Chemistry 13H
Spring 2007
This www site is still very much under construction and will be updated continuously throughout the semester.
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Professor Paul S. Weiss
Office: 407 Davey Laboratory (but about to change!)
Phone: (814) 865-3693
E-mail: stm@psu.edu
Instant Messenger: PSWeiss
Office Hours: Drop in or by appointment
Send e-mail to Paul
Aministrative Assistant: Steve Bumbarger
Office: 415 Davey Laboratory (also about to change!)
Phone: (814) 865-7817
E-mail: sxb10@psu.edu
AIM: catsman4
Grader: Hillary Grube
Phone: (717) 823-3653 (cell)
E-mail: hsg5001@psu.edu
AIM: RedHot4Him99
Assistant: Amanda Moore
Phone: (814) 863-8220
E-mail: amm@nano.psu.edu
AIM: amoo969
Our Demonstrator: Phil Stemple
Office 12 Osmond (at the front of the lecture hall)
Phone: (814) 865-5542
E-mail: pas132@psu.edu
We will have excellent guest lecturers. Stay tuned.
Text
While we will use Chemistry: The Central Science, by Brown, LeMay and
Burnstein, 10th edition, we will also use much supplementary material and www links.
Learning in Chem 13H
This is an exciting course for many reasons. We are able to cover many of the highlights of chemistry in a relatively informal way. This introduction is meant to guide you through many future years of scientific thinking and discussion, citizenship, and possibly even more chemistry.
Much of what you learn, you will learn on your own or from each other. This will allow us greater latitude in class. For instance, nearly every Friday class will be a discussion. If you have topics to discuss and know in advance, let us (instructors and classmates) know so that we can prepare for a higher level discussion.
While we will cover everything in the regular (Chem 13) version of this course, we will do it much faster (!) in order to allow us to pursue many other additional topics. This will require a great deal of work on your part. Please be prepared for it and budget the time for it. Anticipate that the lectures, the readings, and the homeworks will be complementary rather than overlapping. You will be responsible for the material from all of these sources. Similarly, your participation in class is required both for discussions and for the education of your classmates and professor. There is little that we plan to say that is so critical that a good classroom discussion would not be preferable.
Unlike other general chemistry classes, we will cover how it is that we know what we think we do and how we test that understanding. We will develop an understanding of what experiments and theory are required to answer fundamental chemical and scientific questions.
Chemistry's contribution to humanity an ongoing IUPAC project.
CRC Handbook Online (you must be logged in through Penn State or another subscribing institution to use this link)
The Elements.
Using SciFinder Scholar at Penn State
How a scanning electron microscope works.
Whole brain atlas.
View biological molecules at NIH's Molecules R Us.
Enzymes -- 3D Views and related links.
Scanning probe microscopy (our research) discussion. See my group's main web page and associated links.
Natural radioactivity and other links.
Feynman Lecture: "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom"
Energy conversions and Physical Constants from NIST
Stereo images at the exploratorium.
Some chemistry demos on video
Seminars in the Eberly
College of Science.
Wednesday 17 January 2007 (Including cameo appearances by: Hillary Grube & Amanda Moore)
Introduction
Measurements of Single Molecules in Biology and Chemistry I
Friday 19 January 2007
Measurements of Single Molecules in Biology and Chemistry II
HW Due:
Find a recent (2006 or later) journal article from Science or Nature that discusses single-molecule measurements.
Provide a summary of the article in ca. 10 sentences. Discuss the goals of the work and the technique(s) used.
Attach a copy of the article to the homework.
Write and answer your own homework problem, as described in class.
Monday 22 January 2007
Acids & Bases I
Read: Chapter 15, Sections 4.2-4, 16.1-2.
HW Due:
Your own problem, as described in class.
Decide on a favorite energy unit.
In this unit give an estimate of or the range for:
Visible photon energy
Typical chemical bond energy
Ionization potential of one common element
Also find the energy range for UV-A and UV-B light
Draw an energy level diagram for:
fluoresence
absorption
Compare the sensitivity and specificity of each.
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Acids & Bases II
NIST Optical Tweezers Page including the Adhesion Movie
Mass spectroscopy Tutorial (replacing a broken link).
Mass spectroscopy and some others, too, including nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr).
Read: Sections 16.3-8.
HW: 16.1, 13-18, 21-24, 26, 27, 38, 41-44, 92, 101
Jenna's extra problem for you!
And, as always, your own problem, as described in class.
