Download CHEM 450 Spring 2010 - Penn State Department of Chemistry

CHEM 450, Section 001, Spring 2011
Course Information
Title
Physical Chemistry Thermodynamics
Credits
3
Course
450
Section
001
Location
373 Willard
Times
MWF 1:25-2:15 PM
Start Date
January 10, 2011
Notes
Grader/TA: David Fialho
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: 211 Whitmore
Thursday 3:15 – 5 PM
Instructor Information
Instructor
Dr. William G. Noid
Office Phone
867 – 2387
Office Address
528 Chemistry Building
Office Hours
528 Chemistry Building
Mondays, 10:00 – noon
Wednesdays, 2:30 – 3:30 PM
Or by Appointment
E-mail
[email protected]
Course Objective
Thermodynamics is the field of science describing the principles that govern and determine
the equilibrium properties of macroscopic systems. The objective of this course is to provide
students with a quantitative understanding of those principles and their application to
chemical phenomena.
Course Prerequisites
Prerequisites for this course include Chemistry 112, Math 141, and Physics 212. If you have
any questions about your preparation for this course, you should talk to the instructor during
the first week of classes.
Course Management System:
http://cms.psu.edu/
The course web site will contain various information including:
• Reading and problem assignments
• Lecture problems and solutions
• Supplementary lectures and other material
• Exam schedules and results
• Other important class information
Required and Recommended Texts
The required textbook is Physical Chemistry, 2nd Edition, Thomas Engel and Philip Reid,
(Prentice Hall). The text is available in either a single edition or in a two-volume edition.
Chem 450 will only use the first of these two volumes, which is entitled Thermodynamics,
Statistical Thermodynamics, and Kinetics.
The accompanying Student Solutions Manual for Physical Chemistry (Engel and Reid) is also
recommended, and can also be purchased for either volume separately.
An electronic calculator with logarithm/exponential capability is highly recommended.
There are (many) other thermodynamics texts that may be helpful as a supplement. Some of
the most popular include Physical Chemistry by Atkins and de Paula, Molecular
Thermodynamics by McQuarrie, and Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics
in Chemistry and Biology by Ken Dill. Two of my favorite thermodynamics texts are
Physical Chemistry by Alberty and Silbey and Thermodynamics and Introduction to
Thermostatistics by Callen.
Lectures
There will be three lectures per week. Although attendance at lectures will not be mandatory,
you are responsible for all course material and administrative announcements made in class.
Lecture notes may be posted on the course management site, but they will be “incomplete,”
often missing equations or worked examples.
Examinations
There will be three evening mid-semester examinations. The examination dates and times are
listed below. You are expected to inform the instructor, in writing, during the first week of
classes of any conflicts you have with this examination schedule. Exam locations will be
announced in class and posted on the class web page. A comprehensive final examination
will be given during the final examination period at a time and place to be scheduled by the
University.
Unless otherwise announced, all exams will be closed book with no notes. You must bring
your student identification card, a #2 pencil, and a calculator to each examination. Note that,
if you bring a programmable calculator, you will be required to clear the memory. You are not
allowed to share a calculator.
After each exam, solutions will be posted on the class web page. Any questions regarding
grading of an exam must be submitted in writing to the instructor within one week after the
graded exams are returned.
Exam Schedule
Exam 1:
Exam 2:
Exam 3:
Wednesday, February 9, 2010
Wednesday, March 16, 2010,
Wednesday, April 13, 2010,
8:15-10:15 pm
8:15-10:15 pm
8:15-10:15 pm
Final:
Week of May 5 as scheduled by the University
111 Wartik
111 Wartik
111 Wartik
Conflict Exams
As noted above, you are expected to inform the instructor, in writing, during the first week of
classes of any conflicts you have with this examination schedule. Conflict exams will be held
from 4 – 6PM in 112 Osmond on the date of the scheduled exam. Please contact either the
instructor or Michael Joyce ([email protected]) to schedule a conflict exam.
Homework
It will be very difficult to succeed in this course without a significant and sustained effort at
problem solving. Attending lectures and reading the text are not sufficient. Homework
problems will be of two types:
Graded Problems: A single problem related to the current lecture will be assigned at most
class meetings. (Copies will be posted on the course web page.) Solutions to these problems
are to be written on the sheet provided and turned in at the beginning of the following lecture.
The goal of these graded assignments is to ensure that students remain on top of the material
as the semester progresses. They will be graded on a 5-10 point scale and returned. The
solutions will be posted on the course web site. Your grade will partly depend upon the
grader’s ability to read and understand your solution, so please write legibly and explain your
reasoning clearly. You may consult with your classmates regarding these problems, but each
student must turn in their own work. Obvious duplication will result in no credit for the
problem.
