CH150. General Chemistry I

These files are provided for students in Chemistry 150 lecture at Wesley College for the 2019-2020 academic year.

These are pdf files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader (downloaded free from the Adobe web site)

Lecture Information:

CH150 Syllabus for Fall 2019

Laboratory Information:

CH150 Laboratory Schedule Fall 2019 This is being updated

Laboratory Notebooks and Laboratory Reports This is being updated

Chemistry Add-in for Word This is a free download originally from Microsoft Research for Word 2007 or Word 2010. This is Version 3, from .NET Foundation, which makes it easier to to insert and modify chemical information, such as labels, formulas, and 2-D depictions, within Microsoft Office Word. This is a link to the .NET Foundation website. You will need to go to the github site as described on that page.

Graphing with Excel A LabWrite Resources tutorial on graphing from NC State University

LabWrite is a resource developed by NC State University for improving lab reports. This is a link to the LabWrite web site.

Important Information:

This is a course that combines both the lecture and the laboratory grade.  You must have a passing grade in the lecture portion of the class and the laboratory portion of the class in order to pass this course.

Passing the lecture portion of the course requires attendance to class and a passing average for assignments, quizzes, exams, and the final exam.

Passing the laboratory portion of the course requires attendance to lab and completion of all aspects of the laboratory experiments including any pre-lab reports, quizzes, exams, and laboratory reports as required by your laboratory instructor.

Reference Material: Note: Links to other web sites may be changed without notice

FOR REVIEW PURPOSES notes on metric system, chemical symbols, formulas, nomenclature, chemical equations, and more will be found in the General Chem Survival Manual section

The Periodic Table This is a link to the Web Elements Periodic Table by Mark Winter, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Sheffield. Probably the best periodic table on the Internet, it provides a wealth of information about the elements.

Visual Elements Periodic Table This is a link to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) interactive periodic table. Elements can be highlighted by their groups, blocks and periods. There is an abundance of information about each element and it will continue to evolve with additional information.

ChemSpider ChemSpider links together compound information across the web, providing free text and structure search access of millions of chemical structures. With an abundance of additional property information, tools to curate and use the data, and integration to a multitude of other online services, ChemSpider is the richest single source of structure-based chemistry information available online.  ChemSpider is provided free by the Royal Society of Chemistry

Practice Exams from another college

This is a link to practice exams from the University of Massechusetts - Boston for their Chemistry 115 general chemistry course. There are a variety of questions, both short answer and multiple choice with some problems and laboratory questions. These provide a good review of course material.

Exam 1 covers introductory material to stoichiometry. The answers are here.

Exam 2 covers chemical reaqctions and thermochemistry. The answers are here.

Exam 3 covers electron configurations, bonding and molecular structure. The answers are here.

These exams have both multiple choice questions and problems. The multiple choice questions that are similar to ACS final exam questions

Exam 1 covers introductory material to stoichiometry. The answers are here.

Exam 2 covers chemical reaqctions and thermochemistry. The answers are here.

Exam 3 covers electron configurations, bonding and molecular structure. The answers are here.

ACS Chemistry Olympiad Exams This is a link to the ACS Chemistry Olympiad Exams containing the local and national exams dating back to about 2000. The exams cover an entire year of chemistry, while the first semester ACS General Chemistry Exam covers mainly CHM 151 topics. The format of the exams and types of questions are similar to those on the ACS General Chemistry Final Exams. The exams are in PDF format.

Chemistry Videos for Review of Topics

Khan Academy provides a number of videos on various subjects at no cost on YouTube. They are a not-for-profit organization with a mission of providing information. (They do ask for donations) The chemistry videos cover most of the topics for a high school or first-year college chemistry course. The videos are essentially lectures of up to about 15 minutes in length with limited notes being written on a black screen as one would write on a blackboard with some occasional pictures or tables. These were recommended by a student. I have only viewed portions of some videos and have found a few misconceptions. Use these videos with care.

Material from the Textbook:

This are PDFs of PowerPoint summaries from the textbook used in this course. They require Adobe Acrobat to read them.

Chapter 2: Chemical Compounds. Topics include atomic structure, radioactivity, the nuclear atom, isotopes, atomic weight, ions and ionic compounds, writing formulas, naming ionic compounds, ionic compounds bonding and properties, molecular compounds, organic compounds, the mole, molar mass, percent composition, and empirical and molecular formulas.

