Chemistry 106

General Chemistry Lecture

Fall Semester 2013
*****************PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE SYLLABUS*****************
Professor Michael B. Sponsler
Office: 4-012 CST, x4880
Office hours: M 11-12 or by appointment
Email: Sponsler@syr.edu
Chemistry Undergraduate Secretary:
Nancy Virgil, 120 LSB, x2851
Web site: http://blackboard.syr.edu
Books:

Lectures: MW 5:15-6:35 PM (section M045)

Room: Stolkin Auditorium, Physics Bldg
Credits: 3
Prereq: none
TAs: Craig Sherwood, cmsher01@syr.edu
Davon Slaton, rdslaton@syr.edu
Yuriko Takahashi, ytakah02@syr.edu

Chemistry, The Central Science, 12th ed. (Syracuse University Edition) by Brown,
LeMay, Bursten, Murphy, and Woodward (Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2011)
Student Guide, 12th ed. by Hill (Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2011)
MasteringChemistry login information (http://www.masteringchemistry.com/)
Register using your Syracuse University NetID and Course ID:
SPONSLERCHE1062013.
The above book and supporting materials can be purchased as a package from the S. U.
Bookstore. The books are also available on reserve at the Science and Technology Library.

Course Description: Chemistry is often called the central science. One cannot achieve a thorough
understanding of any of the sciences if one does not know something about chemistry.
Conversely, even a rudimentary understanding of chemistry is an enormous asset not only in
the study of other sciences, but also in the appreciation of our everyday environment.
Helping students to gain an appreciation and understanding of the chemistry that occurs
around them is a goal of this course. Another general goal is to provide a sense of how
science is done, that is, how knowledge is gained and contributions are made by scientists.
This is an important part of scientific literacy, and is a topic about which many
misconceptions exist.
Specific topics covered this semester will include atomic structure, chemical
reactions, stoichiometry, energy and thermochemistry, bonding, and gases. We will study
these topics both at a conceptual level and at a quantitative level. Basic skills in algebra will
be required to solve the quantitative problems.
Assignments and Lectures: Reading assignments from the text are given on the course calendar. I
expect that you will read the assignments before the class meetings for which they are listed.
I also expect that you will attend all lectures. In lecture, we will reinforce important
concepts from the reading and apply these concepts. You will be tested on material from the
reading and from lecture. Some of this material will come only from the book, and some
will come only from lecture.
While reading the text, you should do all of the in-chapter sample exercises. In
addition, doing at least representative exercises from the end of each chapter will be very
helpful. The textbook contains the answers to the odd-numbered problems. The Solutions
Manual contains detailed solutions to these problems and several copies are held on reserve
in the Science and Technology Library (Carnegie Library Building). If you are having
difficulty, refer to the Solutions Manual and Student Guide to support your learning.

The required MasteringChemistry homework will also provide valuable practice. It

is imperative that you do lots of problems, because there is no substitute for this in the
learning of chemical concepts! Do not be tempted to discount the online homework since it
is worth "only 10%". It is actually worth much more, since your exams scores will rise as a
result! If you take shortcuts on the homework, you might get the 10%, but your exam scores
will suffer.
The MasteringChemistry site has resources that go beyond the assigned homework,
including the eText with hyperlinks and other features and a study area that allows selftesting and exploration of animations, videos, and more. You can also use the assigned
homework for self-study even after you have submitted answers. The Student Guide is also
a valuable resource for organizing your study and for additional problems.
Your goal should be to do problems until they become easy not just doable! If you
"do" the problems by looking up the answers in the solutions manual or in the back of the
book (or by just clicking for hints), you will learn very little. For best learning, do as much
as you can before checking the solutions or requesting hints. If you do enough problems so
that they become easy, the exams will be easy too!
If you wish to succeed in this course, I strongly recommend that you block out 8 or 9
hours in your weekly schedule for study time for this course. You might find that you do
not need this much time each week, and in those weeks you can play foosball. But if you
study mainly before exams, you will likely fall short. Students whose goal is to do the
minimum work required to receive a decent grade usually underestimate by good bit, do not
learn very much, and end up unhappy with their grades.
Lecture notes will be available on Blackboard. Time in lecture will be best spent if
you are an active participant, and many students have trouble thinking about questions that
are asked about the material while taking notes. The notes are provided so that you can get
the most out of this time. I recommend that you copy the notes by hand later, because
people tend to remember material that they write far better than material that they only read
or hear. Notes will be provided generally by noon on the day of the lecture, and updated
notes (designated with "a" for "after lecture") will be provided by noon the next day. The
notes may include some slides that we do not get to during class. Material on these slides
will still be tested on the exams.
Recitations: Recitations will begin in the second week of classes. While attendance at recitation is
not required, any student aiming to succeed in the class should go every week. If what the
TA is doing in recitation is not helpful to you, talk to the TA and make suggestions. If the
TA is not responsive, talk to me.
Office Hours: Professor Sponsler will be available to answer questions and deal with problems or
concerns during office hours, listed above. You may also contact me for an appointment or
just stop by to see whether I am free. In addition, teaching assistants will be available during
their office hours and at recitation. You can ask questions of any of the CHE 106 TAs, not
just those associated with this lecture. (The CHE 106 TAs and I have no role in CHE 107, so
please direct you lab questions to the instructor and TAs for that course.) You should find it
easy to obtain help. If you need more extensive help, contact the Tutoring and Study Center,
111 Waverly Ave., Suite 220, (315)443-2005. If you are having any trouble in the course, do
not wait to get help! Getting on track is much easier earlier in the semester!
Clicker Responses: Clickers will be used in the lecture with a number of goals. They will help
make the lectures more interactive and effective, providing immediate feedback to both