What region of the spectrum (give both energy and wavelength ranges are useful for:
Core-level spectroscopies (e.g. X-ray fluorescence discussed in class)
Valence shell spectroscopies
Vibrational spectroscopies
Rotational spectroscopies
What color is table salt when: in a flame, in a shaker, or spread lightly on a table or piece of paper? Why?
Find an article on fluorescence published since 1 January 2001 in an archival journal. Give the full citation including: Author list, journal, volume, page number, and year. Write ca. five sentences describing what the authors were trying to learn. Your article must be printed (whether or not you capture or read it electronically).
Once again, try starting with the top journals like Science and Nature.
Friday 26 January 2007
Discussion Class
Prof. David Pratt and his group at the University of Pittsburgh studies conformational changes of molecules by determining moments of inertia using rotational spectroscopy, as we described in class.
Prof. Will Castleman and his group at Penn State made the measurements of solvated protons that we discussed (and others that we will!).
Acids & Bases Reading: Sections 16.8-11, 17.1.
HW: 16.48-60 even, 65-68, 94, 98, 99.
Also, your own problem as described in class.
Monday 29 January 2007
Acids & Bases III
Read: 17.1 (common ion effect), 17.2-3 (buffers & titrations), 7.1-4 (periodicity)
HW: 17.5, 9-11, 13-16 (common ion effect & buffers)
Explain the relative acid strengths of:
H2SO4 vs. H2SO3 and
H2SO4 vs. H2SeO4
Problems: 16.69-74, 77-80, 83-85, 88, 90
Allison's famous cheese problem
Also, your own problem as always (and I am going to stop listing it now).
Check out Prof. Will Castleman's
work, including solvation in clusters.
Wednesday 31 January 2007
Buffers and Titrations, Solubility
Acid Strength vs. Structure
Read: Sections 17.4-6
HW: 7.12, 21, 24, 32, 36
17.17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 35-37, 39
and 7.50, 54, 60, 64, 65
Friday 2 February 2007
Periodic Trends
Project: Select your element for the poster and paper (from a hat!).
Read: 7.5-7, 4.2, 17.6-7
HW:
Hallie's solubility problem, and
Jenna's pH problem.
How are the following measured quantitatively: ionization energy, electron affinity?
(This latter problem will be graded in addition to the normal homework.)<
How to make Paul jealous.
Saturday 3 February 2007, 11 AM, 100 Thomas
Please try to attend:
Frontier Lectures in Broken Brains
Prof. Kay Han - Addiction: A Bad Case of Good Memory
Monday 5 February 2007 (Guest Lecturer: Amanda Moore)
Finish Solubility, Problem Session
Choose your element, if you have not.
HW: Start researching your elements!
Focus on ONE topic that is related to the element chosen in the life sciences.
Remember that your presentation time is only four minutes for your poster, so you need to have a single take-away message.
(Do not forget to make up a problem.)
Wednesday 7 February 2007(Guest Lecturer: Will Hancock)
Biomolecular Motors Discussion
Read: Sections 19.1-3.
HW: 17.45-47, 50, 53, 56, 59-61, 63, 65, 66, 94, 97
How are the following measured quantitatively: covalent & ionic radii?
(These latter problem will be graded in addition to the normal homework.)
Also, another go at measuring: ionization energy, electron affinity, if you were not happy with your answers for Monday.
Find a paper that includes optical trapping measurements that was not mentioned in class, from the years 2002-2007, and is in one of the following journals:
Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Journal of Biological Chemistry, or Biophysical Journal.
(Hint: if you saw a paper you liked, do a citation search on it.)
Provide a summary of the article in ca. 10 sentences. Discuss the goals of the work and how optical tweezers were used. What other techniques were used and how?
Attach a copy of the article to the homework.
Friday 9 February 2007
Measurements of Periodic Properties Discusssed
Diffraction and Mass Spectrometry
Diffraction Discussion
The diffraction demo is from a visitor we had at Penn State: Prof. Amand Lucas, of Namur, Belgium.
He prepared it for a TV show on How X-rays Cracked the Structure of DNA.
An elegantly simple optical diffraction demonstration with an inexpensive laser pointer is used to show the way in
which x-rays can reveal the structure of crystals in particular the double helix structure of DNA.
Revealing the Backbone Structure of B-DNA from Laser Optical Simulations of Its X-ray Diffraction Diagram, A. A. Lucas, Ph. Lambin, R. Mairesse, and M. Mathot,
Journal of Chemical Education 76, 378 (1999).