Chapter 3: Chemical Reactions. Topics include chemical equations, balancing chemical equations, precipitation reactions, ionic and net ionic equations, acid-base reactions, oxidation-reduction, the activitiy series of metals, mole and mass calculatios with chemical equations, limiting reactant, solution concentration - molarity, and titrations.

Chapter 4: Energy and Chemical Reactions. Topics include energy and energy units, conservation of energy, energy transfers, heat capacity, energy and enthalpy, enthalpies for chemical reactions, calorimetry, standard enthalpies of formation, and fuels.

Chapter 5: Electron Configurations Topics include electromagnetic radiation, quantum theory, blackbody radiation, the Bohr model, qunatum numbers, shapes of atomic orbitals, electron configurations, ion electron configurations, paramagnetism, and periodic trends.

Chapter 6: Covalent Bonding Topics include covalent bonding, Lewis structures, covalent bonds in hydrocarbons, bond length, bond energies, formal charge, resonance, and molecular orbital theory.

Chapter 7: Molecular Structures Topics include molecular shapres, VSEPR, hybrid orbitals, molecules with multiple bonds, and intermolecular forces.

Chapter 18: Nuclear Chemistry. Topics include the nature of radioactivity, nuclear reactions, radioactive decay, stability of atomic nuclei,, half-life, artificial transmutations, nuclear reactors, effects of nuclear radiation, and applications of radioactivity.

Class topics:

Math Review includes significant figures and scientific notation

Math Review Algebraic operations you should be able to do before starting a general chemistry course

Math Answers Answers to the Math Review problems

Significant Figures, Exponents, and Scientific Notation A tutorial

A Summary of Significant Figures Rules

Answers for Significant Figures, Exponents, and Scientific Notation

Measurement, and Temperature

Metric System The SI system with a short history of measurement

Temperature Temperature measurement with a short historical background

Absolute Zero (Video) This is a program from NOVA (split into 10 chapters). The program presents a history of temperature measurement up to the modern methods of trying to reach absolute zero. This is a link to the YouTube video. (53 minutes)

Powers of Ten (Video) Written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1977, this video shows the relative scale of the universe, both macroscopic and microscopic by first zooming out from a picnic in Chicago and then zooming into the subatomic world.

Dimensional Analysis Problem Solving

Problem Solving by Dimensional Analysis

Answers for Problem Solving by Dimensional Analysis

History of Chemistry

An Illustrated History of Alchemy and Chemistry from ancient times until 1800

Henry Cavendish determined the composition of air and determined that hydrogen and oxygen reacted to form water. A brief look at his life and research in an article by Mike Sutton from Chemistry World, October 2010

The Elements and the Periodic Table

Element Symbols A historical approach to modern element symbols

Forging the Elements How were the elements formed? This is a segement from the NOVA program Origins: Back to the Beginning. Watch the entire program (55 minutes) or just select the Forging the Elements chapter about 34 minutes into the video). There is also an excerpt titled The Elements: Forged in Stars (about 4 minutes long).

The Periodic Table This is a link to the Web Elements Periodic Table by Mark Winter, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Sheffield. Probably the best periodic table on the Internet, it provides a wealth of information about the elements.

Prospects for Further Considerable Extension of the Periodic Table, a paper by Glenn T. Seaborg, Journal of Chemical Education, 46, Number 10, October 1969, p626

Island of Stability A video from NOVA explaining how heavy elements are made. This is a link to the NOVA website

A suggested periodic table up to Z ≤ 172, based on Dirac–Fock calculations on atoms and ions, a paper by Pekka Pyykko, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Phyics, 2011, 13, 161-168

Twinkle, twinkle Little Star A history of telescopes, spectroscopy and stellar chemistry by Mike Sutton from Chemistry World, December 2009

Reading Between the Lines An article by Jon Cartwright about spectroscopy for investigating stars and planets, from Chemistry World, December 2009

Notes on the Periodic Classification This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Notes on the Periodic Properties of the Elements. This file contains Lewis structures and periodic trends. This a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

The Elements A song by Tom Lehrer recored in 1959 and originally published on the recording An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. This version comes from HallofWisdom in Seattle

Chemical Formulas and Nomenclature and the Mole

Formula Writing Includes nomenclature of inorganic compounds.

