Chemistry 1405 –Introduction to Chemistry
Katy Campus, CRN 56003, Fall 2011
Instructor: Dr. Ying Wang Phone: 713-718-5857
Email: ying.wang1@hccs.edu
Time: Tuesday 8:00-11:00, Thursday 8:00-11:00
Room: Lecture Tuesday: room 360B, Lab Thursday: room 310,
Prerequisite: one year of high school chemistry and MATH 1314
Credit: 4 (3 lecture, 3 lab)
Course Description: A general introduction to the properties of matter. Topics include atomic
structure, energy, chemical bonding, reactions, gas laws and elementary thermodynamics. This is
a preparatory course to CHEM 1411 for science majors who have no prior knowledge of
chemistry.
Text book: An Introduction to General Chemistry, by Ira Blei and George Odian, 2nd edition
(required)
Lab-book: The laboratory includes appropriate experiments. Handouts will be given.
Class Policies:
1. If a student needs to drop the course, it is the responsibility of the student to follow the correct
procedure and deadline(s) to officially drop or withdraw from the course (details are
available in the HCCS schedule handbook). A student will receive an “F” in the course if
fails to officially drop or withdraw from the course. A ‘W’ cannot be awarded after the
official drop or withdrawal date.
2. Students are expected to attend classes regularly. A student may be withdrawn if the
absences exceed 12.5% of the hours of instruction (including lecture and laboratory time).
The course cannot be completed if the absences exceed more than 2 weeks in a11-week of
instructional period.
3. Students should work independently on all the assignments and exams delivered in the class
(unless instructed to work in-groups). In case of scholastic dishonesty (any type of cheating,
copying, stealing, bribing another person to obtain a test that is to be administered etc.), no
credit will be given for the particular assignment and the student may receive an "F" in the
course.
4. Free tutoring is available to students for all the chemistry courses. Details can be obtained
from the chemistry department.
5. Students with Disabilities: “Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning,
psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations and/or
modifications must contact the Disability Service Office (713-718-5422) at the beginning of
each semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only accommodations and /or
modification requested by the Disability Support Services Office.”
6. Student Discipline: Adult and responsible behavior is expected. Disruptive behavior/activities
which interfere with teaching and/or learning will not be tolerated and may result in dismissal
from class and administrative withdrawal without refund.
7. Electronics in the Classroom: In HCC-NW the default policy is that devices are to be turned
off completely (see signs in the classroom). All cell phones and other electronic devices must
be turned off unless I specifically approve of them. Note that ‘off” does not mean on vibrate
or mute.
Lab Details
1. No make-up labs are allowed. Students must watch safety video during the first lab of class.
Students who missed the Videotape: Starting with Safety reserved in the library must take the
written Safety exam to meet the requirement Safety goggle must be worn at all times in the lab
2. For any unpredictable or uncontrollable absence due to illness, you must bring physician’s
note to avoid point deduction of your lab. Please be aware that both working overtime including
business trip and personal leisure travel do not qualify you of avoiding point deduction of lab nor
having an excuse to have a make-up lab and test.
3. The lab work is 18% of the overall grade. The lab reports need to be submitted to the
instructor for grading. (One lowest grade will be dropped.)
3.1 Complete lab report has 3 parts: (18 pts)
 Pre-lab report: Write the title, the purpose and simple procedure for the experiments to be
performed on that day and answer any assigned lab questions if any. It needs to be completed
before starting the labs. (3 pts)
 In-lab: Your attendance and performance will be monitored. In lab section, there will be point
deduction for tardiness (15 min. or longer), early departure without finishing the lab or
instructor’s approval, and not cleaning up the lab benches and hoods, dumping chemicals in
sinks/trash cans), and safety violations as well as excessive chemical usage. In addition, eating,
drinking and horse playing are not allowed in the lab. (7 pts)
 Post-lab report: Write all the observations, data sheet, calculations, results, and discussion.
This includes answering assigned lab questions, if any. (8pts)
Lab report (PRE-LAB AND POST-LAB REPORT) is due either same day of the lab completion or the
following lab period.