Saturday 10 February 2007, 11 AM, 100 Thomas
Please try to attend:
Frontier Lectures in Broken Brains
Prof. Anne Andrews - Serotonin and the Misbehaving Brain: Unnraveling the Biology of Anxiety and Depression
NB- Prof. Andrews will give guest lectures later in the semester.
Monday 12 February 2007
Thermodynamics I:
Spontaneity, Enthalpy, Entropy
Read: Sections 19.4-7
HW: 19.1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 20, 34
From a table (cite the table): find the C-C bond distances for single, double, and triple bonds.
Give the C-C single, double, and triple bond spacings for a specific molecules for each (say which molecules and cite your sources).
Go over your poster topic with me by AIM or email or after class.
Even better, if you can, turn in your preliminary versions of your poster abstracts and I will give you feedback on them.
Wednesday 14 February 2007 Cancelled class! So sad...
Thermodynamics II:
Free Energy, Equilibrium Constants, and Work
HW: 19.44-48, 53, 54, 56-59, 67, 68, 71, 75
Thursday 15 February 2007
NEW, REVISED POSTER PRINTING INFO (in pdf format))
Please try to mail your poster to Jackie by Wednesday 14 February, if at all possible. You must do this if she is going to print your poster for Friday class. Her email address is: jackie@chem.psu.edu.
Final poster abstracts due by 5 PM!
Download template here (right click and use SaveAs).
Rename it YourName13H1abs.html
Fill in the title, name, element, and abstract sections, then email to Paul & Steve by clicking here and including the file as an attachment.
Friday 16 February 2007
Thermodynamics II:
Free Energy, Equilibrium Constants, and Work
Thermodynamics III & Electrochemistry I
Saturday 17 February 2007, 11 AM, 100 Thomas
Please try to attend:
Frontier Lectures in Broken Brains
Prof. Robert Levenson - Schizophrenia: The Broken Brain and How to Fix It
Sunday 18 February 2007
600 PM Elements of Life Poster session -- 2nd Floor Osmond/Davey overpass.
You will have four minutes to present followed by one to two minutes of discussion.
A few thoughts:
Keep a single focus.
Practice your presentation out loud! Work through rough spots repeatedly (memorize words if necessary).
Props and assistants are ok, if justified by your presentation.
Use large, readable fonts. More detail can be in your presentation than on your poster.
Pizza provided.
An example elements poster, as requested, from John McManigle of the Chem 13H '05 class.
Grade sheet we will use (pdf).
Mg Tyler Braun
Mn Ian Price
Tc* Shanna Pokras
Sr Chris Goodrich
K Tom Aborn
Fe Zach Pierpont
Co Ben Kuznicki
Ni Rory Byrne-Dugan
Cu Ben Carlsen
Cr Lauren Sawarynski
S Elizabeth Shenk
Se Abby Horstmann
Si Marie Gildow
F Tim McFadden
Ti Lubov Zeifman
K Tom Aborn
Na Paul Varano
Li Yan Shipelskiy
Ba Matt Hollander
Sn Patrick Powers
Cl Mike Hostetler
I Gena Renninger
Pt Caitlyn Zudans
B Jen Blackman
As Kevin Bancroft
Pb Cassandra Sotos
Hg Andre Umali
Elements of Life Poster session abstracts
Chemical & Engineering News Essays on the Elements
Monday 19 February 2007
Transition Metals
Electrochemistry II: Batteries, Electrolysis, Corrosion
Read: Oxidation Numbers pp. 139-141, 322, and 20.1-4.
Kir's Annie Oakley problem.
Wednesday 21 February 2007
Electrochemistry III
Metallurgy I
Transition Metals
Read: 20.5-9
HW: 20.9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20-24, 35, 38
Pick out a recent journal article (try Science or Nature) of keen scientific interest to you and write a 5-10 sentence critical synopsis. Choose a topic that involves chemistry in some way. Attach a copy of the paper.
You may use www resources as a guide, but you must use the archival literature as your source.
Toilet volcano gone awry
Friday 23 February 2007
Electrochemistry II: Batteries, Electrolysis, Corrosion
Read Sections 23.1-23.8
HW: 23.9, 18-20, 30, 32, 33
Additional HW: 20.70, 74, 84-86, 91, 93, 97, 105
Assign oxidation states to five molecules or molecular ions, each containing at least three different elements.
Erica's elemental problem.
Saturday 24 February 2007, 11 AM, 100 Thomas
Please try to attend:
Frontier Lectures in Broken Brains
Prof. Gong Chen - Brain Repair: Hopes and Challenges
Monday 26 February 2007 (Guest Lecturer Tom Mallouk)
Fuel Cell Discussion
Read three fuel cell handouts given out in class.
