CHEM 1311 - General Chemistry I Lecture
Syllabus for In-Person Class
Spring 2023

Instructor: Dr. Debbie Sackett
e-mail address: dsackett@austincc.edu
office: RGC 1333.03 (building 1000, enter through 1333.00)
office phone number: 512-223-3314

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Covers the fundamental facts, laws, principles, theories, and concepts of chemistry necessary for further work in science or science-related subjects. Stresses atomic structure, periodic properties of matter, chemical bonding, and molecular geometry of organic and inorganic molecules, states of matter, stoichiometry, and properties of solutions.

Prerequisites: One year of high school chemistry or CHEM 1405 (CHEM 1305 & 1105) AND MATH 1314 (college algebra) OR MATH 1324 (business math) or the equivalent. Students may need to show proof of adequate math preparation. In lieu of college algebra/elementary statistics, an ALEKS test score or appropriate high school math preparation can be evaluated by the instructor. Students who do not have the proper prerequisites will be dropped from the class.

 Co-requisite: CHEM 1111

Instructional Methodology: This is an in-person lecture.

Course Rationale: This course covers the fundamental facts; laws, principles, theories and concepts of chemistry necessary for further work in science or science related subjects.

COURSE MATERIALS

Textbook: The textbook – Chemistry from OpenStax, 2e – is available for free online.  If you prefer, you can also get a print version at a very low cost. The book is available in web view and PDF for free. You can also choose to purchase on iBooks or get a print version via the campus bookstore or from OpenStax on Amazon.com.

To access the book, go to: https://openstax.org/details/books/chemistry-2e

Calculator: You will need a scientific (NOT graphing) calculator for lecture activities and exams.

Internet and computer access: You will need to have internet access in order to watch recorded lecture videos (optional). You will need to print lecture outlines and perhaps homework assignments. Everything can be accomplished on campus.

COURSEWORK, EVALUATION, AND GRADING

Lecture Notes: An outline of the lecture notes for students can be found in Blackboard. Once a unit of material is complete, the instructor’s copy of the notes (with all of the information filled in) will be posted.

Lectures will be delivered during the schedule class time. Students can print the outlines and fill in the notes during lecture. Another option is that a student can simply watch the lectures, and print or study from the instructor completed notes at the end of a unit.

Practice Problems: Practice problems will be assigned for each unit, but not graded. Exam questions will come from the practice, homework, and lecture notes. Working the problems is strongly encouraged. Answer keys to the practice problems are posted in Blackboard.

Homework: There will be 19 graded homework assignments; one or two per week. Each assignment will be worth 5 points. Your homework grade will be based on the 15 highest grades, totaling 75 possible points or 12.5% of your final grade. You will be expected to upload your work/answers as a pdf file. More specific instructions will be provided in Blackboard.

Orientation Quiz: There will be a mandatory orientation quiz that must be completed in order to access certain class materials. This quiz is worth 9 points.

Other Quizzes: There will be 4 additional quizzes throughout the semester. These are worth 9 points each. They are untimed and not monitored. You are expected and encouraged to work together and look for outside resources to help you with these activities. I can help with the quizzes, but only in a general way.

The total possible score for the quizzes is 45 points or 7.5% of your grade.

Exam Review Assignments: Immediately following the completion of material for an exam, a set of review problems will deploy. You will submit answers via a link in Blackboard. Upon submission, the answer key and a video explanation will deploy. There is a total of 5 review assignments. These are largely graded on completion, rather than accuracy. Each is worth 6 points. The total is 30 points or 5% of your grade.

Exams: There will be five regular exams, each worth 90 points. These exams will be given in class on the tentative dates shown below. Dates may change if college closure(s) directly affect the class.

If you miss an exam, you must contact me as soon as possible in order to arrange a makeup. This will very likely be offered through the testing center, no more than two days after the scheduled exam date. You must have a compelling, documented reason for missing the exam (e.g., hospitalization or incarceration).

There is a comprehensive final, worth 90 points. The final exam is optional. You can take this exam if you wish to replace a lower grade on a previous exam with the grade from the final exam. If you take the final exam and it is your lowest grade, it will be the dropped grade.

