SOLID-STATE AND MATERIALS CHEMISTRY

Chemistry 465
Professor Buhro
TuTh, 10:07-11:30 AM, Laboratory Sciences 301

BRIEF COURSE OUTLINE

TEXTS: “Basic Solid State Chemistry, 2nd Ed.” by Anthony R. West, 1999
“The New Science of Strong Materials” by J. E. Gordon, 1984 or 2006

Midterm- Topics covered Relevant Reading

exam lectures assignments
section (general)
1 Crystal chemistry (part 1) and 1 – 10 West: Ch. 1 – 3
diffraction
2 Crystal chemistry (part 2), lattice 11 – 18 West: Ch. 5 – 7, 9
energy, defects, and phase
diagrams
3 Mechanical properties of 19 – 26 Gordon: Ch. 1 – 6, 8,
materials 9; West: Ch. 5

GENERAL INFORMATION

HOMEWORK, including computer-modeling exercises, will be regularly assigned. Five of the

homework sets will be collected for grading, and will be worth 20 points each for a total of 100 points.
Scores of 20, 16, 10, 4, or 0 will be awarded for each set. Answer keys for the homework will be
posted on the Chem 465 course page under Courses on the Chemistry Department Homepage (internet
address: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu).

A QUIZ (40 points) will be given on the lecture date identified on the course calendar (09 February
2012). It will be administered during the last 20 minutes of the class period. No make-up quiz will
be given. The quiz answer key will be posted on the Chem 465 course page under Courses on the
Chemistry Department Homepage (internet address: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu).

MIDTERM EXAMS

Two midterm exams worth 100 points each will be given. The first exam will cover topic 1 from the
Brief Course Outline above, and will be held during the normal lecture period on 1 March 2012. The
second exam will cover topic 2 from the Brief Course Outline above, and will be held during the
normal lecture period on 05 April 2011. No make-up exams will be given. The exam answer keys
will be posted on the Chem 465 course page under Courses on the Chemistry Department Homepage
(internet address: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu), as will examples of previous exams.

FINAL EXAM

A 160-pt. final exam will be administered from 6:00 – 8:00 pm on Tuesday 08 May 2012. Alternate
exam periods will also be offered. This exam is mandatory, not optional. The final exam will consist

1
of two parts: an 80-pt. midterm covering topic 3 from the Brief Course Outline above, and an 80-pt.
comprehensive final exam covering the entire content of the course.

REGRADES

Students may return exams having significant grading errors for reconsideration by the professor.
Students must submit clear, succinct explanations of the grading errors along with the exam to be
regraded. The explanation should establish that the answer key is incorrect or incomplete, that the
answer given by the student is an equivalent or equally valid solution to that given on the key, or that
the student gave the same answer as the key but it was not recognized as such. No markings or other
alterations should be made on the exam itself. To ensure fair and equal treatment to all students, all
changes in exam scores will be made only through this formal regrade process. The professor will not
make exam-score changes in face-to-face meetings with students.

SEMESTER GRADES will be based upon 500 possible total points.

OFFICE HOURS

Professor Buhro will hold office hours each Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:30 pm in McMillen 523, except
as otherwise announced or indicated on the Course Calendar.

MESSAGES

Students may address procedural questions and requests for appointments to the professor by email at
buhro@wustl.edu. These will be responded to within a day or so. The professor has difficulty
returning phone mail; phone messages left by students may not be responded to unless they concern
real emergencies.

MODELS

Computer and/or physical (real) models will greatly help students to visualize solid-state structures. A
free software package for the PC, “Powdercell” by Werner Kraus and Gert Nolze (Bundesanstalt für
Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM)),1 will be used routinely during the course to build and modify
structures and to view them from various selected perspectives. The Powdercell package may be
downloaded from the Chem 465 course page under Courses on the Chemistry Department Homepage
(internet address: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu), for installation on students’ personal PCs.
Alternatively, students may use the PCs in the Chemistry computer lab (room LS-460), on which
Powdercell will be installed. Two types of physical model kit are recommended if the computer
models do not suffice. Darling solid-state crystal and inorganic model kits will be available in the
Chemistry Storeroom. The professor prefers the better but more-expensive ICE models. Interested
students may order the ICE student kits through the U. of Wisconsin Institute for Chemical Education
(ICE) homepage: http://ice.chem.wisc.edu/.

[1] Kraus, W. & Nolze, G. (1996). J. Appl. Cryst. 29, 301-303