Where's Paul?
Wednesday 28 February 2007 (Guest Lecturer: Prof. Gong Chen)
Stem Cell Discussion
Read: Stem cell article distributed in class earlier.
HW: Describe one enzyme and one therapeutic reagent utilizing a complexed transition metal. Explain in one paragraph
for each what it does and where it operates.
Suzanne's carbon monoxide problem.
How is the speed of light measured?
Where's Paul?
Friday 2 March 2007 (Guest Lecturer Amanda Moore)
Electrochemistry III: Batteries and Corrosion
Read: 24.1-6
HW: Show energy level diagrams for the filling of the d orbitals for d0-d10 octahedral complexes. Show which electron numbers can have high and low spin complexes and show both the high and low spin electron configurations.
Tom Mallouk's Fuel Cell Problems:
1) Calculate the Carnot efficiency of a H2/O2 engine operating at:
a) T1 = 200 °C
b) T2 = 500 °C
2) What is the maximum possible efficiency of a H2/O2 fuel cell running at 25 °C (=298 K)?
3) a) Balance the steam reforming reactions for coal (mostly C) and oil (assume it is C8H18) for the products H2 and CO2
b) How many moles of H2 do you get per mole of CO2 produced in each case?
c) Use the thermochemical tables (back of book) to determine how many kJ of energy you get per mole of C, assuming the H2 is used in a fuel cell at 0.8 V.
4) Write the balanced half reactions for a fuel cell that runs on natural
gas (CH4).
5) What is the Eo for this natural gas cell?
compound deltaGfo (kJ/mol)
CH4(g) -50.8
CO2(g) -394.4
H2O(l) -273.1 (-237.1, as corrected your classmate)
6) What fraction of the available free energy is lost by reforming the CH4
+ H2? How does it affect Eo for the cell?
7) Repeat the calculation for methanol (CH3OH), deltaGfo = -166.2 (CH3OH can
be made from renewables (wood, etc.)).
8) What is the available free energy per mole of carbon in CH4 and CH3OH
(relevant to the production of CO2 greenhouse gas)?
Repeat the calculation for coal (C) and oil (CH2).
Monday 5 March 2007
Exam I Review
Bring questions/problems
Here is a pdf of a previous midterm exam.
Monday 5 March 2007, 8-10, PM 207 Thomas Special Review Session (Hillary Grube)
Exam Review
Wednesday 7 March 2007
Exam I
Friday 9 March 2007
Optional Demonstration Class
in which Ashley set off a string of H2 balloons (still),
Patrick lay gun cotton across his arm (still),
Hillary made gummy worms, and
Liz handily won the nylon rope competition.
Papers Due (see requirements below).
12-16 March 2007
Enjoy Spring Break!
Monday 19 March 2007 (Guest Lecturer: Anne Andrews)
Kinetics I (with examples from neuroscience!)
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Go Over Exam
Transition Metals III
Friday 23 March 2007
Kinetics II
Monday 26 March 2007 (Guest Lecturer Anne Andrews)
Hydrogen and Oxygen
Read: 22.7-9 (nonmetals)
HW: 22.55-58, 61-65, 68-70 (nonmetals)
Thermite movie
Wednesday 28 March 2007 (Guest Lecturer Anne Andrews)
Nitrogen and Carbon
Friday 30 March 2007
Enzymes
More Carbon and Fullerenes
Read: 22.1-6 (nonmetals)
HW: 22.15-17, 20-26, 29, 41-45, 50-52 (nonmetals)
Where do the values for terrestrial abundances of the elements originate, how are they estimated, and what do they estimate?
Monday 2 April 2007
Materials I: Metals, Semiconductors and Insulators
Read: 14.1-3 (kinetics)
HW: 14.4, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 24, 25, 30, 31 (kinetics)
Wednesday 4 April 2007
Materials II: Polymers and Ceramics
A video of the clock reaction.
Read: 14-4-5
HW: 14.34-37, 40, 41, 45, 46, 50, 52, 53
Choose a metal that was not discussed in the poster sessions (no transuranium elements without prior permission).
In one page or less:
1) Identify its source (location, chemical identity, impurities).
2) Describe how it is collected.
3) Describe how it is reduced (if required).
4) Describe how it is purified.
5) Find out how much it costs as elemental metal.
