USC Aiken Fall 2017 LECTURE MWF
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEM A541
Dr. M. Fetterolf SBDG 300
NOON – 12:50PM SBDG 325
OFFICE HOURS M W Th F 10:00 – 11:00AM T 3:00 – 4:00PM All other times are subject to my availability. Please see my posted schedule on my office door. I know in PChem it is important to have your questions answered as they arise. I usually have time to help unless I am preparing for a class, lab or meeting. I will also be available at home by phone (not too early or late) or email. Please contact me with your PChem questions or if you will be missing a lecture or lab. REQUIRED MATERIALS Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Structure, and Change, 10th Edition; Atkins & de Paula, Freeman, 2014. Strongly Suggested: Student solutions manual to accompany the textbook. Survival Guide for Physical Chemistry, Michelle Francl; Physics Curriculum & Instruction, 2001. Routine access to Blackboard, your campus email, and a scientific calculator. HOMEWORK PROBLEM SETS Suggested homework exercises and problems, to practice and apply skills, will be distributed for each exam period. These problem sets are suggested for practice in preparing for the upcoming exam and the key will be posted on BlackBoard as we get close to the scheduled date for that section’s exam. The Student Solutions Manual that accompanies the textbook contains worked out solutions to half of the problems located at the end of each chapter in the text. The purchase of this manual is strongly suggested. The examples throughout the text will provide a guide for problem solving as will the assigned suggested problems. Problem solving is an individual process which each of you should be developing. The end result is not nearly as important as the thinking that you did to try and solve the problem at hand. Your thinking process can be refined, practiced, modified, and corrected so that your skills improve. That should be your goal. Do you need to puzzle over a sketch to get your creativity started? Perhaps you need to read and re-read the questions multiple times or maybe write down all relevant equations. Whatever it is, you should be coming up with your own approach. The problems you will be asked to attack have examples and similarities to other questions and so an example guide can often be found. We will have problem-solving sessions following every lab for those who want to and can stay. The text by Francl is an excellent review of the mathematics required for all aspects of chemistry, not just this course. There are also study tips and suggestions for being successful in a physical chemistry course. Please become familiar with this book and use it as needed. I will present several applications of multivariable calculus from this book in lab. COMPUTER USAGE Some homework problems are perfect for solving using software programs that help explore aspects of physical chemistry. Programs such as EXCEL, Maple, Mathcad, and Mathematica should become a routine part of your work in both lecture and lab. I encourage you
to use software programs as an integral part of homework, lab, and for all chemistry and physics calculations in any of your classes. Please develop a habit of working with software. You may want to purchase a physical science application textbook for your software of choice such as MathCAD for Physical Chemistry, Chemistry on EXCEL, or MathCAD: A Tool for Engineering Problem Solving. Computers can accomplish extensive calculations very quickly using software like those mentioned above and the input looks like a textbook example. QUIZZES Every week, except for exam weeks, there will be a brief take-home quiz distributed on Thursday during lab. It will be due the next day, Friday, at the beginning of lecture. These quizzes will be examples from the text, open-ended questions based on text reading, or fundamental calculation questions and will hopefully motivate everyone to keep up. EXAMS I am planning four midterm exams this semester. These exams will include questions similar to the suggested homework problems/exercises, text examples, and quizzes. I will supply the data tables and figures needed for each exam. There will also be brief discussion questions that cover the assigned reading. Exams are scheduled during a lab period and take place in the lab room, SCI 316. The exam length will be roughly two and half hours although you can take as much time as you’d like. Please see the lab syllabus for the exact schedule. The final exam will be given at the scheduled time of Monday, December 11, 2017 at 11:00AM in our regular class room, SBDG 325. The Final Exam will contain comprehensive material. One 3”x 5” notecard containing any equations or information you would like may be brought with you to use during each exam and the Final. However the cards cannot contain text passages, examples, or problem solutions. I will check each card prior to the exam and collect them with the exam. Answer keys will be available on Blackboard as soon as the exam is over. LECTURE TOPICS I plan to cover most of the material in Chapters 1 – 6 in order and conclude with portions of Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 20. These chapters contain specific information and details that time will not allow me to address fully. Since the text is readable and straightforward (kind of), lectures will enhance understanding of the material we cover, not simply follow what is stated in the text. These chapters deal with the topic of equilibrium thermodynamics, an extensive and involved subject, and the last chapters introduce the important topics of materials and of chemical kinetics. Therefore