Answers for Formula Writing

Additional Tables for Formula Writng These tables were supplied by Matthew Medeiros of Pima Community College.

Flowcharts for Naming Compounds and Common Acids

Chemical Formulas and Formula Weight Calculations

Chemical Formulas and Formula Weight Calculations and the Mole This is a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in class.

Calculations with Formula Weights and Moles This is a set of practice problems on formula weights, conversions with moles, and Avogadro's Number.

Answers to Calculations with Formula Weights and Moles These are the annotated answers to the formula weight and moles practice problems.

Some Notes on Avogadro's Number. This is an article by T. A. Furtsch at Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN (Note: some of the original links in the article had been corrupted. They were repaired by David A. Katz)

Amount of Substance and the Mole This is a link to an article by Ian Mills and Martin Milton in Chemistry International, Vol. 31, No. 2, March-April 2009.

Atoms, the Atomic Theory, and Electron Configurations

Notes on the Atomic Theory and Electron Structure This is a historical approach to the Atomic Theory, atomic structure, and the electronic structure of elements and ions. This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Notes on Electron Configurations This is the second part of the Notes on the Atomic Theory and Electron Structure. It starts with the Electronic Structure of Atoms. This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Electron configurations This is an applet for electron configurations from The ChemCollective at Carnegie Mellon

Imaging the atomic orbitals of carbon atomic chains with field-emission electron microscopy. A paper by I. M. Mikhailovskij, E. V. Sadanov, T. I Mazilova, V. A. Ksenofontov, and O. A. Velicodnaja, Physical Review B, 80, 165404 (2009). s and p orbitals do exist!

What does and atom look like? This is a 3m 27s clip from Nova. An atom looks quite different from the pictures you see in a textbook or on the Internet.

Atomic Structure and Atomic Spectra

Emission spectra of elements: These are links to web sites for emission spectra of elements. Note: Academic websites may only be available for limited time periods.

A periodic table from University of Oregon. Click on an element to see the spectrum. Choose between absorption and emission spectra. (This requires JAVA. Web site can install it.)

Quicktime movies from Beloit College. Click on the absorption, emission, or combination spectrum shown to initiate spectra. Move the slide on the bottom of the spectrum to select elements. Note: Apple Quicktime needed (a free download)

Spectroscopy: Element Identification and Emission Spectra. Contains an explanation of spectra with both selected flame spectra and element spectra following the explanation. This material was prepared by Dr. Walt Volland, Bellvue Community College.

Spectra of Gas Discharges by Joachim Koppen, University Strasbourg, France.

Table of Flame Colorant by Element from the Mineralogy Database.

A periodic table to locate spectra. Click on an element to see its spectrum.

Nuclear Chemistry

Notes on Nuclear Chemistry This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

The following are links to web sites for natural radiation decay series.

Natural Decay Series: Uranium, Radium and Thorium. From the Argonne National Laboratory Environmental Science Division.

Natural Radioactive Series by Yevgeniy Miretskiy. Select the decay eries and the time step, then animate. This uses a bar graph to show the concentrations of the major isotopes formed in the decay series change over time. Additional data on half-lives and numbers of atoms are given on the right of the graph. Note: For long half-lives, select a longer time step.

Radioactivity in Nature

Radioactivity in Nature This is a link to Idaho State University's Radiation Information Network. This site categorizes over 60 radionuclides found in nature.

The following are links to information on the Biological Effects of Radiation

Nuclear Radiation and Its Biological Effects. This is a link to an excerpt from the book No Immediate Danger, Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth, by Dr Rosalie Bertell

Biological Effects of Exposure to a Single Dose of Ionizing Radiation. A table summarizing the effects.

Radiation we are exposed to every day

The following are articles from The American Heritage Magazine of Invention and Technology

Inside the Atomic Kitchen: Irradiated food

The Atomic Cannon: The largest and heaviest artillery piece ever ordered by the Army helped to end a war.

The Beauty of the Bomb: An essay examining one person’s fascination with the bomb.

The Plan to Nuke Panama: The plan to construct a new Panama canal

We Knew That if we Succeeded: An interview with Edward Teller.

