Welcome to CH101 - General Chemistry 1. This is the first semester of a year-long course intended primarily for science majors, pre-medical students, engineering students who require a one-year course in chemistry, and other interested students. This syllabus is designed to answer many questions you may have. Please read it over and then keep it handy to use throughout the semester.
Summer courses are always fast-paced and the chance for students to get behind is higher than in a normal fall/spring course. You are encouraged to follow the advice outlined below and to seek help at the first sign of trouble.
This syllabus is designed to answer many questions you may have. Please read it through and then keep it bookmarked to reference throughout the semester.
The course is given by Professor Abrams.
Discussion sections are led by a talented team of discussion leaders (graduate students) with the support of undergraduate learning assistants.
Professor Shepherd (SCI/270) is in charge of the laboratory portion of CH101. The labs are led by a talented team of graduate teaching fellows.
Getting answers to questions:
All members of the course staff are available for consultation during their office hours. All students are welcome and encouraged to attend any of the office hours listed to discuss questions about the lecture/discussion portion of the course (questions about the lab portion of the course should be directed to the lab instructors).
All course content questions (i.e., problem solving and concepts) are answered in office hours, discussion, or lecture. Emergency (non-content) questions that you may have about the course can be sent to ch101summer-questions@bu.edu. E-mails sent to this address will reach all of the course staff simultaneously.
Personal and sensitive matters should emailed directly to the course instructor, and all lab-related questions should be directed to Professor Shepherd (nmshep@bu.edu) who is in charge of the laboratory portion of the course.
Please note: e-mail is not a replacement for attending office hours. While instructors will certainly respond to personal, private, and urgent matters by email, they will not answer content-related questions by email.
The following materials are all available at the Barnes & Noble @ Boston University.
All of the above items are required by all students. You must have procured them before the first lecture.
A student solutions manual is available from the same sites as above. We do not recommend purchasing the solutions manual -- it contains numerous errors and is has been shown to be an ineffective study tool. If you do choose to purchase it, suggestions for how to get the most out of the textbook and solutions manual are here.
The course consists of three required components:
Quizzes will take place during lectures. Details will be provided ahead of the first quiz. The quiz schedule includes the dates and topics of the quizzes.
Optional component of CH101: Office hours (i.e., free tutoring) are a great way to get support in your work and learn more about chemistry. You never need an appointment or even a question, and all students are invited to attend any of the posted office hours (even with other instructors). Click here for the complete schedule of office hours.
The quiz schedule includes the dates and topics of the quizzes. There will be a total of five quizzes -- one quiz every week on Tuesday (starting the second week).
Chemistry is a cumulative discipline, which means that the ability to learn later topics in the course (and in subsequent courses) is strongly tied to mastering prior topics. As such, each quiz will be cumulative, though most of the questions will be based on new material since the previous quiz. Do expect, however, that roughly 10-15% of each quiz (after quiz 1) will be cumulative material. The exact topic cutoff for each quiz will be posted at the end of the preceding week.
We know that no one is perfect; moreover, there are many reasons why someone might have to miss a quiz (emergencies, close family events, illness, etc.) or might not do as well as they would like on a quiz. We get that! So please do not worry about missing (or doing less than great on) one quiz: for all students in the course, only your four best Tuesday quizzes and the final quiz (which is during the last class on Thursday, 29 June 2023) will count towards your course score.
We have designed the course as an introduction to general chemistry that integrates laboratory explorations with the development of the analytical tools necessary to understand and guide those explorations.
Our goal is to help you share in our excitement for and the wonder of science, to challenge you to excel, to give you a sense of empowerment about science, and to encourage you to continue study in science—and hopefully chemistry. We intend to focus especially on what are the core ideas of chemistry.
The primary goal of the lab is to develop the skills necessary for work in upper-level science labs and research. Additionally, the experiments will highlight the concepts and ideas taught in the lecture and help students deepen their understanding of general chemistry.
In this semester we cover McQuarrie et al., chapters 1 through 14.
The complete course schedule is here, and the corresponding assigned homework problems are posted here.
The detailed schedule of the laboratory component of CH101 is posted on Blackboard under "Lab Content."
The laboratory part of the course will let you see the chemical principles and processes in action. It will also give you experience with some of the methods scientists use to do chemical research.
