Principles of Chemistry I · Fall 2015

Unique: 49230 / 49235 · MWF in WEL 1.308

Chemistry Course Content

CH301 will cover the following subjects in chemistry. Each of the 5 overall topics below have links to that section on our gchem site.

Unit 1 - Introduction and Fundamentals The fundamentals of general chemistry which includes unit conversion, nomenclature, composition stoichiometry, and reaction stoichiometry.

Unit 2 - Atomic Theory Our second unit is all about the atom including its structure and energetics.

Unit 3 - Bonding Atoms combine via chemical bonds. As more atoms bond together molecules are created. Bonding theory allows us to predict properties and describe the behavior of these molecules.

Unit 4 - States of Matter The interactions between molecules govern key physical properties. Categorizing intermolecular forces (IMFs) helps us define key behaviors of chemical substances. Gases have unique behaviors and laws associated with them.

Unit 5 - Thermodynamics
The final unit is a study of thermodynamics as it applies to specific substances, chemical reactions, and processes. Thermodynamics is the study of the energy requirements for all interactions both physical and chemical.

Resources Available to You for Free

OpenStax eBook: Rice University has dozens of open source eBooks that were created for teaching. We have tapped into their Chemistry eBook and hand picked the topics that we teach and arranged them to match our course. This eBook is certainly a useful resource in your studies and is free to use.

gchem website: All of our course topics are covered via our online gchem website. We wrote it, we control it, and you have 24-7 access to it. It works on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and phones. Make sure you have an updated modern browser and you are ready to use the gchem site. In addition to the textual content (what you read), there are hundreds of videos available via the gchem site. Some videos are for "big picture" concepts while others are for specific problem solving skills.

Your UT Network Bandwidth: Each student at UT receives at least 500MB of "free" bandwidth per week. This may, or may not meet your actual needs for this course and your other online activities. Please consider your upgrade options offered through the UT ITS website at http://www.utexas.edu/its/help/network/1772. Also realize that resident students that are using Resnet will have 10GB per week included with their room - that should be more than enough, but if you need more you do that via Resnet. ALL students should be aware of their own bandwidth needs and respond accordingly.

Resources You Provide (purchase)

REEF Polling Software: We are now using REEF software from iclicker.com as our in class response system. Each student will need to set up an account and have and appropriate "device" to use for polling. For most students, the device will be a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Other students might happen to prefer an actual iclicker to use. The cost is $10 per semester for as many courses as needed. Instructions for setting up an account and registering are provided in another page here on Canvas. You will need to bring your device to each and every class in order to obtain points for the "clicker" portion of your grade. Here are the instructions on how to sign up for Reef.

Simple Scientific Calculator: We will only allow simple scientific calculators for our exams. No programmable or graphing calculators will be accepted. The TI-30xa is the best calculator for this job and is only about $10 dollars. Plan on using it for homework as well as your exams.

Overall Scoring for the Course

We will use five aggregate scores that we will use to get your over all score in the course. First calculate or look up the following scores from you scores on Canvas, Reef, and Quest.

3-Exam avg = average of your best 3 of 4 exams (one drop), from Quest

4-Exam avg = average all 4 exams (no drops), from Quest

Final exam = score on the final exam, from Quest

Quiz = average of the best 22 of 25 canvas quizzes (three drops), from Canvas

Reef = adjusted score for Reef as shown in Canvas, from Canvas

Three Ways to Get the Grade

Now determine which of the following 3 methods is your highest score. If you completely skip the final exam, then method3 will be automatically used for your grade. Your overall score will be calculated by all three methods and the highest overall score will be used.

Grade Breaks

Course grades will be determined according to the following scale or cut-offs:

Your score is calculated to the nearest 1/100th - that's 2 places PAST the decimal. So the only digit that is rounded "up" is the 1/1000th's digit.

Exams

Four examinations will be given during the semester. These will be given about once a month on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM. Please see the Canvas site for the calendar that has these exams placed. Each of the exams will be approximately 25 questions that are all multiple-choice questions - the number of choices will vary anywhere from 2 up to 10 choices. Each student will turn in their exam copy and a bubblesheet (answer sheet) which will be scanned and graded. All scores on exams will be available on Quest (Quest is only used for exams and the grading of exams - there is no cost associated with Quest for this course).

Final Exam

The final exam WILL be comprehensive. This means that all the material covered during the course will be on the exam. The final exam will be counted as either 30%, 50%, or 0% of your overall grade (see methods shown above). The final exam schedule is set by the registrar's office and cannot be changed. Make sure you know the time and place of your exam for your section of the course.

If you have an Exam Conflict with the Wednesday 7pm time...

If you have a conflict with the established 7-9pm exam time, we offer an alternative exam time from 4-6pm on the same day as the regularly scheduled exam. To sign up for the alternate exam, please visit http://www.cm.utexas.edu/testing and follow the given instructions. We do not offer any other alternate exam periods. If you are unable to attend both the 7-9pm regular exam time and the 4-6pm alternative exam time, please contact the Chemistry Student Services Office (WEL 2.212, 512-471-1567) for help moving into a section of this course with different exam dates.

Only religious holidays and UT related conflicts are acceptable reasons to reschedule an exam for another day. If you are away from campus for a University-sponsored activity, you must provide advance notice written on UT letterhead explaining the reason for your absence. If your exam is in conflict with a religious holiday you must provide notice of the conflict at least 14 days in advance. Please contact the Chemistry Student Services Office to set up a make up exam.

Reschedule ALL exams that you will have a time conflict with for the entire semester.

SSD Students

If you are a student registered with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities and receive special accommodations for your exams, the Chemistry Student Services Office (WEL 2.212) is equipped with a limited number of seats in a reduced distraction environment for the administration of exams. Please submit your SSD letter to them.