Albert Einstein's Letters to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Leo Szilard, a Hungarian physicist who left Germany after Hitler's rise to Power, feared that Germany's nuclear scientist might be able to make a "nuclear Bomb". He had Albert Einstein sign a letter to President Roosevelt which explained the possibility of a nuclear bomb and urged that the United States not allow a potential enemy to develop it first.

How Nuclear Bombs Work. This is a link to the howstuffworks web site.

The Story of the Atomic Bomb, 1934-1945, by James Richard Fromm. This is a link to the web site. This article is well illustrated with photos of most of the people involved.

US Nuclear Tests: Nuclear tests from July 1945 to September 1992 – with web links.

Let's Make a Thermonuclear Device. In November 2001, British reporters searching through an abandoned "al-Qaida safe house" in Kabul, Afghanistan, found this document, and reported that they'd stumbled upon the terrorists' nuclear intentions. This information was published in a Nov. 15 article in the Times of London. In the article, journalist Anthony Loyd wrote that next to "physics and chemistry manuals devoted to molecular matter," he discovered this document on how to make a thermonuclear device. Marc Abrahams, a former editor of the Journal of Irreproducible Results, where the article originally appeared, said "Either there's one guy in the Taliban who had a sense of humor, or everyone was downloading everything on the Net that had the word 'thermonuclear' in it."

NOTE: My class presentation on nuclear chemistry includes a discussion on the atomic bomb and some of its applications (or misapplications), along with schematics of the two bombs used by the United States at the end of World War II. I will not use this web site as a forum to discuss whether it was right or wrong to unleash nuclear weapons on the world - that's history, and it's up to each individual to research the reasons for that ultimate decision. Much of the destruction and injury caused by the atomic bombs was suppressed by the U.S. government and classified until 1968, but still, only a small amount of material is publicly available in bits and pieces on the Internet. Remenber, only one country has ever used nuclear weapons in warfare. Few people, alive today, have witnessed the potential destruction that a single atomic bomb can produce. It is my belief that nuclear weapons must never be used again, for any reason, and that there should be a world-wide ban on all nuclear weapons.

What follows are links to three films about Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

A Tale of Two Cities, presented by the U.S. War Department is a Government film using Hiroshima and Nagasaki Stock Footage. It is presented as a newsreel-type of film.  (To play, click on the balloon on the play bar on the bottom of the screen.)

Hiroshima, Hirohito, & the Rising Sun, Part 1.  Hiroshima is a film by Rhawn Joseph, PhD.  Assembled from pre-bombing footage, atomic testing footage, and post-bombing footage. 

Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August,1945. Part 1and Part 2  is a compilation of silent black-and-white film footage of the ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shot by Japanese cameramen of the Nippon Eiga She documentary unit before the U.S. occupation forces arrived in Japan.  This halted by the occupation, then ordered resumed under its supervisions. Later all footage was impounded, classified SECRET, and moved to the United States.

In 1968, Columbia University, learning about this material, applied to the U.S. Department of Defense for access to it. Apparently a declassification had recently taken place, and Columbia was permitted to duplicate the surviving 2 hours and 45 minutes of footage. The result was Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945, the most widely shown film of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki holocaust, documenting the meaning of nuclear war. Hirishoma-Nagasaki, August 1945 (16 minutes, black and white) was produced by Erik Barnouw for the Columbia University Press and is available for purchase at The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar http://www.flahertyseminar.org/?sb=5&mb=4 . The complete 30-minute film is titled  "The Case of the A-Bomb Footage," and includes an introduction by Erik Barnouw, which traces the history of long-suppressed footage.

Nuclear reactors

Types of nuclear reactors This link gives a very brief overview of the three main types of fission reactors.

Nuclear power reactors This is a link to the World Nuclear Association web site.

Nuclear reactor types This is a link to a publication from the Institution of electrical Engineers.

Columbia Generating Station Nuclear Power Plant Tour. A video showing how a boiling water reactor generating station works.

Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations

Writing Chemical Equations

Answers for Writing Chemical Equations

Oxidation-Reduction - An Introduction This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Acids and Bases - An Introduction This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Organic Chemistry

Notes on Organic Chemistry This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Nomenclature of Organic Compounds A tutorial on organic nomenclature

Hydrocarbons This is a link to a chapter from opentextbc.ca. It is similar to the Notes on Organic Chemistry and explains naming of organic compounds. This chapter has a number of exercises along with answers.