instructor and student. They will promote the learning of concepts and skills in class, rather
than just accumulation of facts. And they should make the lectures more enjoyable. Clicker
responses will count for 4% of the grade. Two thirds of this will be awarded for any answer
given, and the remaining third will be awarded for the correct response(s). The latter is
intended to encourage pre-class and in-class learning, acknowledging that pre-exam
cramming is a far less effective learning strategy. On survey questions, any answer will
receive full credit.
Some students might view 4% as insignificant, but it is not. Indeed, most of the
grade cutoffs below are separated by only 4%. For example, 4% is the difference between a
B and a B+.
Turning Technologies ResponseCard NXT, available in the Bookstore, is the clicker
we will use. The ResponseCard XR also will work, but the RF and IR models will not work
for this course. These models will not allow for numeric answers, which will be required.
An alternative to the NXT is to use your smart phone (iPhone, Android, or
Blackberry), iPod Touch, laptop, or tablet. This can be done either by connecting through
the web or by using ResponseWare software, which is free to download. Either way, you
must purchase a license. (A 6-month license is $9.00, so this is a cheaper option than the
NXT if you already have the phone or other device.)
To order a ResponseWare license, go to https://store.turningtechnologies.com/.
When prompted for School Code, enter zxf8. (The prices will be lower if you do this!) To
download the software to your device, just follow the links or search for ResponseWare at
the app store on your device. If you prefer not to use ResponseWare, just go
to http://www.rwpoll.com/ to register and to connect to each class session. (You will still
need to purchase a license to do this.)
If you feel that you acted too quickly and purchased the wrong option, whether
clicker or ResponseWare license, either can be returned for a refund within two weeks.
Whether using a clicker or other device, students will need to register their device on
Blackboard. On the Tools page, select "TurningPoint Registration Tool" and enter your
device ID (six digits for NXT, eight digits for ResponseWare). Note that if you are using
different devices for different classes, this registration tool only stores the most recently
entered ID. You will need to enter one ID and notify the other instructor directly concerning
your device ID for that class. But you should only need one device and should be able to
use an NXT (and probably also ResponseWare) in any class.
Laboratory: Students in this course should take concurrently the accompanying laboratory course,
Chemistry 107. Note, however, that the two courses are separate, including grading.
Exams: Exams will cover both material covered in lecture and the assigned text readings. Some
questions will come from lecture (not covered in text) and others from the text (not covered
in lecture). Many questions will be problems similar to assigned homework exercises. Lots
of practice with problems is the key to success in this course. Each hourly exam will focus
on specific chapters. The final exam will cover the entire semester.
Regular exams (but not the Final) are given during the regular class period and are
scheduled as follows (the room you should go to will be announced):
First Examination
Wednesday, September 25
Second Examination
Wednesday, October 23
Third Examination
Wednesday, November 20
FINAL EXAMINATION

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 5:15-7:15 PM

MAKE YOUR TRAVEL PLANS NOW. NO ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENT

TRAVEL/EXAM CONFLICTS WILL BE MADE. (The one exception is sports-related
travel of student-athletes who turn in the appropriate form at least one week in advance.)
Grading: Three examinations will be given, and the average of the three will represent 57% of the
final grade. The final examination will be comprehensive and will count for 29%. The
homework on MasteringChemistry will count for 10%, and the remaining 4% will come from
clicker responses. Guaranteed grade levels are as follows: 90% A; 86% A-; 82% B+;
78% B; 74% B-; 70% C+; 65% C; 60% C-; 50% D. Actual numeric cutoffs may be
lower but will not be higher. A grade calculator will be provided on Blackboard.
Student responsibilities:
Attend lectures and read the appropriate material prior to class time.
Study your lecture notes and assigned text reading.
Attend recitations and use the Student's Guide to help reinforce your learning.
Do assigned homework on time and review them before exams. Do not fall behind!
BRING A CALCULATOR TO ALL LECTURES, RECITATIONS, AND EXAMS.
Take all of the examinations.
If you have any questions about the homework, the in-class exams, the final exam, or
anything else, it is your responsibility to contact Professor Sponsler (or Piazza, see
below) to get help in a timely manner.
Calculators: For examinations, graphing calculators will not be permitted. Nor will you be able to
use the calculator on your cell phone. I recommend that you use a simple scientific
calculator, one that allows scientific notation, and that you use the same calculator for
lecture, recitation, homework, and exams. If you use your cell phone calculator in general
and borrow a calculator to use for the exams, you may be handicapping yourself with a
calculator that you are less familiar with.
Class discussion: This term we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly
catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TA, and myself. Rather
than emailing questions to me or the TAs, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza.
If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email team@piazza.com.
Find our class page at: https://piazza.com/syr/fall2013/che106/home
Self-Assessment: A self-assessment tool called Sage will be used for this course. On a weekly
basis, you will receive an email request with a link to a short survey with self-assessment
questions. After the first week, you will be able to compare your answers to the classaverage values. This is being offered as a tool that I believe you will find helpful, and I will
generally not look at students' individual responses unless the student asks me to do so. This
tool will not count toward your grade, but participation is required; for students who do not
participate, a deduction of up to 5% from the semester score will be taken.
Recitation Schedule: The following weekly schedule shows material that will be discussed in the
recitations and the homework that is due on the MasteringChemistry website. The textbook
contains the answers to the odd-numbered problems. The Solutions Manual contains
detailed solutions to these problems and several copies are held on reserve in the Science
and Technology Library (Carnegie Library Building). If you are having difficulty, make use

of the Solutions Manual and Students Guide to support your learning. The TA office hours
in LSB 122 are also an excellent resource.
All homework is to be done and submitted on the MasteringChemistry website. No
exceptions.
The MasteringChemistry Tutorials, due on Wednesdays, are mandatory and they are graded.
These are intended to help prepare students for lecture and the following Homework sets,
due on Saturdays. The Tutorials have more explanation, hints, and feedback.
Consult the MasteringChemistry website for the assigned problems.
Recitation
Weeks
Week of
August 26
Week of
September 2
Week of
September 9
Week of
September 16
Week of
September 23
Week of
September 30
Week of
October 7
Week of
October 14
Week of
October 21
Week of
October 28
Week of
November 4
Week of
November 11
Week of
November 18
Week of
November 25
Week of
December 2

Text Sections
to be Discussed

MasteringChemistry
Assignments

Due Date
(due 4:30 PM)

NO RECITATIONS, NO HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK

1 1.6
2 2.9
3 3.7
Review for
Exam #1
4 4.6
5 5.8
6 6.6
6.7 -6.9
Review for
Exam #2
7 7.8
8 8.5
8.6 8.8, 9 9.5
9.6 9.8
Review for
Exam #3

Intro to MasteringChemistry,
Tutorial #1
Homework #1
Tutorial #2
Homework #2
Tutorial #3
Homework #3
Review #1
Homework #4
Tutorial #5
Homework #5
Tutorial #6
Homework #6
Tutorial #7
Homework #7

Wed., Sept. 4
Sat., Sept. 7
Wed., Sept. 11
Sat., Sept. 14
Wed., Sept. 18
Sat., Sept. 21
Wed., Sept. 25
Sat., Sept. 28
Wed., Oct. 2
Sat., Oct. 5
Wed., Oct. 9
Sat., Oct. 12
Wed., Oct. 16
Sat., Oct. 19

Review #2
Homework #8

Wed., Oct. 23
Sat. Oct. 26

Tutorial #9
Homework #9
Tutorial #10
Homework #10
Tutorial #11
Homework #11

Wed., Oct. 30
Sat., Nov. 2
Wed., Nov. 6
Sat., Nov. 9
Wed., Nov. 13
Sat., Nov. 16

Review #3
Homework #12

Wed., Nov. 20
Sat., Nov. 23

THANKSGIVING BREAK NO HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK

10 10.9

Tutorial #13
Review Final

Wed., Dec. 4
Sat., Dec. 7

Academic Honesty (from http://academicintegrity.syr.edu): Syracuse Universitys Academic

