There are many links to help you write your laboratory report. Remember to attach the checklist to the top of the report. If you use the checklist to help you understand what should be included in the report you should be able to write a complete report.

Most common mistakes:

1. Failure to check grammar and spelling.
2. Writing a long abstract that doesn’t get to the point and identify the unknown metal.
3. Failure to provide references.
4. Failure to actually describe the unknown metal
5. Failure to include all the sections on the checklist

Your laboratory notebook is also due.

Most common mistakes:

1. Incomplete Table of Contents.
2. Missing ‘reflections’ section – what went right, what went wrong.
3. Incorrect significant figures!
4. Missing dates.
5. Missing observations: descriptions of what you see.

There will be a quiz on Chapter Five. Know your scientists: Dalton, Faraday, Rutherford, J.J. Thompson, Chadwick.

Can you give examples of isotopes? This article on Nuclear Medicine may be of interest to you.

See you on Sunday.

Another busy Sunday goes by. In this class we focused on chemical change and heat energy. Chapter Four begins by discussing change: chemical change and physical change. Chemical change takes place through the formation of new substances by the making and breaking of chemical bonds between atoms. Physical change includes state changes like melting, evaporating, freezing and mechanical changes like glass breaking into a million pieces.  We went on to define what is meant by energy. We discussed how to classify energy into two types: potential and kinetic. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion and heat, a type of kinetic energy, arises from atomic and molecular motion. Potential energy is stored energy – and energy can be stored in chemical bonds. All forms of stored energy arise from four fundamental forces in our universe; gravity, electromagnetic force, the weak force (radioactivity) and the strong force (nuclear binding energy). Energy released during chemical changes is mostly a consequences of electromagnetic force. Continue reading →

I need to emphasize that the laboratory notebook should be the ONLY document you use in the laboratory. I have seen many students carrying around the textbook, scraps of paper, my handouts, printed laboratory instructions – but if you are properly prepared for lab you do not need any of these things – you only need your notebook.

When you collect data I have seen many students write this data on some piece of paper with the intend to place it in the notebook later. This is incorrect laboratory procedure. All data should be recorded DIRECTLY into the laboratory notebook.

I have even seen some folks using pencil. All records should be in permanent ink.

Yes the notebook may become messy. Yes you may record errors and then need to make corrections. But this technique ensures that the data in the notebook is original and not a copy.

Please come to laboratory prepared. Please USE your laboratory notebook correctly. Part of your evaluation in the laboratory is my observations of how you use your laboratory notebook.

It is very, very important to come to class prepared. I saw a few instances of very poor preparation and some instances of average preparation and far too few instances of excellent preparation so here are some tips to follow:

1. Print the laboratory! Coming to class without the laboratory printed does not make a very good impression.
2. Read the laboratory.
3. Takes notes on the laboratory in your laboratory notebook. Look up any terminology that you do not understand. Your laboratory book should never be blank when I stamp it.

That’s it! Those three steps will make a big difference in how the laboratory goes for you.

During lab there is ONE VERY IMPORTANT RULE: write directly in your laboratory book. Do not recopy! And write in ink!

Next week we have two laboratories to do – Observing Chemical and Physical Changes and Food Energy. I will post “Food Energy” very soon so check back for it. The lecture will be on Chapter Four.

Spend some time watching videos from The Periodic Table of Videos. You will learn a lot and have fun too. This is a great way to get to know the elements.

Mixture of salt and sand

I hope you had fun today and learned something too! We saw examples of mixtures: water and carbon dioxide, chocolate, water and air, sand and salt, and we learned a little bit about physical properties – miscibility, viscosity, crystal form, luster, solubility (a chemical property). Hopefully you also made some careful observations. It is amazing what you begin to see once you pay attention to detail.

The quiz next week will be on any material that is in Chapter Three. You will need to read it! The quiz may have questions on it that I did not cover. Review the two powerpoints I showed in class today. Go over them more slowly. Email me if you have any questions.

See you next week.

Sundays go by in a flash – and this time we found ourselves rushing to finish the laboratories. Some folks were very well prepared – their labs were printed, they had their notebooks and had even taken notes on the lab!! That’s the way to succeed.

