Chemistry 101 – General Chemistry:
Practical Principles
Spring, 2010
Meets: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8:30 – 9:20 AM in Steinman 101.
Text: There is one required text for the lecture component of this course:
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M. E. Johll, Investigating Chemistry: A Forensic Perspective, Second Edition, (W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 2009), ISBN-13: 978-14292-0989-2.
There is additional material that you will need to obtain for the lab component,
however:
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D. Collins, Investigating Chemistry in the Laboratory, Second Edition,
(W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 2009), ISBN-13: 978-1-42922243-3.
a laboratory notebook, 60 leaves, quad ruled
safety glasses or goggles
These items will be discussed in greater detail in your lab sections.
Instructor: Gary G. Hoffman, Musser 100A, 361-1241, hoffmang@etown.edu.
Web Page: http://users.etown.edu/h/hoffmang
Office Hours: I am available much of the time during the week, but I will make a point
of being in my office on Wednesdays and Fridays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM. If this is inconvenient for you, we can make an appointment for a different time.
Exams: There will be four in-class exams during the semester. They are planned for
1.
2.
3.
4.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Quizzes: Brief quizzes will be given during class periods throughout the semester. They
are intended to gauge how well you are keeping up with the material. They will
not necessarily be announced in advance.
Final exam: Monday, May 10, 2010 at 7:30 – 10:30 AM. This will be a comprehensive
exam.
Grading: Towards the final grade, each in-class exam will contribute 100 points and the
final exam will contribute 200 points. This will be combined with a 200 point
contribution for the laboratory component and a 100 point contribution from the
quizzes to arrive at the total score. Letter equivalents to the final percentage score
are as follows:
Ch 101 – General Chemistry
93-100%
90-92%
87-89%
83-86%
=A
= A
= B+
=B
-2-
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
= B
= C+
=C
= C
Spring, 2010
67-69%
63-66%
60-62%
0-59%
= D+
=D
= D
=F
Prerequisites: High school algebra.
Structure of the course: Ch 101 is a one-semester survey of chemistry intended primarily for non-science majors. The main objective is to raise the students’
awareness of the chemistry around them and to allow them to appreciate its importance and purpose.
Chemistry is everywhere; there is no escaping it. The air around us, the water in
our lakes, the ground beneath our feet all consist of chemicals. Our clothes, computers, food, books, and just about everything you can see are all composed of
chemicals. Our bodies consist of a vast array of chemical substances carrying out
a wide variety of chemical reactions. In essence, just about everything around us
involves chemistry. Try to think of something around you that does not. Chemistry is also a common topic in the news: DNA sequencing, proteins, pharmaceuticals, polymeric materials, analysis of forensic evidence, and the design of a safe
fuel cell all involve chemicals and the reactions they undergo. To properly digest
such news stories requires a proper understanding of the subject of chemistry.
This course is meant to provide that understanding.
Chemistry is a branch of science and one of the first goals of this course is to introduce the student to what is called the “scientific method”. This is an approach
taken by scientists to understand the world about them. The scientist will observe
phenomena in the universe, ask questions about those observations and try to answer them, and then use these answers as a springboard to probe the universe
more deeply, by either making predictions based on their knowledge or by asking
and answering further questions. Since so much of our everyday lives is intimately tied to scientific discoveries, it is important to understand how these discoveries come about.
This course takes a novel approach to presenting the subject. It is based on the
application of chemistry to forensics. The textbook is written so that the principles of chemistry are presented as a basis for analyzing specific forensic cases.
Each chapter presents a different case to be analyzed, and the necessary chemical
principals are developed so that it can be “solved”. Chemistry is a practical subject and this course is intended to directly illustrate that practicality. Not only
that, it is hoped that by presenting the material in this way, you may find that the
application of chemistry can actually be fun.
A rough outline of the course material is given below. Essentially, the textbook
will be followed in the order in which it was written.
Ch 101 – General Chemistry
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Spring, 2010
Rough Outline
Chapter 1: Introduction to Forensic Chemistry
Chemical Principles: Forms of matter, periodic table
Chapter 2: Evidence Collection and Preservation
Chemical Principles: Chemical and physical changes, units, physical properties
Chapter 3: Atomic Clues
Chemical Principles: Atomic theory, atomic structure, electronic structure
**************
EXAM # 1
***************
Chapter 4: Chemical Evidence
Chemical Principles: Types of compounds, nomenclature, chemical reactions
Chapter 5: Chemistry of Bonding: Structure and Function of Drug Molecules
Chemical Principles: Covalent and ionic bonding, molecular structure
Chapter 6: Properties of Solutions I: Aqueous Solutions
Chemical Principles: Aqueous solutions, solubility rules, concentration, acids and
bases
**************
EXAM # 2
***************
Chapter 7: Properties of Solutions II: Intermolecular Forces and Colligative Properties
Chemical Principles: Intermolecular forces, colligative properties
Chapter 8: Drug Chemistry
Chemical Principles: Organic compounds
**************
EXAM # 3
***************
Chapter 9: Arson Investigation
Chemical Principles: Combustion reactions, redox reactions, thermochemistry,
calorimetry, first law of thermodynamics
Chapter 10: Chemistry of Explosions
Chemical Principles: Explosive reactions, kinetic-molecular theory of gases, gas
laws
Chapter 11: Estimating the Time of Death
Chemical Principles: Chemical kinetics
**************
EXAM # 4
***************
Chapter 12: The Nuclear Age: Energy, Medicine, Weapons, and Terrorism
Chemical Principles: Radioactivity, nuclear reactions
Chapter 13: Poisons
Chemical Principles: Equilibrium
Chapter 14: Identification of Victims: DNA Analysis
Chemical Principles: Large organic molecules, polymers, DNA
************** FINAL EXAM ***************
Ch 101 – General Chemistry
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Spring, 2010
I will not give explicit reading assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up
with the material and read for the upcoming class. Typically, about 10 pages per
class should be sufficient. When I begin a chapter, I will give a set of suggested
end-of-chapter problems. These are for your benefit. I will not collect them or
grade them. However, if you ignore them, you probably won’t be prepared for
the exams.
I expect all students to be familiar with the College’s policy on academic integrity
and to agree “to be honest and to uphold integrity” with respect to all submitted
work in this course.
If you have a documented disability and need reasonable accommodations to fully
participate in course activities or meet course requirements, you must:
(1) contact the Director of Disability Services, Dr. Kristin Sagun, in the Center
for Student Success, BSC room 228 by calling 361-1227, AND
(2) meet with me, the instructor, within two weeks of receiving a copy of the accommodation letter from Disability Services to discuss your accommodation
needs and their implementation.
Student Learning Outcomes
My main objective in this course is to achieve literacy among the students in the
area of chemistry. I would like you to be able to see the chemistry around you
and understand it. After taking this course, a student should be able to:

understand a news article that involves chemistry to the point of mentioning and describing the chemical principles involved in the story,

describe the scientific process and how it applies to data presented in a
news article,

critically evaluate the data presented,

describe how chemistry is present in the world around them.
Ch 101 – General Chemistry
-5-
Spring, 2010
Laboratory Component
The laboratory schedule is planned as follows. At the first meeting on Monday,
Jan. 25, 2010, you will check in and get assigned a locker with equipment. This equipment is to be returned at the end of the semester during the last lab meeting on May 3. At
the first meeting, we will also go over some introductory material for the course. The
first laboratory exercise will take place on Feb. 1. The numbers refer to the laboratory
exercises in the laboratory text: D. Collins, Investigating Chemistry in the Laboratory,
Second Edition, (W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 2009). You are expected to
have read the laboratory write-up before coming to lab. If it is clear that you have not,
you will be barred from the lab and will need to arrange a time to make it up.
Class
Jan. 25
Exp.
---
Title
Check-in; introductory material
Feb. 1
1
Measurements
Feb. 8
3
Polymer Identification I
Feb. 15
5
Soil Examination
Feb. 22
7
Polymer Identification II
Mar. 1
8
Urine and Blood Analysis
Mar. 8
---
SPRING BREAK – no laboratory meeting
Mar. 15
9
Blood Alcohol Concentration
Mar. 22
10
Arson and Accelerants
Mar. 29
11
Explosives
Apr. 1
---
No laboratory meeting
Apr. 12
16
Glass
Apr. 19
18
UV-vis Analysis of Food Dyes
Apr. 26
20
Introduction to Chemical Instrumentation
May 3
---
Check-out
Reminder: The penalty for any incomplete laboratory work remaining after 3:00
p.m. on Friday, May 7, 2010, is failure of the course.
Ch 101 – General Chemistry
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Spring, 2010
Laboratory Rules, Conduct, & Procedures
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You must wear approved protective eyewear while in the lab. If glasses are worn,
they MUST have side shields.
Students must be suitably attired for lab. No shorts or skirts. Closed shoes are
required (no sandals etc.) Long hair must be tied back.
No smoking, eating or chewing gum while in the lab
Unless a designated location has been assigned in a given laboratory (such as instructor’s desk), there should be no drinks in a lab.
Benches and floor should be absent of any extraneous items such as backpacks
and coats. These should be placed in designated areas away from benches where
experimentation will take place.
Know the location of safety shower and eyewash. If a chemical splashes into
your eye, flush contaminated eye in the eye wash for 15 minutes. If it is still irritated, go to Health Center.
In the event of an accident, inform the instructor immediately. If someone in the
lab cuts themselves, avoid touching their blood due to blood-borne pathogens.
Alert the instructor and she/he will administer the proper first aid.
Give your undivided attention when instructor is giving instructions. No unauthorized experimentation should ever take place.
Students are expected to maintain their bench space in a neat and organized fashion.
Highly odiferous or caustic materials should be placed in the fume hoods.
Execute proper pouring of reagents: pouring hand should be placed over the label
and the contents poured over the opposite lip of the bottle. If container and cap
are small enough, students should hold the container cap in their pouring hand to
pour out chemicals. Otherwise, cap should be placed on the bench with the inside
of the cap facing up. This prevents contamination of the cap.
In the event of a chemical spill, inform the instructor and he/she will take care of
it properly.
Properly label all containers, even those bearing water.
Know the location of designated waste containers and make sure these are properly used. For aqueous waste, make sure solutions have been neutralized before
they are poured down the sink with excess water.
Broken glass may NOT go in the garbage cans. Place broken glass in designated
waste containers.
Use appropriate tongs or asbestos gloves to handle hot glassware.
Properly clean up at the end of each laboratory sessions including washing glassware and wiping down your bench. Wash your hands with soap and water before
exiting the lab.