CHEMISTRY 111 LABORATORY
Dr. Stuart Gentry
gentry@lasalle.edu
215-951-1259
Holroyd 329
Office Hours: MWF 1 – 2pm, or drop-in as available
Course materials and quizzes: Available on Canvas
Credit: 4 credit hours (lecture + lab combined)
INTRODUCTION
This laboratory course is designed to complement and supplement your lecture course.
Students will work in pairs. Your laboratory grade will constitute 25% of your final
course grade.
Students must separately pass both the lecture and lab portion to pass the combined course.
SAFETY
Safety is critical. Therefore safety glasses must be worn at all times. This includes sitting at
the lab bench after completing the lab if other groups nearby are still working with
chemicals. Failure to do so will result in your immediate expulsion from the laboratory
and a grade of zero will be recorded as a lab grade for that experiment.
TEXT
Chemistry 111 Laboratory Manual
(obtained from Chemistry Storeroom, Holroyd Rm 324)
GRADING
Your laboratory grade will be based on the following criteria:
Lab Reports
(80%)
Lab Quizzes
(10%)
Lab Notebook / Technique / Safety (10%)
MISSED LABS
There will be no make-up of missed labs beyond one week after the lab was to be done.
If you must make up a lab, you must contact Dr. Gentry to find a time within that week to
make it up. This is only by special approval, and does not include labs missed because of
studying for other classes or other non-emergency or non-illness reasons.
LAB REPORTS
Lab reports are due the following class period. 20% will be taken off the grade if turned in 1
week late. An additional 20% will be taken off if turned in 2 weeks late. Reports will
not be accepted more than 3 weeks after the due date. Students will not receive
credit for laboratory reports that have not been submitted by this time.
Students will work in pairs BUT EACH STUDENT WILL SUBMIT AN INDEPENDENT
REPORT. (Students who submit identical lab reports are guilty of plagiarism and the
grade will be reduced accordingly. See below)
PLAGIARISM
To repeat what is written above, the lab report needs to be prepared individually. You are
allowed to share raw data and you can talk about how to analyze the results or what they
mean. But what goes in the written lab report in the way of calculations, answers to
questions, and discussion must be IN THE WORDS OF THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT.
Any deviation from this is considered plagiarism and will be dealt with accordingly. This is
true for both copee and copier, since it is not possible to know who wrote the initial
report and who copied from it.
Please refer to the university Academic Integrity policy for further information as well as the
Student Guide to Rights and Responsibilities..
LAB QUIZZES
It is of utmost importance that you be prepared when entering the laboratory for both your
safety and the safety of those around you. In order to test your readiness for the upcoming
experiment, a 10-question pre-lab quiz will be assigned. The quiz can be accessed
through the course Blackboard page.
The quiz must be completed before you come to lab. You will not be allowed to submit the
quiz late since that circumvents the purpose of having you take the quiz.
LAB NOTEBOOK
This book should be a bound composition book or a spiral-bound notebook. (No 3-ring
binders) ALL observations, calculations, in-lab discussions are to be included in this
book. This book must be kept by each student AND initialed by your lab instructor at the
end of the lab. Draw a line through any incorrect entries and place the correct entries
next to them.
The intent of a lab notebook is that is a real-time documentation of observations and results
during the actual course of you doing the experiments. It is not something that is written
up later or “prettied up” back in your dorm room. The entries should be complete enough
that you could pick up the lab notebook 6 months later and know what the entries referred
to.
The lab notebook will not be graded on penmanship, it is after all a working lab document.
But it needs to be structured enough to follow the train of work that was done in the lab
on any given day.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students with disabilities should refer to the student handbook for resources that are available to
them as well as compliance with the American Disabilities Act.
SYLLABUS CHANGE POLICY
This syllabus is a guide and every attempt is made to provide an accurate overview of the course.
However, circumstances and events may make it necessary for the instructor to modify the
syllabus during the semester and may depend, in part, on the progress, needs, and experiences of
the students. The instructor will give notice when changes to the syllabus are made.
General Rubric for Grading Lab Reports
(see sample lab report in Chem. 111 lab manual)
I) Objective (~5%)
One to two sentence statement of objective of experiment.
Should be more than stating the measurements to be made – what is the science or the
theory that is being explored in the lab.
II) Introduction (~10%)
Discuss the chemistry that is to be explored in the chemistry. Include key concepts.
III) Procedure (~5%)
Refer to procedure in lab manual, then provide any differences from published procedure.
IV) Experimental Results (~30%)
Data table
Graphs as appropriate
- Axes labeled
- Scales fully utilized (data fill the graph, not just in one corner)
- Title on graph to know which set of data the graph refers to
Data expressed with appropriate significant figures and units
Include any qualitative observations
Sample calculations included for each type of calculation in report (can be attached at end)
V) Conclusions (~40%)
All individual questions from lab report addressed
- Must include both in-lab and post-lab questions
- Include question as well as answer
- Top marks only given if expand on answer and provide answer as a complete
paragraph. Don’t just give one sentence answer like you would on an exam or
homework. This is a report and as such answer should be a complete thought.
Data compared to expected results (literature values) with % error given.
Summary table required
This not a repeat of earlier raw data, but may include a repeat of calculated values.
Should include final experimental numbers as compared to literature values.
Purpose is to help the reader understand what you learned, not just what you measured.
Discuss possible sources of errors (not just human error) and possible improvements
Overall conclusions
*** This last item is critical, don’t just stop with the results.
Instead must comment on what the results mean
VI) Overall Impact of Report (~10%)
Neatly typed or printed
Data pages taken straight out of lab manual will not get top marks
Correct spelling
Evidence that time and thought was spent on preparing the report.
CHEMISTRY 111
Laboratory Schedule
Fall, 2014
Experiment
Day
M
Tu
W
Th
8/25
8/26
8/27
8/28
‒
9/2
9/3
9/4
Physical Measurements /
Introduction to Vernier Software
9/8
9/9
9/10
9/11
Chromatographic Separation
9/15
9/16
9/17
9/18
Percent Composition
9/22
9/23
9/24
9/25
Chemical Reactions of Copper
9/29
9/30
10/1
10/2
Solution Stoichiometry
10/6
10/7
10/8
10/9
Limiting Reagents
10/13
10/14
10/15
10/16
Analysis of an Iron Supplement
‒
10/27
‒
10/28
10/22
10/23
Introduction to Spectroscopy
‒
11/3
‒
11/4
10/29
10/30
Molecular Bonding and Shapes
‒
11/10
‒
11/11
11/5
11/6
Heat of Combustion
‒
11/17
‒
11/18
11/12
11/13
Enthalpy of Reaction
‒
11/24
‒
11/25
11/19
‒
11/20
‒
Math & Significant Figures Review
Safety and Check-in
(Fall Break)
(Thanksgiving)
Check Out
12/1
12/2
12/3
12/4