We covered a lot of territory and you will need to practice what was introduced – so IN ADDITION to doing homework from the textbook – you should work through all of the drill sheets that pertain to the material we covered. We covered adding and subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers while presenting the results with the correct number of significant figures. We covered the metric system – kilo, milli, ( we mentioned micro and nano but I won’t test on these). We worked through some conversions. We talked about density and I did a few density problems. Practice solving for mass, volume and density given two of these three quantities. We spent the afternoon working through laboratories. We didn’t finish the density laboratory so we will continue that next Sunday.

One VERY IMPORTANT assignment is to design a business card presenting an element of the periodic table. Please make 30 copies of your card. Every student will receive every card so when we finish this activity you will have a nice set of flash cards you can use to learn the names and symbols of the elements. I provide a template that you may use (but you don’t have to use) as a pdf and as a doc file.

Next Sunday is all about the elements. Please read Chapter Three. See you then.

Checklist:

1. You have a laboratory notebook.
2. You’ve printed out copies of the two labs we will be doing tomorrow.
3. You’ve learned the vocabulary related to the scientific method and to phases and classification of matter in Chapter One.
4. You know how to count significant figures.
5. You know how to put a number into scientific notation.
6. You’ve read over Chapter Two.
7. You are planning to bring your calculator to class tomorrow.

See you soon.

Laboratory Class Data:
Flour Data – Measurement of Mass
Water Data – Measurement of Volume

Today was a very busy day! But this is typical of taking a weekend class. Several folks arrived late – you’ll need to set two alarms because you will find that it isn’t possible to succeed if you can’t arrive at 8:30 a.m. Beginning next week you will have a quiz at this time.

So what did we cover today? We covered course policies, Chapter One and the beginnings of Chapter Two. There were many new words to learn. We began with a discussion of the scientific method. I suggest you read this article: Introduction to the Scientific Method Here are a few definitions for you to memorize:

hypothesis

A tentative explanation of an observation that can be tested by experimentation

observation

information obtained through the senses or the instruments that extend the senses

theory

a generarlized explanation of a class of phenomena supported by a large number of experiments and/or observational data

law

a concise statement of cause and effect with no known exception

data

qualitative – descriptive observations

quantitative – numerical measurements or the results of calculations from numerical measurements

There are other words – it is important to note all the words in bold face type in Chapter One and know the meaning of these terms. We also covered the phases of matter: gas, liquid, and solid and all of the words for phase transitions. We then discussed the vocabulary for the classification of matter.(See PowerPoints)

After lunch we spent the afternoon in the laboratory learning about glassware and measurement. The class data we collected is available at the beginning of this entry. We just started to talk about significant figures and it was time to end the class.

Please do the drill sheets on significant figures and scientific notation. Questions like these will be on the quiz.

To prepare for next week it is important that you PRINT all of the laboratories we are scheduled to do – check the syllabus. Also read Chapter One and Chapter Two. Next week we will finish Chapter Two.

Please purchase a grid ruled composition notebook. Please view these student sample pages.

The quiz on November 14th will cover stoichiometry (limiting reactant), classification of types of energy: potential vs. kinetic, conversion of units from joules to calories, use of the equation q = mass X S.H. X delta T

Email me if you have any questions: jwalker@ccc.edu

Dear Students:

The Council on Undergraduate Research hosts a Registry of Undergraduate Researchers.  The purpose of this registry is to facilitate matchmaking between undergraduates who have research experience and a desire to pursue an advanced degree, with graduate schools seeking high quality students who are well prepared for research.  The Registry is open to students and graduate schools in the fields of Anthropology/Archaeology, Arts/Humanities, Biology/Biochemistry, Business, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Economics, Education, Engineering, English and Linguistics, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, Health Professions, History, Journalism and Communications, Mathematics/Computer Science, Physics/ Astronomy, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work and Sociology.

Any undergraduate may go to www.cur.org/ugreg/ to fill out a simple curriculum vitae form.  There is no charge to the student and records will be made available to bona fide Graduate Schools that contract with CUR for this service.  Organizations or companies seeking the students’ information for other marketing purposes will not be granted access.  Graduate School representatives may contact students to invite applications or visits to the campus and laboratory, or to share information about their research programs and financial support opportunities.

Graduate schools may provide a link to their websites, and may provide a short description of opportunities, such as research fields and fellowships. It will also be possible for institutions to place an ad on the database website if the content is related to the mission of CUR and the Undergraduate Registry.