GRADING

Your final grade is based on your 5 highest exam grades. the homework grades and the discussion board grade. There is no extra credit or alternatives to these grades.

A standard scale will be used to assign a final grade in the class, as illustrated in the table below.

LECTURE OUTLINE, TEXTBOOK REFERENCES & CALENDAR

*Test dates are tentative and will be confirmed/changed with an announcement on Blackboard.

Other important dates include:

Last day to drop without receiving a ‘W’ on your transcript: 2/1/23

Last day to withdraw from the class: 4/24/23

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION AND POLICIES

Attendance Policy: You are not required to attend lecture; however, your life will be so much easier if you do attend class.

Academic Integrity: Consider the following guidelines when accessing information for this class.

Homework, quizzes and review assignments: You may use all manner of resources to complete these activities. My goal is for you to collaborate with each other and to find resources (in addition to me) to help you be successful.

Exams: You are to use your knowledge and a limited amount of class materials (defined within the exam preparation folder in Blackboard).

Incomplete Grade Policy: An instructor may award a grade of “I” (Incomplete) if a student was unable to complete all of the objectives for the passing grade in a course due to medical/emergency reasons. Incompletes can be given if you complete 75% of the course work with at least a 70% average. An incomplete grade cannot be carried beyond the established date in the following semester. The completion date is determined by the instructor but may not be later than the final deadline for withdrawal in the subsequent semester.

Withdrawal Policy: It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that his or her name is removed from the roll should he or she decides to withdraw from the class. The instructor will not drop students, except if the student:

• does not have the proper prerequisites for the class
• has not successfully completed the orientation quiz by the deadline

If a student decides to withdraw, he or she should also verify that the withdrawal is submitted before the Final Withdrawal Date. The student is also strongly encouraged to retain their copy of the withdrawal form for their records. Students who enroll for the third or subsequent time in a course taken since Fall 2002, may be charged a higher tuition rate, for that course. State law permits students to withdraw from no more than six courses during their entire undergraduate career at Texas public colleges or universities. With certain exceptions, all course withdrawals automatically count towards this limit. Details regarding this policy can be found in the ACC college catalog.

The drop deadline is April 24th 2023. The lecture and the lab are required in each chemistry course. If a student drops/withdraws from one section of the course, they must drop/withdraw from the corequisite.

If you stop attending class and do not withdraw yourself from the course, you will receive a grade of F for the semester. Reinstatement into a course after withdrawing is only possible if the student was withdrawn through college error. 

COMMON COURSE OBJECTIVES

Matter and Measurement

• Definitions of basic chemistry, scientific terms, and scientific method
• Identify and distinguish between chemical and physical properties and changes
• Identify and distinguish between elements, compounds and mixtures, including solutions
• Set up and solve problems by the factor label method or dimensional analysis
• Determine the number of significant figures in the result of a calculation and be able to write the result in scientific notation
• Carry out conversions within the metric system

Atoms and Elements

• Composition of atoms
• Subatomic particles of the atom and their relative charges, masses, and their location in the atom, distinguish isotopes
• Classify elements using terminology of the periodic table

Atomic Structure

• Bohr Theory
• Quantum numbers, their values, and their significance
• Uncertainty principle; Pauli Exclusion principle; Hund’s Rule; Aufbau Rule
• Atomic orbital and the shapes of orbitals

Atomic Electron Configurations and Chemical Periodicity

• Magnetic properties of an atom as either paramagnetic or diamagnetic
• Ground state electron configuration and orbital box diagram of the elements and their ions
• Relative magnitudes of atomic radii, ionization energies, and electron affinities of the elements and their ions
• Trends in chemical reactivity of the elements based on their location in the periodic table

Thermochemistry

• First Law of Thermodynamics: Enthalpy, Energy, Work and Heat
• Calorimeter (constant-pressure and constant volume), Internal energy, E
• Relationship between E and H
• Bond energy and H
• Hess’s law

