SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

CHEM 1125
General Chemistry Laboratory
Fall 2014
Syllabus

General Information
Instructors:
Dr. Nicholas H. Snow
Professor and Chair
Office: SC 312
Lab: SC 420
Office Hours: T 2-5
973.761.9035
Nicholas.snow@shu.edu

Dr. Shilpi Chopra

Adjunct Professor
Office/Lab: SC 420
Office Hours: TBA
973.761.9000 x****
Shilpi.chopra@shu.edu

Teaching Assistants:
Name
John Boczany
Hader Elashal
Lais Ghiraldeli
Daniel Guerrero
Frank Hung
Franck Nelson
Mayur Patel
Valli Ramji
Niki Rana

Sections
CB, CD
AE, BD
DD
EB, EE
AD, ED
CA, CC
AA, AB,
AC
BB, CE
DC

Email
John.boczany@student.shu.edu
Hader.elashal@student.shu.edu
Lais.ghiraldeli@student.shu.edu
Daniel.guerrero@student.shu.edu
Frank.hung@student.shu.edu
Franck.nelson@student.shu.edu
Mayurbhai.patel@student.shu.edu

Office Hours
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA

Karpagavalli.ramji@shu.edu
Niki.rana@shu.edu

TBA
TBA

Except as noted, all TA office hours will be conducted in room SC 114.

Course Meetings
Lab Lecture: Thursday 1:00-1:50 PM, Jubilee Hall Auditorium
Lab Sections:
Section
AA
AB
AC
AD
AE
BB
BD
CA
CB
CC
CD
CE
DC
DD
EB
ED
EE

Day
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thu
Fri
Tue
Thu
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Mon
Wed
Thu
Tue
Thu
Fri

Time
0800-1050
0800-1050
0800-1050
0800-1050
0800-1050
200-450
200-450
500-750
500-750
500-750
500-750
500-750
0800-1035
500-750
200-450
200-450
200-450

Location
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 113
SC 115
SC 111
SC 111
SC 111
SC 111
SC 111

TA
M. Patel
M. Patel
M. Patel
Hung
Elashal
Ramji
Elashal
Nelson
Boczany
Nelson
Boczany
Ramji
Rana
Ghiraldeli
Guerrero
Hung
Guerrero

Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, you will.
1. Understand and have applied the fundamental principles of scientific laboratory work
2. Be proficient in basic laboratory techniques including transferring solids and liquids,
measuring volumes and masses, using glassware and operating basic instrumentation
3. Know how to properly document scientific work, maintain a proper laboratory notebook
and write a scientific report
4. Understand basic chemical principles including physical properties, chemical formulas,
mass relationships, identification of compounds, atomic and molecular structures and use
of the scientific literature
5. Have begun serious preparation toward a career in health professions, scientific research
or industry

Course Materials:
All materials will be provided through the Blackboard system. Use the blackboard group titled
CHEM 1125 Briefing Lecture.
You will need to purchase a simple bound composition book as a lab notebook. Please bring
this to all laboratory meetings. You will record all data and observations in the lab notebook.
Purchase a simple, inexpensive one; you do not need a fancy expensive one.
Attendance:
All lab lectures and laboratories will begin promptly at the scheduled time. Do not be late or you
may not be admitted to that period and you will be penalized as if you were absent.
1. Absences:
a. Lab Lectures: Do not be absent. Attendance will be taken. There will be an automatic
penalty of 2% of the final course score for each missed lab lecture. If excessive
absence is noted, pop quizzes with no makeup may be given. There are no excused
absences from the laboratory lecture under any circumstances.
b. Laboratory Sections: Do not be absent. Excused absences will only be granted in the
case of documented illness, your own wedding or death in the immediate family.
Seton Hall student athletes must provide the proper documentation regarding conflicts
due to competition at the beginning of the semester.
2. Excused absences will only be granted in advance of the absence. The moment you
know that you will miss a laboratory meeting, you must call or email your TA and Dr.
Snow. No absence will be excused after the fact.
3. Makeups: There are no makeups for laboratories or lab lectures. If an absence from a
laboratory meeting is excused, your grade will be scored for the semester from one fewer
lab report. There is no benefit or loss of points or grade for an excused absence.
4. Excessive Absence: If three laboratories are missed for any reason, you will be
summarily dropped from the course and must repeat it. The grade of incomplete will
not be granted under any circumstances.
Academic Dishonesty:
Lying, cheating and stealing are not tolerated in civilized society and in scientific work. While
you will be encouraged to collaborate, you must follow directions regarding report preparation
carefully.
1. Relevant examples of lying include but are not limited to: signing in someone elses
name to the lab lecture roll, falsifying documentation or statements to receive an excused
absence and purporting to have completed an experiment or to have obtained data that
you did not obtain.