The course grade is based on your overall course score; we do not assign letter grades to quizzes, labs, or the final exam. The components of the overall score are shown below.
| Component | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Quizzes (best 4 of 5 Tuesday quizzes and the final quiz) | 70% |
| Lab | 20% |
| Lecture engagement based on clicker responses | 5% |
| Discussion engagement and participation | 5% |
Course grades are assigned based on the distribution overall scores at the end of the course. The following (tentative) grading scheme will be used to assign course grades based on your score in the course. Please note that we reserve the right to lower cutoff numbers (making achieving a grade easier) but we will not raise them. However, please do not count on them changing.
Starting after quiz #2, we will provide each student with their "overall score so far." These overall scores so far will take into account all of the scores on the work completed so far (quizzes, labs, and participation) following the percentages listed above. In this way, you will have a measure of how you are doing at that point in the course.
Your overall score so far will be available on Blackboard
Please note that the overall score so far will not take in account dropping of the lowest quiz score, the lowest lab, absences from lectures or discussion, or bonus points. This will all be done only at the end of the semester.
Example calculation: Consider, for example, a student with the following scores at some point during the course: 100% lecture participation and engagement, 100% in discussion participation, 80% quiz average, and 90% lab average. The overall score so far for this student would be:
Quizzes are graded and returned to the class immediately, and so there is no possibility for makeup quizzes. A missed quiz counts as 0; the lowest quiz score will be dropped at the end of the semester. A missed lab counts as 0; the lowest lab score will be dropped at the end of the semester. If, due to unusual circumstances, such as a documented prolonged illness, you miss more than one lab, please contact Professor Shepherd (nmshep@bu.edu) as soon as possible to see if special arrangements can be made to catch up with your work.
Regrades on quizzes: To ensure fairness, all quizzes are graded with same rubric, so requests for additional credit for incorrect answers cannot be entertained. That said, if you have answered a question on a quiz correctly, but credit was not awarded, please print your quiz, annotate the question that did not receive the appropriate credit, and bring it to your discussion teaching fellow at the end of the first discussion after the graded quiz was posted. Requests for regrades are only handled in this manner.
Regrades on lab work: Any question concerning the grading of laboratory assignment must be brought to the attention of your laboratory teaching fellow during the next lab session after it was returned to you; material will not be accepted for regrading afterwards. Print out your graded worksheet (from gradescope) and annotate the questions you wish re-graded and your reasons for believing that they were graded incorrectly. The entire work will be re-graded.
Learning chemistry — the molecular basis for life — is a very rewarding endeavor, but also one that requires persistence, diligence, and hard work. The single most important thing you can do is to diligently work out answers to as many problems in the textbook as you can. At a minimum, you must complete the assigned problems, recording your work in your problem notebook. While these problems will not be collected, a good portion of each quiz will be comprised of problems from the assigned homework.
Participation and engagement in the classes, which counts for 10% of your course grade (plus the opportunity for bonus points - see below), is a good start towards your goals of learning chemistry, but it will also be crucial that you plan to spend a significant amount of time outside of class time. In general, instructors recommend that you spend about 2 hours outside of class for every hour of instructional time. That means (for a Fall/Spring semester course) approximately 12 hours per week over and above the scheduled class contact hours. Each summer week is about 2 weeks of a normal semester (so you should be doing about 20 hours of work per week out of class during the summer).
Studying in groups has been shown to be very productive in courses like Chemistry. Working through problems with peers around is a great way to learn. If you get stuck, you have a friend to help you; and helping to teach others is one of the best ways to master the material. We highly recommend forming study groups and working together frequently on the problems. There is no competition for grades in CH101 - every student can get the highest possible grade (A). That means that working together can only ever help you and your peers.
If you are willing to devote this time, and you spend it wisely and effectively, you will be able to perform your best. The course teaching staff will hold office hours throughout each week. These office hours are a great place to work on problems with the support of instructors and peers. You never need an appointment to attend an office hour, and all students are invited and welcome to all of the scheduled hours. The schedule of office hours is here.
Chemistry is a quantitative science and understanding of its concepts is cemented by solving problems. The text offers many problems for you to attempt. For success you should do as many of these as you can. If you run into trouble with the problems (which is completely normal), you should come to office hours to get support.
Each chapter will have a minimum number of assigned problems. Completing these is a top priority in order to make sure that you've learned the material. A good portion of the quiz questions will come directly from the assigned homework problems.