Bonding and Molecular Structure

• Lewis structures for ionic compounds
• Bonding in ionic compounds
• Lewis structures (including resonance structures) for polyatomic ions and covalent compounds
• Electronegativity and the trends in electronegativity of the elements
• Rules of VSEPR to determine the shapes of polyatomic ions and molecules
• Formal charges on the atoms in a molecule or ion
• Covalent bonds as polar or non-polar
• Polarity of a molecule and the direction of the dipole moment
• Bond order, bond length, bond energy and their relationship
• Bonding and Molecular Structure: Orbital Hybridization and Molecular Orbitals
• Bonding within simple molecules in terms of valence bond theory
• Hybridization of simple molecules
• Bonding within simple molecules in terms of molecular orbital theory
• Molecular orbital configuration for simple diatomic molecules

Molecules, Ions, and Their Compounds

• Classify compounds as ionic or molecular
• Names and formulas for ions and ionic compounds
• Names and formulas for acids
• Names and formulas for simple molecular compounds
• Formula masses (also called formula weights), molecular weights, and molar masses of compounds
• Empirical formulas from composition data
• Distinguish between empirical formula, molecular formula, and structural formula
• Molecular formula for a molecular compound given the empirical formula and the molar mass

Chemical Equations and Stoichiometry

• Balance chemical equations from reaction descriptions and use of common reaction abbreviations (s, l, aq, g)
• Mole concept
• Distinguish between formula mass, molecular weight, and molar mass
• Calculations involving moles, masses, and number of particles
• Stoichiometry calculations including percent yield and limiting reagent

Reactions in Aqueous Solution

• Classify substances as strong electrolytes, weak electrolytes, or non-electrolytes
• Chemical equation for the dissociation of ionic compounds in water
• Classify acids and bases as strong or weak
• Solubility rules
• Complete balanced, complete ionic and net ionic equations for precipitation and acid-base reactions
• Oxidation numbers of elements in substances
• Calculations involving molarities, amount of solute and volume of solution, and titrations
• Calculations involving dilutions
• Stoichiometry calculations involving solutions

Gases and their Properties

• • Calculations using Boyle’s law, Charles’s law, the combined gas law, the ideal gas law, and Dalton’s Law
  • Stoichiometry calculations involving gases
  • Kinetic Molecular Theory as it applies to gases

Liquids and Solids

• • Intermolecular Attractions and Phase Changes
  • Physical Processes and Properties of Liquids
  • Melting Point/Boiling Point
  • Phase Changes of Matter and Phase Diagrams

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

1. Understand the states of matter and the difference among elements, compounds and mixtures.
2. Understand SI units and use dimensional analysis to perform calculations correctly with proper attention to units and to express results to the correct number of significant figures.
3. Determine empirical and molecular formulas from empirical data.
4. Understand the basic concepts of the quantum theory, determine the electronic configurations of the atoms, and use periodic table to make predictions about trend in their atomic properties.
5. Understand theories of concept of thermochemistry.
6. Use Hess’s law.
7. Understand theories of chemical bonding, Lewis dot structures, and determine the molecular geometry of molecules using VSEPR theory.
8. Understand the polar and nonpolar covalent compounds, hybridization, and molecular orbital theory.
9. Understand formal charges, and resonance theory.
10. Determine name and formulas of molecular compounds, ionic compounds, and acids.
11. Identify basic types of chemical reactions and write molecular, total and net-ionic equations.
12. Balance chemical equations and use stoichiometric relationships and the mole concept to calculate product (percent of yield) and reactant amounts and identify the limiting reactants.
13. Calculate and utilize solution concentration units such as molarity.
14. Understand the gas laws and kinetic molecular theory.
15. Explain the intermolecular attractive forces that determine the properties of the states of the matter and phase behavior.

GENERAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES

Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking

Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information.

• Interpersonal Skills

Interacting collaboratively to achieve common goals.

• Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning

Applying mathematical, logical and scientific principles and methods.

• Technology Skills

Using appropriate technology to retrieve, manage, analyze, and present information.

• Written, Oral and Visual Communication
  Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and media

The information for this section is listed in the syllabus above.

The information for this section is listed in the syllabus above.

The information for this section is listed in the syllabus above.