2. Relevant examples of cheating include but are not limited to: copying another students
lab report and purporting it as your own or collaborating with another student on a quiz or
other assignment for which collaborating is prohibited.
3. Relevant examples of stealing include but are not limited to: plagiarism (purporting
anothers work no matter the source as your own), removing any items or equipment
from the laboratory that you did not yourself bring in, taking equipment or materials from
another students work area without permission.
Suspected academic dishonesty will be dealt with summarily and harshly.

Disability:
It is the policy and practice of Seton Hall University to promote inclusive learning environments.
If you have a documented disability you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations in
compliance with University policy, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act, and/or the New Jersey Law against Discrimination. Please note, students are
not permitted to negotiate accommodations directly with instructors. To request accommodations
or assistance, please self-identify with the Office for Disability Support Services (DSS), Duffy
Hall Room 67 at the beginning of the semester (no later than September 15th). For more
information or to register for services, contact DSS at (973) 313-6003 or by e-mail at
DSS@shu.edu.
Scoring:
There will be 10 written laboratory reports and associated pre-lab homework, 100 points each.
Pre-lab assignments are due on the day of the actual lab section, and must be handed to your TAs
before the start of the lab. You will not be admitted to the lab without a completed pre-lab
assignment, and you will receive 0 (zero) score for that lab. Lab reports are due the following
week, and must be handed to your TAs before the next lab starts. Late reports are not accepted
and will result in a zero score for that lab unless due to an excused absence, in which case you
must hand in your lab report the first time you come back to the lab. The final letter grade will
be determined by adding the total points and converting those points to a percentage that can fall
within the ranges given below.
Score
100-90
89-80
79-70
69-60
59-0

Grade
A
B
C
D
F

Plus and minus grades are awarded entirely at the professors discretion when the score is within
one point of a borderline (for example within 89-91 for the borderline between an A and B). A
letter grade may be raised to a plus if exceptional effort and good citizenship is demonstrated.
Likewise, a letter grade may be lowered to a minus if poor behavior or irresponsibility, such as
poor attendance is observed. There is no guarantee or appeal of the awarding of a plus or minus
grade.
Schedule:
Dates
8/258/29
9/2-9/5
9/89/12
9/159/19
9/229/26
9/2910/3
10/610/10
10/1310/17
10/2010/24
10/2710/31
11/311/7
11/1011/14
11/1711/21
11/2411/28
12/112/5

Laboratory

Date

Lecture

None
Check In

8/28
9/4

Introduction and Check In

Density and Measurement

Density
Stoichiometry by Continuous
Variations
Reactions in Solution: Acid-Base
Titrations

9/11
9/18

Stoichiometry by Continuous Variations

Reactions in Solution: Acid-Base
Titrations

9/25

Molar Mass of an Unknown Acid

Molar Mass of an Unknown Acid

10/2

Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid

Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid

10/9

No Lecture

No Labs

10/16

Determination of the Gas Constant

Determination of the Gas Constant

10/23

Calorimetry

Calorimetry

10/30

Line Spectra

Line Spectra

11/6

Molecular Structure

Molecular Structure

11/13

Cell Phone Spectroscopy

Cell Phone Spectroscopy

11/20

No Lecture

No Labs

11/27

No Lecture

Check out

12/4

No Lecture

Safety:
Safety glasses, lab coats and gloves must be worn at all times in the laboratory. Do not wear
contact lenses. Do not eat or drink in the lab. Do not deviate from lab procedures. As many
chemicals are toxic or flammable, due care and common sense is required when handling any
reagent or solvent. Care should be taken when handling glassware (to avoid cuts) and heated

materials (to avoid burns). If you have any safety concerns, please do not hesitate to
communicate them immediately to the instructor or the teaching assistant. Common safety
concerns will be addressed in the first laboratory meeting and lecture. Any disregard for these
rules and those covered in the safety lecture can merit expulsion from that lab. Remember
that safety infractions can result in harm to you and your colleagues. All accidents or safety
concerns, regardless of magnitude, should be reported immediately to your laboratory teaching
assistant, regardless of magnitude.
Emergency Numbers: Student Health: X 9175, General Emergency: 911
Immediately report any accidents to the TA