4. Students will work in lab individually or in-groups. Each student has to submit an individual
lab report on assigned due date. Late assignments may not be accepted and a grade of zero may
be awarded for the experiment.
5. There is no formal lab exam. Lab grades will be assigned on punctuality, attendance, work
ethics, completion of the experiment, and the lab report.
6. All students working in chemistry labs should be aware of the inherent dangers, which exist
even though the instructor has taken utmost precautions. It is therefore important for each
student to behave responsibly and report any irresponsible behavior to the instructor. Students
guilty of irresponsible behavior will receive an ‘F’ in class.
7. Only experiments that are assigned by the instructor are to be performed. All other
experiments are prohibited.
8. Any accident in lab, no matter how slight, must be reported to the instructor immediately.
Exams
There will be total of 4 exams. For any missed test, no make-up test will be given. Out of 4
inter-session tests, lowest grade will be dropped.
Homework: It is very important to do the homework, which counts 2% of your overall grade.
Although they will not be graded, you must turn in your homework to get credit. The home work
is due one week after it was assigned. The answers to homework will be posted one week later.
Make-up Policy: No make-up allowed for any test, any lab and the final.
Grading Policy:
Three out of four tests: 75%; Lab: 18% (drop one lowest score); Homework: 2%;
5% quiz;
90-----100 A; 80-----89 B; 70-----79 C; 60-----69 D; Below 60 F
Incomplete Grade (I):
An incomplete grade can be awarded under extraordinary circumstances, only when 90% of the
course has been completed. For example, at the end of the semester, if you miss one exam, one
lab or the final exam due to sudden illness, family emergency, catastrophic accident etc., you can
request for incomplete grade with proper documentation.
The student must sign a written contract prior to the ‘I’ is given. Without paperwork no
Incomplete will be given. If the missing work is not completed with in the specified time, a
grade of ‘F’ will be awarded. An Incomplete grade does not allow a student to retake the entire
course to improve their grades.
Course Calendar and Content:
Date
Week 1:
08/30/11
09/01/11
Week 2:
09/06/2011
09/08/2011
Week 3:
09/13/2011
09/15/2011
Week 4:
09/20/2011
09/22/2011
Week 5:
09/27/2011
09/29/2011
Week 6:
10/04/2011
10/06/2011
Week 7:
10/11/2011
10/13/2011
Week 8:
10/18/2011
10/20/2011
Week 9:
10/25/2011
10/27/2011
Week 10:
11/01/2011
11/03/2011
Week 11:
11/08/2011
11/10/2011
(11/03/2011
Topics to be covered
Introduction to syllabus, Chap 1
Chap1, Safety training
Chap2
Exp2
Practice of chap1-2, chap3
Exp3
Q&A, Test1 (Chap1-2)
review test, Exp4
Chap 3
Exp5
Chap 4
Exp6
Practice of chap 3-4, Chap5
Chap5
Test2 (Chap 3-4)
Review test, Exp7
chap6
Exp8
Practice of chap5-6
Exp9
Test3 (Chap 5-6)
review test, Exp10
Last Day for Administrative/ Student Withdrawals- 4:30pm)
Week 12:
11/15/2011 chap7
11/17/2011
Exp11, 12
Week 13:
11/22/2011 chap7, chap8
11/24/2011 No class
Week 14:
11/29/2011 Chap8, Chap9
12/01/2011 Exp13
Week 15:
12/06/2011 Chap9
12/08/2011 Practice of chap7-9, Quiz
Week 16:
12/15/2011(Thursday)
Final Exam Test4 (Chap 7-9)
*This tentative schedule is subjected to change.
Exp1:Safety training
Exp2: Mass measurement and volume measurement
Exp3: Hot packs and cold packs
Exp4: Density lab
Exp5: Separation of the mixture
Exp6: Identification of substances by physical properties
Exp7: Molar mass of gas molecules
Exp8: Intermolecular force lab
Exp9: empirical formula of hydrate crystals
Exp10: Solubility of polar and nonpolar compounds
Exp11: Law of conservation of mass
Exp12: Reactions in aqueous solution, Single and double replacement reactions
Exp13: Acid-Base titration