Friday 6 April 2007
Polymers
Nanoscience Discussion
HW: Find a paper on nanoscience from the years 2002-2007 that is in one of the following journals:
Science, Nature, or Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
(Hint: if you saw a paper you liked, do a citation search on it.)
Provide a summary of the article in ca. 10 sentences. Discuss the goals of the work and how the measurements were performed. What techniques were used and how?
Attach a copy of the article to the homework.
The Lieber Group Page at Harvard.
Links of interest:
National Nanotechnology Homepage
Monday 9 April 2007
Kinetics III: Enzymes, PCR
Fullerenes, cont.
Nuclear Chemistry I
You should have already read Chapter 14. Please review it for class.
Wednesday 11 April 2007
No class
Instead, please go to one of the four lectures listed over the next three days, and write a short synopsis. You may use resources other than the lecture.
830 AM, Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel - Presidents Hall IV
Materials Day Plenary Lecture
The Art and Practice of Designing and Constructing Molecular Electronic Devices, (Sir) J. Fraser Stoddart, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Links on reaction dynamics:
1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Abstracts for second posters due.
Thursday 12 April 2007
4 PM, 117 Osmond Laboratory
"Fermion Pairing with Ultracold Atoms" (Whitfield lecture in physics), Randall Hulett, Rice University
8 PM, 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), Eberly College of Science and Department of Chemistry
"Ion Conduction and Selectivity in Potassium (K+) Channels" (Preistley lecture #1 of 2), Roderick MacKinnon, Rockefeller University
Friday 13 April 2007
Nuclear Chemistry II
NSF Fullerene Blurb.
Rick Smalley's www page at Rice University.
New York Times article on fullerenes.
1 PM, 100 Life Sciences Building (Berg Auditorium), Eberly College of Science and Department of Chemistry
"Principles of Gating in Potassium (K+) Channels" (Preistley lecture #2 of 2), Roderick MacKinnon, Rockefeller University
Sunday 15 April 2007
600 PM Frontiers of Materials Poster session -- 2nd Floor Osmond/Davey overpass (if the weather cooperates, we will move outside for the earlier posters).
As before, you will have four minutes to present followed by one to two minutes of discussion.
Dinner provided. Visitors and alumni welcome.
Posters:
MRI Magnets Lubov Zeifman
Organic Magnets Mike Hostetler
Organic LEDs Ben Kuznicki
Biomimetic Three-Dimensional Woven Composite Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Lauren Sawarynski
Dacron in Biomedical Applications Jen Blackman
Electromagnetic Absorbent (Stealth) Materials Tom Aborn
Carbon Fibers Cassandra Sotos
Carbon Nanotubes Paul Varano
Cubic Boron Nitride Abby Horstmann
Kevlar Gena Renninger
Concrete Kevin Bancroft
Aluminum Oxynitride for Bulletproof Glass Tim McFadden
Shear-Thickening Fluid for Body Armor Patrick Powers
Petroleum Cokes Ben Carlsen
Nitrocellulose Nate Kepner
Anti-Fouling Paint Tyler Braun
Gore-Tex Marie Gildow
Teflon Elizabeth Shenk
Shape Memory Alloys Andre Umali
Thermoelectric Coolers Rory Byrne-Dugan
Piezoelectric Materials Shanna Pokras
Nano Motors Caitlyn Zudans
Fanciful DNA Structures Zach Pierpont
Hafnium Oxide as a Dielectric Matt Hollander
Miraculin Yan Shipelskiy
Breathable Perfluorocarbons Used in Lung Trauma Patients and Deep-Water Diving Ian Price
Artificial Blood Chris Goodrich
Monday 16 April 2007
Nuclear Chemistry II:
Nucelar Stability, Half-Life, Mass-Energy Conversion
Breeder Reactors, Nuclear Waste Handling and Disposal
Read: 21.4-6
HW: 21.32-37, 42, 45, 48, 49
Wednesday 18 April 2007 (Guest Lecturer: Amanda Moore)
Quantum Mechanics I
HW:
Do any isotopes undergo both positron emission and electron capture (i.e., one or the other with finite probability)? If so, give an example with the half-lives for each process.
Go through all the known isotopes (or at least 10, if there are too many) of a particular element with Z>20. List which are stable. List the decay pathways and half-lives of those that are not.
Allison's problem with Matt (that does not sound right, hmmm).
Where's Paul? Chairing a meeting at Snowbird, Utah:
Foundations of Nanoscience
Friday 20 April 2007 (Guest Lecturer: Amanda Moore)
Quantum Mechanics Discussion II
Read: Sections 21.7-8
HW: 21.28-31,34,35,40,43,46,47
Monday 23 April 2007
Metallurgy
Control rod configuration, as discussed in class.