Visit http://www.cm.utexas.edu/testing to sign up for accommodated exams for this course. You may contact Chemistry Student Services (512-471-1567) with any questions related to setting up SSD accommodations for a chemistry class.

Reschedule ALL exams that you will have a time conflict with for the entire semester.

Work in the Class

In Class Stay Fully Engaged

Opportunities to test your prior knowledge, your progress on the learning curve and your mastery of chemical principles will be given in class using REEF. These opportunities will come in the form of in-class "clicker" questions. Each clicker question is worth 5 points (2 for just answering and 3 more points for getting it right). On any given day in class, we might have as few as one question and as many as ten questions. You can always check your current status by using the REEF app or website login. It is very important that you remember to bring your "device" so that you can answer questions and get credit this way. A fully engaged student who attends class regularly will have a REEF score in the upper 70's to high 90’s (percentage), assuming you typically get questions right. Anything considerably less than this indicates something is not quite "right". The score from REEF will be 5% of your overall score.

Work Outside the Class

Online Work

Work outside the class is to read and learn via the guided practice "activities" in Canvas. Each section ends with a Canvas quiz. Quizzes are designed to test your knowledge of various concepts for the course. Both quantitative (calculations) and qualitative (conceptual) questions will be on quizzes. Quizzes are a great way to test yourself as we push through the material. Some quiz questions are easy while others will be much harder and push you to develop more sophisticated problem-solving skills. Skill drilling worksheets are available from within the gchem website but are not graded. The drilling worksheets are designed to help build your problem solving skills such that you can be successful in the course. Each type of assignment has been designed for a particular purpose to help you master the learning outcomes for this course. To this end, each assignment should be completed in the order in which it was assigned. The Canvas quizzes will be counted toward your overall grade at 5%. Each quiz can be repeated up to three times. Your highest score will be counted toward your grade.

More about the Exams

Be sure and bring your approved non-programmable, non-graphing calculator to the exam. We cannot provide calculators. You CANNOT use your cell phone or any other device as your calculator. Each student will receive a unique exam copy with a specific version number on it. There is a different exam version for every student in the class; no two students can have the same version numbers (it is impossible). We will keep ALL exam materials after the exam is over. You MUST turn in your exam, a bubblesheet, and all scratch paper when you complete your exam. Make sure you sign each part of your exam.

You CANNOT make-up a missed exam for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER. If you have a University approved conflict that requires rescheduling an exam, you must notify the instructor within the first 2 weeks of the course (go to WEL 2.212 and schedule your earlier exam time). You get to drop one exam score from your overall average, so for whatever reason you miss, that particular exam score (a zero) will be your dropped exam.

More About the Final Exam

We will not allow you to take the final early, late, or with another section.

A final exam cannot be made-up in any way. Final exam times are scheduled by the registrar's office and cannot be changed for any reason. Show up at the right place and the right time or get a zero on the exam. The final exam WILL be comprehensive. This means that all the material covered during the course will be on the exam. The final exam will be counted as 30% of your overall grade. If you keep up with the material for the semester, the final will not be any more difficult than the four exams. It will be extremely difficult if you try to cram for it one day ahead. Keep up and make the grade. The time for the final is published when the course schedule is made, but it is subject to change, so double check the time for the final the week before the final exam.

Cheating

If you get caught cheating in any way, whatsoever, you will have to discuss the situation with us. We will arrive at a penalty and write up a formal report. The minimum penalty for cheating is receiving a 0 on the assignment on which you cheated. In this class, in addition to all the traditional types of cheating (looking at someone else’s answer, utilizing “cheat sheets” of any form or fashion – paper or digitized, getting an advance copy of an exam or quiz), we also consider allowing someone else to enter answers in class with your phone or tablet cheating. For example, if you send your iPhone to class with another class mate or an individual who is not you and you are caught, you and your accomplice will be penalized. If you deny the allegation, we will proceed by filing a formal report to the Judicial Services in the Dean of Students Office as is policy. Judicial Services would decide the final penalty after a hearing on the matter. For more information, read in the General Information Catalog about scholastic dishonesty (i.e. cheating).

Drop Date

The last day to drop the course is Tuesday, November 3, 2015 (last day of class). This will require you to go to your college and get a drop form. Before 11/3/2015, you can finish the drop procedure by yourself. After the deadline, students must go to the Dean's office, WCH 2.112, to begin the appeal for substantiated non-academic reasons.

The last day to use your One-Time Exception drop is the last day of class in the semester Friday December 4, 2015.

Students with Disabilities

Please notify me of any modification/adaptation you may require to accommodate a disability-related need. You will be requested to provide documentation to the Dean of Students' Office, in order that the most appropriate accommodations can be determined. Specialized services are available on campus through Services for Students with Disabilities. The official wording is this: The University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY or Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259, www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd

Observance of Religious Holidays

Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. It is the policy of The University of Texas at Austin that the student must notify each instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates he or she will be absent to observe a religious holy day. For religious holidays that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, the notice should be given on the first day of the semester. The student may not be penalized for these excused absences but the instructor may appropriately respond if the student fails to complete satisfactorily the missed assignment or examination within a reasonable time after the excused absence.

How can I be prepared for an emergency?

Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement requires exiting and assembling outside. Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy. Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the building. Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructor in writing during the first week of class. In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors.

Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department, The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office. Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): 512-232-5050

Does this course carry a FLAG?

You betcha... Quantitative Reasoning

This course carries the Quantitative Reasoning flag. Quantitative Reasoning courses are designed to equip you with skills that are necessary for understanding the types of quantitative arguments you will regularly encounter in your adult and professional life. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your use of quantitative skills to analyze real-world problems.