Lecture 1a
Course Overview I
• Why do students take chemistry labs?
• Most lecture courses provide a theoretical background
in general and in organic chemistry but usually do not
consider much many of the practical aspects of an
experiment
• Conducting an experiment in lab is often times much
more complicated than chemistry conducted on paper
because many details have a significant impact on the
overall outcome of the experiment
• Performing an actual experiment in the lab is a learning
experience on how to combine many theoretical and
practical aspects together (i.e., theory of the reaction,
Le Châtelier Principle, polarity, acidity, kinetics, etc.)
Course Overview II
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Titration of an Unknown Amino Acid
Determination of Iron in Vitamin
Extraction of Caffeine (from tea)
Titrimetric Analysis of Vitamin C
Isolation of Chlorophyll and Carotenoid (Pigments from
Spinach) using chromatography
Aldol condensation
Oxidation of borneol to camphor
Distillation and gas chromatography
Molecular Modeling
Infrared Spectroscopy
13C NMR and DEPT Spectra
Administrative Issues
• Make sure that you arrive on time to your first in-lab meeting
because if you are more than 15 minutes late, you will lose
your spot in the course. Lame excuses do not count later on
i.e., “I did not think that the lab meets during week 1” or
“I did not find the lab”!
• Wait-listed students will be accommodated if spaces become
available during the first meeting of the section only: priority
will be given based on seniority
• We are not able to accommodate extension students this quarter
• If the student is added to the roster, the instructor will report
the student to the department to been enrolled (usually at the
end of the first week and not on the same day!)
Textbooks/Readers
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Required Texts
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Chemistry Experiments for Life Science Majors (2nd edition) by A.A. Russell, Burgess
Publishing (from 14BL)
Techniques in Organic Chemistry (4th edition) by Mohrig, Alberg, Hofmeister, Schatz and
Hammond (from 14BL)
Laboratory notebook with duplicate carbon copies (from 14BL, available from the
Undergraduate Chemistry Fraternity - AXE - Young Hall 1275 and the student store)
Recommended Texts
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14 CL Practice Problems and Exam Collection (Spring 2015, 2nd edition, $18) by
A. Bacher available from Course Reader Material (1081 Westwood Boulevard)
Peter Atkins, Loretta Jones, Chemical Principles – The Quest for Insight (5th edition)
(or any other equivalent general chemistry text)
W. H. Brown, Organic Chemistry (7th edition) (or any other similar text)
Mohrig et al., Techniques in Organic Chemistry (online: $33.99 for a 360 day subscription
via coursesmart), most students usually have a copy already if they were enrolled in Chem
14BL recently
Preparation for In-lab Meeting
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To complete the laboratory work on time the student must prepare for the period’s assignment
before his/her laboratory section meets. The course is impacted; there is neither make-up
time in the course nor space for the student to work in other sections.
Pre-lab: title, purpose, introduction, balanced chemical equations, detailed procedure,
safety information of all chemicals used (review the MSDS for each compound used
in the experiment), spectroscopic information (a Xerox copy is preferable)
In preparation for the lab, the student should first study the pertinent sections in the text,
review the lecture notes pertaining to the experiment, then view (and possibly review)
the appropriate videotapes for any new techniques to be used in the experiment
If the student still has questions relating to the experimental details, s/he should consult a
teaching assistant or the course instructor to clarify the procedure. The handout will not be
helpful if the student does not understand the material.
Pre-labs are due at the beginning of the lab period. Late pre-lab work will count as ZERO.
The student will not be allowed to perform an experiment without providing a pre-lab.
The duplicate copy of the in-lab data is to be turned in to the T.A. at the end of the lab period.
Grades I
• Grading: (To receive a passing grade (C-), you must complete ALL
the experiments and reports and receive at least 50 % of the points
in the exams category.)
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Preparation for lab - Prelab assignments
Performance in lab - Lab technique & Lab Maintenance
Documentation of lab work - Lab reports
Conceptual understanding of Lab - Midterm
Conceptual understanding of Lab - Final
108
56
212
80
160
17.5 %
9.1 %
34.4 %
13.0 %
26.0 %
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TOTAL
616
100 %
• Bottom line: Both, the in-lab portion and the final exam, have to be
passed to pass the course. In order to get a high grade in the course, the
student has to perform very well in both portions, not just in one portion.
Grades II
• Chemistry 14CL is graded on a mastery basis. Letter
grades are based on the course point total. (Please note
these grades are assigned only at the end of the quarter
when all items have been graded and the grades have been
adjusted; the percentage on a portion of the course is not a
meaningful measure of the student’s total performance.) As
a rule of thumb, the course grades are assigned as follows:
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90
80
65
50
0
-
100 %
89 %
79 %
64 %
49 %
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A
B
C
D
F
Instructor
• Office: Young Hall 3077E
• Office hours: M 12-1 pm, M 4-5 pm, T 9-10 am, W 11-12 pm, Th 9-10 am
and F 11-12 pm in YH 3077 in YH 3077 or by appointment (please do not
schedule an appointment before 8 am or after 4:30 pm, if you do make an
appointment, make sure to show up on time!)
• Email: bacher@chem.ucla.edu
• Course website: www.chem.ucla.edu/~bacher (Please note that the instructor
does not use CCLE website)
• Course discussion board: www.piazza.com/ucla/spring2015/chem14cl
• The course discussion board has to be used for general chemistry questions
only. This means that you cannot post homework or online quiz questions!