Alkane Quiz This is a link to a quiz in naming alkanes from chemware.co.nz. Given a structure, name the compound.

The Athabasca Tar Sands This is a PDF file of the PowerPoint presentation used in class

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline This is a PDF file of the PowerPoint presentation used in class

Shaken, not stirred is an article from Chemistry World, December 2010, telling about the aspects of cocktail chemistry. It's all organic chemistry!

Solutions

Solutions, An Introduction This is a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in class

Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry

Notes on Electron Configurations This is a PDF of the second part of the Notes on the Atomic Theory and Electron Structure. It starts with the Electronic Structure of Atoms and describes writing electron configurations. Electron configurations are impotant in understanding chemical bonding.

Notes on Chemical Bonding, Part 1 Ionic and covalent bonds,bond polarity,molecular shapes, Lewis structures, resonance and bond enthalpies. This is a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in class.

Notes on Chemical Bonding, Part 2 Theories of chemical bonding: valence bond theory, hybrid orbitals, moleculat orbital theory, and the metallic bond. This is a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in class.

The Paramagnetism of Liquid Oxygen Prof. Robert Burk, Carleton University demonstrates what happens when liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen is poured between the poles of a strong magnet. Things to note: 1) The color of the liquid oxygen; 2) Molecular orbital diagrams for nitrogen and for oxygen.

NaCl by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Kate was failing her chemistry course and came up with this while studying for her exam.

Do these molecular structures actually exist as we picthure them? This is a link to the Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) article Molecule's Atoms, Bonds Visualized which appeared in the August 31, 2009 issue. The original article The Chemical Structure of a Molecule Resolved by Atomic Force Microscopy, by Leo Gross, Fabian Mohn, Nikolaj Moll, Peter Liljeroth, and Gerhard Meyer, appeared in Science, Vol 235, no. 5944, pp. 1110 - 1114, 28 August 2009.

Heat and Thermochemistry

Heat and Thermochemistry This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Intermolecular Forces and States of Matter

Notes on Intermolecular Forces This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Notes on Gases, Liquids, and Solids This is a PDF form of the PowerPoint lecture used in class

Lab Information and Expriements: This section is being updated

Safety in the Academic Laboratory This is the PDF version of the PowerPoint used in the laboratory without the narration.

Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories (SACL), 8th Ed. This is a link to the publication by the American Chemical Society Joint Board-council Committee on Chemical Safety

Safety Map for Lab CN214A This is an unlabeled map of the lab benches and safety equipment of Lab 214A in Cannon Hall of Wesley College. Print this in landscape orientation.

A sample SDS. This is an SDS for ethanol from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co. This is provided as an example to show what an SDS looks like.

Laboratory Glassware and Apparatus This is an illustrated compilation of common laboratory equipment.

Safety Test Questions These questions are similar, but not exactly the same, as those asked on the safety test. The safety test contains 35 questions.

The Safety Song by the Sounds of Science a group of graduate students and alumni at UC Berkeley. Safety doesn't have to be boring.

Make a Spectroscope An experiment and assignment in spectroscopy of elements.

An Experiment in Alchemy: Copper to Silver to Gold This is a fun experiment to teach students how to identify samples, use a balance, a hotplate, a Bunsen burner, and some lab techniques.

Chemical ReactionsThis is an introduction to chemical reactions in microscale

Synthesis of Zinc Iodide: Tracking a Chemical Reaction

Preparation of Synthetic Rubber A microscale polymer experiment.

Acids, Bases, and pH Using Red Cabbage Paper Determination of pH of household materials.

Some Experiments under consideration for this course

Alum from Waste Aluminum Cans

The Aluminum Beverage Can. An article by William F. Hosford and John L. Duncan, from Scientific American, September 1994, describing the design and manufacture of aluminum beverage cans. This article provides additional background material for the experiment on Recycling a Metal into a Chemical Compound: The Preparation of Alum

Growing an Alum Crystal You can purchase alum in the supermarket and use it to grow crystals.

Energy of a Peanut: An Experiment in Calorimetry

Preparation of Acid and Basic Solutions and Analysis of Stomach Antacid Tablets

 

Additional laboratory experiments (currently under construction)