For graduate schools that wish to review the student information, there is an access fee of $1,500 for the entire database, or $300 for one specific discipline.  Again, there is no cost to you as a student to create a profile.

We hope that students who are currently in their junior year will register now, but anyone with undergraduate research experience may register at any time.  You will be able to update your listing as appropriate, to include any summer research experience or information about Senior Theses and test scores.  We also welcome submissions by students who are engaged in Masters’ Degree programs now but who plan on going on to a PhD program. Just fill out the information on the form including the date you intend to enter a PhD program and your date of completion of your undergraduate degree.  Upload a link to your CV that contains complete information about your MS/MA degree activity (school, subject, thesis topic (if applicable), and advisor).

CUR believes that this service will be a great benefit for both students and graduate schools by narrowing the search for the right match.  So if you are interested in graduate school, please take a moment to register now.  Be sure to include a statement of your research interests, as this will be important for making the match.

Please feel free to contact me, should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Robin Howard
Senior Director, Membership Services
Council on Undergraduate Research
734 15th St NW
Suite 550
(202) 783-4810×203
(202) 783-4811 fax
robin@cur.org

Exceptional sophomores and juniors majoring in chemistry and chemical engineering can apply for a prestigious 10-week internship through the SCI Scholars Program. SCI Scholars are selected based on the strength of their application, statement of interest in an industrial internship, and letters of recommendation. Twenty-one scholars will be chosen for internship positions in the summer 2011. Visit http://www.acs.org/sci for more information.

1. Exam Two will be given October 31st.
2. No quiz on October 17th – next week.
3. Formal Lab Report on Determination of an Unknown Metal due October 17th.
4. Quiz on October 24th on Nomeclature – begin studying now!
5. Lab books will be collected next week – October 17th and all experiments will be graded except Hydrates (since you won’t have a chance to write the conclusions.)
6. The focus next week will be on Chemical Reactions – we will go over all the reactions from today’s experiments. You will have a chance to correct your errors and sort out any confusions.

My previous message is now replaced – as the message is now that the parking lot will be open and passes will be honored.

Information about the three main subatomic particles: proton, electron, neutron. You need to know the charge, relative mass, location in the atom, who discovered it, when it was discovered.

Families of the periodic table: alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, halogen, noble gas – be able to put elements into the correct family.

Know that silicon and arsenic are metalloids.

*Know the seven diatomics – hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine

(I had accidently typed carbon but you all KNOW it is not on the list of diatomic molecules so let’s think of a way to remember them for sure)

H₂ N₂ O₂ F₂ Cl₂ Br₂ I₂

How about “Hey! Never Once Forget you are Clever, Brave and Interesting!!”

Know about the natural states of phosphorus P₄ and sulfur S₈.

Be able to describe Rutherford’s gold foil experiment with a diagram. Know his hypothesis, what he learned and his conclusion – the proposal of the nuclear atom model.

Know how to interpret isotopic notation and determine how many protons, neutrons and electrons are in an atom.

Memorize five polyatomic ions = hydroxide OH^1-, nitrate NO₃^1-, carbonante CO₃^2-, sulfate SO₄^2-, cyanide CN^1-
**************************************

Here is a list of topics for Exam One:
1. Scientific Method
2. Significant Figures (Counting, Operations, Rounding, Scientific Notation)
3. Metric System (milli, centi (with length), Kilo)
4. Conversions (Dimensional Analysis) – English to Metric, Metric to English, Metric to Metric
5. Temperature Conversions
6. Density Calculations, d=m/V and m=dV and V=m/d
7. Mass by difference, Volume by difference
8. Accuracy vs. Precision
9. Physical Changes vs. Chemical Changes
10. Element Symbols
11. Dalton’s Theory
12. Counting Atoms in Compounds e.g. (NH₄)₃PO₄ has 20 atoms, 3 Nitrogen atoms, 12 Hydrogen atoms, one Phosphorus atom and 4 Oxygen atoms.

The exam will be a mixture of mulitple choice questions, short answer, and problem solving. It will begin at 8:15 and end at approximately 9:30. Please email me if you have any questions.

Please print and be prepared to do two labs: Identification of an Unknown Metal and Single Displacement Reactions.