Integrity Policy holds students accountable for the integrity of the work they submit.
Students should be familiar with the policy and know that it is their responsibility to learn
about course-specific expectations, as well as about university policy. The university policy
governs appropriate citation and use of sources, the integrity of work submitted in exams and
assignments, and the veracity of signatures on attendance sheets and other verification of
participation in class activities. The presumptive penalty for a first offense by an
undergraduate student is course failure, accompanied by a transcript notation indicating that
the failure resulted from a violation of Academic Integrity Policy. For more information and
the complete policy, see http://academicintegrity.syr.edu. In this course, students are allowed
and strongly encouraged to study together, but exams, online homework, and clicker
responses must represent the work of the individual student. Online homework must be
completed by each student using his or her own access account, though reference to the text
and lecture notes is allowed.
Syracuse Universitys Religious Observances Policy: SU religious observances policy, found at
http://supolicies.syr.edu/emp_ben/religious_observance.htm, recognizes the diversity of
faiths represented among the campus community and protects the rights of students, faculty,
and staff to observe religious holidays according to their tradition. Under the policy, students
are provided an opportunity to make up any examination, study, or work requirements that
may be missed due to a religious observance provided they notify their instructors before the
end of the second week of classes. For fall and spring semesters, an online notification
process is available through MySlice/StudentServices/Enrollment/MyReligiousObservances
from the first day of class until the end of the second week of class. The religious
observances policy requires accommodation for the religious holiday itself, not for travel
days if a student will be observing the holiday elsewhere.
Medical Absences: Medical absences will be excused based on written advice from the Health
Center or a health-care provider (based upon clinical findings and prescribed treatment
recommendations). NO VERBAL EXCUSES WILL BE ACCEPTED. The medical
document must specifically indicate that you were unable to attend class/recitation.
There will be NO makeup examinations except in the case of advance-notice approved
absences. All advanced-notice approvals will result in an opportunity to take the exam in
advance, not after the regularly scheduled exam time. An approved absence that prevents a
student from taking an exam on-time or early will result in the dropping of that particular
grade from the calculation of the overall grade.
Disability Accommodation: If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please
contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), http://disabilityservices.syr.edu, located in
Room 309 of 804 University Avenue, or call (315) 443-4498 or TDD: (315) 443-1371 for an
appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. ODS is
responsible for coordinating disability-related accommodations and will issue students with
documented Disabilities Accommodation Authorization Letters, as appropriate. Since
accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively,
please contact ODS as soon as possible.

Course Calendar (tentative, including lecture topics and assigned text readings):
Monday

Wednesday

August 26
Course overview, chemistry in life
Syllabus
September 2
No class
Labor Day
September 9
Atomic theory, atomic structure, periodic table
2-2.5
September 16
Chemical reactions and stoichiometry
3-3.4
September 23
Ions, precipitation, acids and bases
4-4.3
September 30
Oxidation-reduction reactions, solutions
4.4-4.6
October 7
Calorimetry, Hess's Law, energy sources

August 28
Chemistry, classifications, properties
1-1.3, Appendix A.1
September 4
Measurement
1.4-1.6
September 11
Molecules, ions, compounds
2.6-2.9
September 18
Analysis, yields, limiting reactant
3.5-3.7
September 25
Exam 1
(Chapters 1-3)
October 2
Energy, enthalpy, thermodynamics
5-5.4
October 9
Light waves and photons, line spectra
6-6.3
October 16
Electron spin, electron configuration
6.7-6.9
October 23
Exam 2
(Chapters 4-6)
October 30
Lewis symbols, ionic & covalent bonding
8-8.3
November 6
Resonance, octet exceptions, bond strength
8.6-8.8
November 13
Multiple bonds, molecular orbitals, diatomics
9.6-9.8
November 20
Exam 3
(Chapters 7-9)
November 27
No class
Thanksgiving Break
December 4
Review for Final

5.5-5.8

October 14
Uncertainty, quantum mechanics, orbitals
6.4-6.6
October 21
Periodic trends, charge, size, ionization energy
7-7.4
October 28
Electron affinity, metals, nonmetals, trends
7.5-7.8
November 4
Polarity, electronegativity, Lewis structures
8.4-8.5
November 11
Molecular shape, VSEPR, hybrid orbitals
9-9.5
November 18
Pressure, gas laws, ideal gases
10-10.4
November 25
No class
Thanksgiving Break
December 2
Gas mixtures, kinetic molecular theory
10.5-10.9
Monday, December 9
Final exam, 5:15-7:15 PM
Room TBA
(Chapters 1-10)