A note about using the optional (NOT RECOMMENDED) solutions manual: Having access to the full solutions for problems can be helpful if used properly, but if used improperly these solutions can have the opposite of the desired effect. It is important to remember that the solutions should be used as a last resort only. If you struggle to work through a problem, we recommend that you do not go directly to the solutions. Instead, we suggest that you do the following: First, re-read the corresponding section of the book; then look at similar worked examples in the text; collaborate with your study group and attend an office hours; and, finally, take a look at the solutions manual, if necessary. If you find that you are regularly needing to read solutions to problems in the solutions manual, please come speak with an instructor during an office hour. Also, please remember that the solutions manual is, unfortunately, replete with errors.
As described below, we require that you abide by not using electronic communication during lectures, discussion, lab lectures, lab session, quizzes, and the final quiz; that you adhere to the Academic Conduct Code; that you utilize office hours for content-related questions (and to help answers you classmates questions). Also described are our absence policy, the University policy on religious observances, the role of the Office of Disability and Access Services, and the policy on copyright.
Recent studies have shown that taking notes with laptops or having your cellphone out in class leads to lower performance by students in classes and on quizzes and exams. For this reason, we do not permit cell phones or computers in any component of CH101 (lecture, discussion, or lab). It is strongly recommended that you take notes using the traditional pen and paper mode.
Make sure that your cell phones are kept in your bags at all times during class (lectures, discussion, labs, and quizzes) so that you are able to get the most out of class time. Taking notes with tablets (iPad, Surface, and equivalent devices) is permitted provided that they are set in airplane mode before class.
We realize that some of you may want to use cameras to make images of the lecture slides, etc. However, since all lectures are recorded, you have full access to everything that is being presented. Moreover, since all of the lectures are recorded and posted, you can take the lecture time to take notes, solve problems, answer questions, and ask questions; if you miss something, you will always be able to go back and re-watch that part of lecture.
All students will participate in their scheduled discussion sections each week. Each discussion will primarily involve small group problem solving. During the small group work, students will work in groups (of 3 or 4 students) on problem solving (selected book problems and other problems), interactive exercises, and class-wide discussions. The discussion leader and undergraduate learning assistant (LA) will be facilitators and mentors in discussion, working with groups to help them on their work.
Students are expected to arrive on time and to actively participate in all of the lecture and discussion sections. A portion of your course grade (5%) will be awarded based on your discussion work, including (on-time) attendance and engagement (in group work and class-wide exercises) in discussion.
Cell phones and computers are not permitted in discussion. Tablets may be used in Airplane mode only.
In addition to traditional lecture presentations, lecture time will also be comprised of interactive individual and group-based problem solving. Students will use PointSolutions clickers to answer questions in class. A portion of your course grade (5%) will be awarded based on your participation in lecture through PointSolutions. You are not graded on answering these questions correctly, but on your effort and engagement. Please note: using another student's clicker, or giving your clicker to another student, is a violation of the Academic Conduct Code.
Cell phones and computers are not permitted in lecture. Tablets may be used in Airplane mode only.
Pre-lecture videos: short, question-embedded videos (QEVs) will be assigned ahead of most lectures to help you prepare for lecture. These videos, which will be posted on Blackboard, will help you prepare for lectures. Your successful completion of these QEVs ahead of lecture (by 9am on the assigned day) will count towards your lecture score.
Bonus points with clickers: the 5% of your course score for clickers in lecture is only for participation. You could get every question wrong all semester (which we hope is not the case!) and still get full credit as long as you've answered them all. But working hard to answer these questions (in collaboration with your peers in lecture) is an important part of learning the material. As such, you will get BONUS POINTS on your overall course score for the percent of questions that you answer correctly (up to 2.5% of the course score)!
All students at Boston University are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty and integrity. The Chemistry Department treats cheating with zero tolerance. Here, cheating refers to any violation of the student academic conduct code. There are no small infractions. All instances of misconduct will be reported to the Dean's office. It is the responsibility of every student to be aware of the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions, as detailed at:
http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/
Students at Boston University are required to abide by all of regulations regarding academic integrity and conduct, including the proper use of technology and digital resources. Course materials are provided by faculty for your personal use in the course only. Any other use of these materials including, but not limited to, posting of materials online in forums or websites, is a copyright violation and a violation of the academic conduct code. Additionally, materials submitted for course credit (papers, exams, etc.) are similarly not permitted to be used or posted.
Attendance at all lectures, lab lectures, discussions, and labs is mandatory. Students must attend their assigned lecture, lab lecture, discussion, and lab, and are expected to arrive on-time. Lecture and discussion participation and engagement will count for 10% of your course grade.
