.1 – 8.5 Introduction to Bonding, Lewis Dot Diagrams
Electronegativity and Polarity



November 14th 8.6 – 8.9 Formal Charge
Exceptions to the Octet Rule
Bond Enthalpies



November 21th EXAM #4, 11/22/21
THANKSGIVING BREAK 11/24-11/26



November 28th 9.1 – 9.5 Molecular Geometry (VSEPR) and Polarity
Valence Bond Theory and Hybridization



December 5th 9.6 – 9.7 Molecular Orbital Theory and MO Diagrams
σ and π Molecular Orbitals
Bonding and Bond Order



December 12th FINAL EXAM, 12/14/21, 9 a.m.
(Tuesday)



1 I reserve the right to modify this schedule as situations warrant.

The Laboratory

Safety always comes first in lab. Developing good lab safety habits is important, even if the day’s lab activities are not particularly dangerous. You will not be allowed in lab if you are not prepared. That means being appropriately dressed, having your safety glasses and knowing what you are supposed to do during the lab. The lab schedule is found at the end of this document. A link to the lab instructions and report forms is found on the class web page.

The lab instruction PDF files SHOULD NOT be printed and brought to lab. No points will be awarded for printed laboratory procedures. Instead, read the manual and think about what you are going to do and why. Write down the procedure and any questions you have in your lab notebook before coming to lab. If you do not have your notebook with the hand written procedure in it, you will not be allowed in lab. The lab report forms available from the same web site should be printed and turned in along with the copy pages from your lab notebook. Data and observations MUST be written in your notebook, not on the lab report form. Due dates are listed on the class schedule. No credit is available for the lab report if you miss lab for any unexcused reason, including showing up unprepared, or if you are more than 10 minutes late. It is important to show up on time, since we will go over safety notes in the first few minutes. You will lose 1 pt for each safety violation in a lab period (ie. removal of safety glasses for any reason in the laboratory).

If you must miss a laboratory meeting for a Mercer University event, you need to see Dr. Pounds at least one week in advance to attempt to schedule an alternate laboratory meeting. Students will not be penalized for laboratories missed due to excused absence (as defined below) – up to a limit of three laboratory absences –and a complete laboratory report will still be required on the announced due date. A passing grade for CHM 111 will NOT be available to any student who misses more than three laboratory meetings (excused or otherwise).

Excused Absences (1) medical or mechanical emergencies with appropriate documentation presented to the professor as soon as possible (2) illnesses reported to the professor prior to the scheduled course meeting (documentation may be required); or (3) Mercer University events for which the appropriate office has provided an advance request to excuse participants.

Laboratory Grading:

There will be eight lab reports (20 pts each) over the course of the semester for a total of 200 pts. The laboratory component is thus worth 20% of your final grade for CHM 111.

Laboratory reports:

Complete laboratory reports will be turned in ONLINE on or before the time specified time in CANVAS. The laboratory reports will consist of the following items, order:

  1. Completed laboratory report form pages.
  2. Any graphs required to determine the final result of an experiment – please see the graphing protocol, below.
  3. Notebook pages and all laboratory notes for that experiment—should include protocol notes, data and observations recorded in the laboratory, and all pen-on-paper numerical work required to determine the final result; make sure that every page in your lab notes is accurately dated and contains both your name and your partners name.
  4. It is acceptable to use computer software (including Microsoft Excel, MathCAD, Mathematica, etc.) to perform any calculations required to determine the final result. If you do use such software, simply include a printout as the last (bottom) item in your report.
  5. In general the report forms and graphs will go into one CANVAS dropbox for grading and the notebook pages will go in another dropbox.

Graphing protocol:

All required lab report graphs must be computer-drawn, usually with Microsoft Excel, although other software options are permissible if pre-approved the instructor. CHM 111 students are allowed to sketch graphs (and anything else related to an experiment) in their lab notes, but the lab report that’s turned in should include a computer-drawn graph if graphing was required. All data points should be shown on graphs, and the axes should be correctly labeled with both a measurement descriptive word (like “length”) and the corresponding units (like “cm”) inserted in the graphing software. Don’t include any hand-written work on your submitted graph unless specifically instructed to do so for a particular report.