Also, check this out!
Schedule your final exam! Available dates:
Thursday 4 May, Friday 5 May, Monday 8 May, and Tuesday 9 May (selected weekend times are possible)
Wednesday 25 April 2007
Metallurgy II
Friday 27 April 2007
Course Review I
Please attend Prof. Ahmed Zewail's lecture if possible:
4 PM, Hub Auditorium, Mysteries of Time
Eberly Distinguished Lecturer in Science
Monday 30 April 2007
Course Review II
HW: Write a 5-10 sentence description of the function of an enzyme that we did not cover in class or posters. You may include mechanism and structure as appropriate.
Tuesday 1 May 2007, 8 PM 121 Thomas
Hillary's Course Review
Wednesday 2 May 2007
Nanotechnology Discussion + SRTEs
HW: Summarize in 5-10 sentences the most important thing you learned this semester. Find a related literature reference that goes beyond our discussion. Prepare and answer a question on it.
Come up with three research groups of interest to you at Penn State. List them and give one or two sentences describing what each do in terms of scientific goals and techniques used.
Thursday 3 May 2007
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
145 PM Gena Renninger
230 PM Shanna Pokras
315 PM Elizabeth Shenk
400 PM Lubov Zeifman
Friday 4 May 2007
Final Review and Discussion: What Do We Want to be Able to Measure?
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
1115 AM Tim McFadden
1245 PM Mike Hostetler
130 PM Lauren Sawarynski
345 PM Nate Kepner
430 PM Abby Horstmann
515 PM Marie Gildow
Demos:
Catalytic degradation of H2O2 by MnO2 movie | Thermite movie 1 | Thermite movie 2 | Last balloon of the year movie
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
Expect the exam to take ca. 45 min.
As announced, if you received less than 85% of the homework points, your final exam will be a rigorous test of general chemistry with special emphasis on the homework that you missed!
Saturday 5 May 2007
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
2 PM Ben Kuznicki
245 PM Tom Aborn
330 PM PM Patrick Powers
415 PM Paul Varano
5 PM Rory Byrne-Dugan
6 PM Matt Hollander
Monday 7 May 2007
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
1030 AM Andre Umali
1 PM Zack Pierpont
230 PM Ian Price
315 PM Yan Shipelskiy
400 PM Kevin Bancroft
Tuesday 8 May 2007
Individual Oral Final Exams
Held in 128 Davey.
945 AM Jen Blackman
1030 AM Cassandra Sotos
1115 AM Ben Carlsen
145 PM Caitlyn Zudans
230 PM Tyler Braun
315 PM Chris Goodrich
Some Possible Discussion Topics (from previous years)
Memory.
Food Chemistry and nutrition.
RNA Catalysis.
Nuclear magnetic resonance.
Nanolithography.
Neurotoxins.
Drugs of abuse.
Directed assembly of molecules and nanoparticles.
Neurochemistry.
Michael Faraday.
Bring in topics to discuss. These can be aligned to the topics we are covering, but do not need to be. If we can discuss them intelligently, we will do so. If not, we will find some references and cover them next week. Every Friday class will work this way.
Already covered
Single-molecule measurements.
Stem cells.
Fuel cells.
Upcoming
Nanolithography
Organic magnets.
Nuclear magnetic resonance, and magnetic resonance imaging.
Formulations.
Nanobes.
Grading
1. Class participation: 20%
2. Homework: 10%
3. Paper and poster presentation of researched topic (elements of life -- specific elements will be assigned in class): 20% (10% each)
Paper Requirements:
The paper should be approximately 10 pages in length, double spaced (double spacing is important to leave room for my comments) in a 12 point font, with 1" margins all around. The paper should include figures and complete references (not www references). The figures will not count in the length. Please take into account the comments that you get from your presentation in preparing your paper.
4. One in-class exam (1 hr) and one poster on materials: 30% (15% each)
Note that pre-approved make-up or conflict exams will be oral exams.
No paper is required for this second poster.
5. Oral final exam: 20%
If you received less than 85% of the homework points, your final exam will be a rigorous test of general chemistry with special emphasis on the homework that you missed!
Note that my ability to give oral final exams depends upon having 30 or fewer students in the class by the end of the semester.
TOTAL: 100%
All Penn State policies (http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/) regarding ethics and honorable behavior apply to this course.
Homework requirements.
6 May 2007
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