it is very important that you read the text for understanding and stay ahead of my lectures. For planning purposes, I am targeting an average of 15 pages of text material per lecture. Based on my experience, this lecture schedule is entirely possible but will require commitment on our part to keep up. You must read the text. Extra information and lecture notes that are meant to enhance the course will be distributed on BlackBoard or in class. You must be, and I expect you to be, an active participant in PChem. This class attempts to provide the physical basis for all chemical phenomena and observations, and as such, becomes a foundational course. As chemistry majors, I expect you to have an active interest in the subjects of this course and a curiosity that leads to questions and a desire to obtain understanding. Physical chemistry in general has a reputation of being a very difficult and incomprehensible subject for the beginner. I feel that this reputation is due in part to the usual teaching approach which is to cover as many topics as possible in as much detail as possible from the instructor’s perspective, without regard to how many students are staying with the material. This is not my approach. I try to provide enough in-depth coverage of essential topics so that you can build from them later in your careers as the need arises. At the completion of the entire CHEM 541/542 series, the nationally normalized American Chemical Society PChem exam will be administered (this is also the only exam where a note card is not allowed). Good students in the past have done above the
national average on that exam so this approach seems to work as well as others. But you must do your work if the class is to be successful. In a small class, your participation and activity do influence the other students. GRADES An "A" student in this class is expected to consistently perform well in all test areas, homework and exams. The average student will be able to perform basic physical chemistry calculations and make basic chemical judgments based on their experience and familiarity with the text, lectures, and problems. Past students who have received an "A" have been interested in all of the subject areas, dedicated enough to ask questions, probed the text for more information than is discussed directly in lecture, and attempted to understand physical chemistry. This personal goal of these students drove them to excellent performance in the course. As juniors in college you should realize by now that one of your major goals in any course, and certainly this course, is to understand the material and not merely to perform tasks. Most students cannot understand a subject such as PChem quickly. Sometimes maintaining a high level of dedication to the course is the only goal a student can accomplish quickly. But understanding must be your goal and if it is, then good grades follow. You will feel more satisfied about your efforts because they were aimed at the proper target and therefore feel better about your classroom efforts in general. That dedication is required in PChem. The subject is too extensive and complex to not require dedication. Understanding a subject requires reading and rereading your textbook and notes, looking at and doing examples and exercises in the text that aren't part of the assignments so that you can gain confidence, and integrating your thoughts about lab into lecture and vice versa. Thinking about, integrating, and applying your acquired knowledge is key. The point breakdown for each performance area is given below. The course grade will be based on the percentage of total points received. My usual guideline is: above 85% an “A”, 72% 85% a “B”, 60% - 72% a “C”, etc. POINT DISTRIBUTION Take-Home Quizzes (10 @ 5pts) Midterm Exams (4 @ 100 pts) Final Exam Total
50 pts (8.7%) 400 pts (69.6%) 125 pts (21.7%) _________ 575 pts
TENTATIVE EXAM SCHEDULE For purposes of a schedule, we will have a midterm exam every two or three chapters. Tentatively, Exam I will be 9/21, Exam II will be 10/12, Exam III will be 11/9, Exam IV will be 12/7, and the Final Exam will be on 12/11. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES In total, your responsibilities are 1) the assigned homework problems and suggested problems completed on time, 2) the text material, 3) the lecture material, and 4) any other suggested exercises and problems assigned for review. If understanding is your goal, then all of your questions must be answered ahead of time and you must keep delving into the subject. Anything short of that will show up as a lack of confidence, which will translate into lower grades. Lectures will begin promptly and you are responsible for the material covered in lecture. This text is fairly rigorous but many formula derivations may still appear in class. Many data interpretation ideas covered in lecture are not presented in this or any text. Physical chemistry is a very demanding topic and will require a consistent effort on your part to get the most out of each
lecture. Should you need help with problem-solving skills, basic chemistry, etc. please see me at office hours, by appointment, or by availability. HAVE A GOOD SEMESTER!!!!!! NOTE: Any student who has a physical, psychological, and/or learning disability that might affect performance in class needs to contact the Office of Disability Services (126A B&E, 803/641-3609) on campus as soon as possible. That office will determine appropriate accommodations based on medical documentation. Thanks. Contacts Office Phone: 803/641-3378 Cell Phone: 803/640-5679 After 7AM and before 10PM
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