Instructions for Writing in Your Lab Notebook:

Part of learning science includes practicing appropriate scientific methods. That process includes documenting your work. Here are a few instructions for using your laboratory notebook properly:

  1. Every page should be dated; that’s the first thing you should write when you turn to a new page; put the date in the box provided in the upper corner of the page
  2. Every entry in the lab notebook should have a clear, descriptive heading; examples include:
    Instructions for Calorimetry Lab
    Data from Titrations Lab
    Calculations for Nickel Lab
  3. Write under each heading in active voice in the first person, describing exactly what you plan to do, exactly what you did or exactly what you measured
  4. Write in complete, grammatically correct sentences; lists, numbered protocols, and clearly labeled tables can also be appropriate in certain circumstances
  5. Write in the notebook only with black ball-point pens [Chemistry students: get a supply of black ball-point pens, not just one]
  6. Ideas and other notes about our lab work, including notes on preparing the lab report, should be entered in the lab notebook immediately after observations and other data recorded in the lab; this is part of what is called “thinking in the lab notebook”
  7. Make drawings, especially of novel or unusual apparatus, big enough to draw lines/arrows in order to label the features illustrated
  8. Construct tables with clearly labeled headings - including units - under which to record series of numerical data in the lab
  9. Corrections to lab notes should be made on the originals with the copy page underneath. (Hint: You can put a torn-out copy page back under an original page and press firmly to record a correction on the copy page.) Don’t ever write (at all) directly on the copy pages.

Laboratory Policies:

Report Due Dates and Turn-in Policy: Labs are due prior to the time speficied in the lab schedule. Lab report items will be submitted as PDF documents to a CANVAS dropbox. If you use your phone to make these documents please ensure that everything is readable.

University Compliance Statements

Chemical Sensitivity Statement: This course includes the handling of chemicals, and the reasonable accommodation policy also applies to any chemical sensitivity, allergy, or other physical or medical condition that might limit a student’s ability to participate in the required course activities. In these cases, the instructor may require a physician’s documentation of the student’s condition before arranging accommodation. If the instructor determines that the student’s condition cannot be reasonably accommodated, then the student will be asked to select an alternative course.
Physical Limitations Statement: This course includes significant physical activity, and the reasonable accommodation policy also applies to any physical or medical condition that might limit a student’s ability to participate in the required course activities. In these cases, the instructor may require a physician’s documentation of the student’s condition before arranging accommodation. If the instructor determines that the student’s condition cannot be reasonably accommodated, then the student will be asked to select an alternative course.
Safety Statement: This course includes activities for which there are certain risks as well as established safety procedures to minimize these risks. The instructor will explain both the risks and the prescribed safety measures. Students enrolled in this course are required to document in writing their awareness of the reasonable risks inherent in the course activities and their agreement to follow the safety procedures specified by the instructor. If a student cannot meet these terms, then the student will be asked to select an alternative course.

Laboratory Schedule





Lab Day Experiment




August 23nd NO LAB


August 30th Check In
Density of Water and an Unknown Metal1


September 6th NO LAB


September 13th Alum Synthesis


September 20th Standardization of 0.13 M NaOH


September 27th Analysis of KHP


October 4rd NO LAB - FALL BREAK


October 11th Thermochemistry


October 18th Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid


October 25th Atomic Spectra


November 1st NO LAB


November 8th NO LAB


November 15th Spectroscopic Determination of Ni2+, Check-Out


November 22nd NO LAB - THANKSGIVING


November 29th Molecular Models


December 6th NO LAB




1 The first laboratory will be completed as TWO separate reports, one for the density of water and one for the density of an unknown metal. These will be referred to as LAB 1A and LAB 1B respectively.

Tips for Succeeding in Chemistry 111

There is unquestionably a lot of material to be covered in Chemistry 111. For that reason it is imperative to keep up with the class. The last thing you want to worry about is covering two chapters of new material the night before the test. You are expected to keep up with the class reading and problems. The unannounced quizzes are an added incentive for you to do this.

Problems will be provided on a regular basis that are representative of some of the problems you will see on the exams and quizzes. Your textbook also has numerous examples and end of chapter problems designed to help you master the material. To become proficient you will need practice. In short, work as many problems as you can before the quizzes and tests. Solutions to problems given by Dr. Pounds will be posted on the class website (http://theochem.mercer.edu/chm111), or worked in class. Solutions to all of the book problems are available from your SI instructor or Dr. Pounds.

For more help in the course you should utilize the SI sessions for your class. This resource is here for you to use and, although it can not guarantee a higher grade in the course, they will most likely increase your understanding of chemistry and thereby positively affect your performance in the class.

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