Your participation grade will be based on your engagement, prompt attendance, and contributions in lecture and discussion. It is completely understandable that some students may miss a lecture, lab lecture, or discussion due to unforeseen circumstances. As a result, we will make the following adjustments for all students in CH101:
In this way, all students will be able to succeed in the course. Missed classes due to religious observances will never affect your score adversely.
If you become ill, we require that you follow the protocols mandated by the University under those circumstances. The course attendance and engagement policies already reflect substantial flexibility to allow for absences of short to moderate length due to illness. Please make sure to contact your instructor immediately (ch101summer-questions@bu.edu) about any prolonged absences that are not already covered by the course absence policy (above). In such cases, we will work with the CAS Dean's office to determine the best course of action for any given student.
Absences for documented religious observances will be excused according to the specifications of the University Policy on Religious Observance. If you might be absent due to a religious observance, make sure to communicate by email to ch101summer-questions@bu.edu about religious observances as far in advance as possible (and no later than one week before the observance, per university policy) so that accommodations can be arranged.
The Office of Disability and Access Services (25 Buick street, Suite 300) is responsible for assisting students with disabilities. If you have a disability, you are strongly encouraged to register with this office. Lecture hall and discussion rooms are accessible and ADA compliant.
Learning and testing accommodation: Boston University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability, you must present your letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability and Access Services directly to Professor Abrams as soon as possible. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, contact the Office of Disability and Access Services. Letters of accommodations should be presented as soon as possible to ensure that student needs are addressed from the start of the course. At a minimum, they must be submitted at least one week before any assessments to which they will apply. Instructors are not able to provide accommodations without documentation from Boston University's Office of Disability and Access Services.
The syllabus, course descriptions, lab manual, and all handouts created for this course, and all class lectures, are copyrighted by the course instructors. The materials and lectures may not be reproduced in any form or otherwise copied, displayed or distributed, nor should works derived from them be reproduced, copied, displayed or distributed without the written permission of the instructors. Infringement of the copyright in these materials, including any sale or commercial use of notes, summaries, outlines or other reproductions of lectures, constitutes a violation of the copyright laws and is prohibited. Please note in particular that distributing, receiving, selling, or buying class notes, lecture notes or summaries, lab reports or related materials, or similar materials both violates copyright and interferes with the academic mission of the College, and is therefore prohibited in this class and will be considered a violation of the student code of responsibility that is subject to academic sanctions.
If you are experiencing difficulty, please contact your course instructor without delay. During the semester we will provide each student with an updated overall course score so far, on a 1000-point scale, that reflects their work completed in the course so far (quizzes, labs, and participation). In this way, you will have a measure of how you are doing at that point in the course.
If dropping the course appears to be in your best interest, we still would like to work through the decision with you. We are also happy to advise you on appropriate choices for your academic program. If you drop the course by Tuesday, 30 May 2023, no record of it will appear on your transcript. After that date, until the end of the day Thursday, 15 June 2023, you may drop the course but with a W grade (withdrawn). If you must drop the course, note that CH101 will be given during the Fall of 2023, and Spring and Summer of 2024.
The Chemistry department has a Digital Suggestions Box. If you have suggestions, feedback, or concerns that are best addressed directly to the department, please go online and leave your anonymous feedback here.
Students will identify and apply major concepts used in the natural sciences to explain and quantify the workings of the physical world. These concepts include the following: matter is composed of atoms; elements form \families"; bonds form between atoms by sharing electron pairs; shape is of the utmost importance; molecules interact with one another; energy is conserved; energy and matter tend to disperse; there are barriers to reaction; and light and matter can exchange energy. Students will learn about the process by which scientific theories are developed, refined, refuted, and confirmed.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of core conceptual and theoretical tools used in quantitative reasoning, particularly mathematics, as a tool for the exposition and manipulation of chemical concepts and for formulating a connection between microscopic models of matter and its macroscopic properties.
Students will interpret quantitative models of how energy and light interact with atoms or molecules and understand a variety of methods of communicating these, such as graphs, including spectra, tables, formulae, and chemical symbols.
Students will communicate quantitative information about chemical and physical objects and their properties us- ing chemical symbols, visually with sketches, numerically with estimated or computed values, and verbally using appropriate chemical nomenclature.
Students will recognize and articulate the capacity and limitations of quantitative methods such as dimensional analysis and the risks of using it improperly.
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