Ungraded Textbook Assignments: A selection of homework problems will be assigned
from the textbook at the beginning of each new chapter. These assignments will not be
graded, but working through them is essential for mastering the course material. Your facility
with the assigned problems will appear on the exams. Solutions are provided in the student
solution manual. You should attempt to solve all of the assigned problems as the material is
presented in class. First try to solve the problems without any recourse to the textbook to see
how well you have learned the ideas behind the problem. If you cannot, review the text to
find out what ideas you are missing and then try again. Until you have produced your own
solution or have struggled for some time with the problem, do not look at the solution manual
or seek help from someone else. Only in this way will you be able to master the material at
the level required.
Grading Policy
Each of the three midterm exams and also the graded homework assignments will be worth
100 points. The lowest of these four grades will be dropped. The final exam will be worth
200 points. In addition, students may have the opportunity to earn bonus points at my
discretion through class participation and/or homework performance.
The following nominal grading levels, with some possible adjustments, will be used for the
final grades in this course:
85.00-100.00%
70.00-84.99%
58.00-69.99%
50.00-57.99%
0.00 – 49.99%
= A-, A;
= B-, B, B+;
= C, C+;
= D;
= F.
Re-grade: should you believe an error has been made in the grading of your exam, it must be
brought to my attention within one week of the date that the exams are returned to the class as
a whole. I may re-grade the entire exam, making it possible for the grade to go up or down.
Note that this re-grading is done only in response to a particular (and valid) concern in the
initial grading of the examination, not simply because one is unsatisfied with the numerical
score. If the error is simply in the totaling of the points, I will make the correction with no regrading. No other modifications to exam scores are available.
Academic Integrity
Collaboration in learning the course material and on homework assignments is encouraged.
However, I also strongly encourage you to consider HW assignments as an opportunity to
gauge your comprehension of the course material and to make sure that you master the
concepts related to each HW set. Furthermore, all examinations must be taken individually.
Any instance of giving or receiving aid on an examination will be viewed as a serious offense,
which may result in a failing grade for the course and/or referral to the University disciplinary
system. Moreover, possession of unauthorized materials during exams, alteration of exams
prior to submission for regarding, plagiarism, or other forms of cheating will be considered
serious violations of academic ethics and treated as such. They may result in a failing grade
on an exam or in the course and may also be referred to the University disciplinary system
All Penn State policies regarding ethics and honorable behavior apply to this course (see
links below for policy statements). Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free
from fraud and deception and is an educational objective of this institution. All University
policies regarding academic integrity apply to this course. Academic dishonesty includes, but
is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts
of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations,
submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor,
or tampering with the academic work of other students. For any material or ideas obtained
from other sources, such as the text or things you see on the web, in the library, etc., a source
reference must be given. Direct quotes from any source must be identified as such. All exam
answers must be your own, and you must not provide any assistance to other students during
exams. Any instances of academic dishonesty WILL be pursued under the University
(http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/)
and
Eberly
College
of
Science
(http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/Integrity/index.html) regulations concerning
academic integrity.
Additional Information
You are encouraged to form small study groups. Educational research suggests that active
participation in a small study group can be very helpful in mastering course material and
improving problem-solving skills.
You are encouraged to keep up with the class by reading the textbook before lectures and
working through all of the problems as they are assigned. Later material in this course
depends strongly on earlier material, and it can be difficult to catch up if you fall behind. You
will probably benefit from setting aside regular times during the week for focused study.
If you have difficulty with the material, seek help immediately from your classmates and/or
the instructor.
Special 2009/2010 Flu Protocols - In compliance with Pennsylvania Department of Health
and Centers for Disease Control recommendations, students should NOT attend class or any
public gatherings while ill with influenza. Students with flu symptoms will be asked to leave
campus if possible and to return home during recovery. The illness and self-isolation period
will usually be about a week. It is very important that individuals avoid spreading the flu to
others.
Most students should be able to complete a successful semester despite a flu-induced absence.
Faculty will provide students who are absent because of illness with a reasonable opportunity
to make up missed work. Ordinarily, it is inappropriate to substitute for the missed assignment
the weighting of a semester's work that does not include the missed assignment or exam.
Completion of all assignments and exams assures the greatest chance for students to develop
heightened understanding and content mastery that is unavailable through the weighting
process. The opportunity to complete all assignments and exams supports the university's
desire to enable students to make responsible situational decisions, including the decision to
avoid spreading a contagious virus to other students, staff, and faculty, without endangering
their academic work.
Students with the flu do not need to provide a physician's certification of illness. However, ill
students should inform their teachers (but not through personal contact in which there is a risk
of exposing others to the virus) as soon as possible that they are absent because of the flu.
Likewise students should contact their instructors as quickly as possible to arrange to make up
missed assignments or exams.
More information can be found at: http://senate.psu.edu/H1N1.pdf.