General Chemistry Laboratory I, Chem 161

FALL 2004

Dr. Suzanne Theresa Mabrouk

General Information

Office Number: Byrd Hall room 401
Office Hours: If you have difficulty with course concepts or have questions, please feel free to drop by for help. Keep in mind that regular help will assist you in mastering the material. If you find that I am already helping other students during office hours, ask if you may join. I usually help more than one student at a time, with each student interject questions.
- M 1-2 pm
- W 9-10 am
- R 3-5 pm
- open door policy
- by appointment
Phone Number: 953-7788
Email Address: mabrouks@citadel.edu
If you need help at night, the best way to reach me is via email. I am never receptive to phone calls at home.

General Course Information

Required Text: General Chemistry Laboratory, Chemistry 161 Laboratory Manual by J. R. Blanyon and L. V. McAfee
Co-requisite: Chem 151
Course Objective: By taking this course concurrently with General Chemistry I, Chem 151, the student will gain laboratory experience and the opportunity to verify or to invalidate concepts taught in lecture. By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- report appropriate significant figures on mass and volume measurements
- determine the density of a solid
- know the difference between chemical and physical changes
- determine the chemical formula of a hydrate
- balance a chemical equation
- know the properties of acids and bases
- know the properties of electrolytes and nonelectrolytes
- know the chemical reactivity of metals
- determine the enthalpy of a chemical reaction
- identify ions by their flame tests
- know the properties of metal and nonmetal oxides
- determine the molar mass of a substance.

Course Grading Policy

Attendance: Attendance at each laboratory is mandatory, as described in the college catalog, p. 25. All lab work will be done independently, unless otherwise stipulated. Failure to be present in lab due to guard duty, procurement leave, honor court trials, etc. will result in a 0 on that day's quiz and lab report. Attendance will be taken part way through the experiment in the lab room; therefore students who never appear in the lab or execute the experiment will be marked as absent.
Make-up: There will be no make-up labs in this course. However, two quizzes and two lab reports will be dropped at the end of the semester. One of each will be dropped for mid-semester grades.
Honor in the Class: All students will adhere to the Citadel honor code described in The Guidon, and as such will not cheat on any work submitted to the instructor for a grade. Cheating will not be tolerated!
Quizzes: Each week, there will be a quiz on (1) the last experiment (chemical concepts, lab techniques, and safety practices) and (2) the reading for the new experiment. Quizzes will be given at the begining of the lab period. The first quiz will address the course syllabus. At the end of the semester, two lab quizzes will be dropped. One quiz will be dropped for mid-semester grades. The remaining quizzes will be averaged for 60% of the course grade.
Final Exam: There is no final exam in this lab course.
Laboratory Reports: Lab reports, turn-in sheets, are due the next lab meeting. All questions on lab reports are to be answered independently of classmates. Late lab reports will not be accepted for a grade. At the end of the semester, two lab reports will be dropped. One report will be dropped for mid-semester grades. The remaining reports will be averaged for 40% of the course grade.
Lab Duty: Each week, each student will sign-up for a specific duty in the lab room after completing the experiment. This task must be performed following completion of the experiment and before leaving lab. The student must then have that area checked by the professor before leaving lab. Until the professor approves the work, the student may not leave lab.
Midterm Grade: One quiz and one lab report will be dropped at mid-semester. The remainder will be averaged and used to calculate the student's coure grade. Grades will be assigned based on the scale given below.
Final Course Grade: At the end of the course, the two lowest quiz grades and the two lowest lab report grades will be dropped and the remainder averaged. The quiz average will constitue 60% of the course grade and lab reports 40%.

Scale for Final Course Grades:

A: 100-90
B: 89-80
C: 79-70
D: 69-60
F: 59-0

Note

ADHD/ADD students: It is the responsibility of these students to provide the professor with written documentation from Dr. Barbara Zaremba regarding their special needs. According to Citadel policy, all letters addressing special needs must be processed by Dr. Zaremba. Letters must be received by this professor at least two days prior to the quiz and mutually acceptable arrangements must be made by this same timeframe between the professor and the student.

Classroom Attendance and Etiquette

Safe Lab Practices

Food, drink, tobacco, smoking, and gum are prohibited in the lab.
Cell phones, pagers, other electronic communication devices, headsets, and other entertainment equipment are prohibited in the lab; these devices can distract a student, thus causing a dangerous situation.
To prevent eye loss, students must wear goggles at all times while working in the chemistry lab. Any student caught working without adequate eye protection will be required to wash their eyes at the eyewash station.
Students will alert their lab professor of broken glassware, mercury spills, and any accidents that happen.
Students will adhere to the safety precautions given for each experiment to minimize risk. In order for students to adhere to the safety precautions given in lab, they must be awake during lab lecture. Sleeping is prohibited both in lab and lab lecture. Drowsy students should stand at the back of the room during lab lecture. Drowsy students will not be allowed in the lab room.
Any student endangering the life of a classmate or the professor will be removed from the lab.
To minimize exposure to harmful chemicals, students will recap bottles following usage and clean-up any spills.
Excess and spilled chemicals should be added to the appropriate waste bottle in the lab room (hood or side bench).
Glassware should not be dried with paper towels, as paper fragments will be left behind.
Broken glass should be placed in the cardboard box for glass.
Extinguished matches should be placed under running water before putting into crock.
All borrowed equipment must be returned before leaving the lab.
Gas jets must be turned off when not in use. Burners should not be left unattended.
Students will clean their bench space after each expertiment, leaving it empty of all glassware and other paraphenalia.
After using weigh trays, the container will be placed in the trash, the ceramic crocks.

This page was created by Dr. Suzanne T. Mabrouk (mabrouks@citadel.edu) on 8/16/04 (last updated: 8/20/04).