Introductory Chemistry

Week 1 How and when to attend class

Attendance for the first week is required. There are 2 parts to the required attendance:

1. Complete the syllabus quiz on the first day of week 1, if you are officially enrolled. If you are on the waitlist, you will be able to access it after you add the course and your deadline will be extended - do make sure to complete it within 24 hours.

2. Attend all your in-person lecture class and lab sessions as listed in the class schedule. Contact me immediately if you will not be able to attend - you will be dropped if you don't attend and don't contact me.

Special note for MJC Students: Attendance in Chemistry 133 is also required for week 1 if you are enrolled in that course. Chemistry 133 is not required to be enrolled in 143, and additional information is available for that course.

How this course works

This is a full semester length course. Each "course week" starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. All assignments, other than exams and labs, have flexible due dates. This means that the assignment has a specific due date in Canvas, but if you need a little extra time to complete it, that's okay! You do want to complete assignments as close to the due date as possible, so you are ready for exams and so you have enough time to really learn and apply the concepts for both this course and the future courses that rely on this one. Generally, you will need to complete your assignments before the associated exam to be successful in the course - students rarely pass if they delay their work beyond our current course unit.

This course includes some flexibility. You do have some choices of how you can engage with the materials:

1. Read

   • All course readings are in Canvas, and are provided for free! The only cost is if you decide to buy a physical copy of the textbook or if you decide to buy the ingredients to perform any of the optional experiments over the semester.

2. Participate/Watch

   • Required - Lecture is required. If you are unable to attend the in-person lecture, then watch mini-lectures on the course topics for the week (in weekly video pages in Canvas, or see the YouTube links below) - this is also great for review

   • Participate in weekly class session activities - you will be expected to participate - we will mostly practice chemistry while together. Practice materials will be available in Canvas for make up, but students who do these assignments alone do not do as well as those who show up to class and work with others.

   • Attend and participate in lab safely. Come to lab on time. Students must participate in the safety briefings and be dressed appropriately to participate in lab. If you miss a lab due to lack of preparation, there is typically no way to make it up.

3. Do

   • Required Canvas homework based on the readings. These all include multiple attempts, and are auto-graded, so you can try them out until you really understand the content!

   • Lab reports and quizzes - most labs are wet labs performed in the lab classroom. Most labs include a pre-lab quiz. Make sure to read the lab instructions, take the quiz, then attend lab and complete the lab experiments. The pre-lab is designed to help you focus on the concepts most important to completing the lab correctly and safely. There is a lab in week 1. You must pass the lab portion of the class to pass this class, so labs are extremely important.

   • Exams - There are 4 units in the class, and one exam for each unit. See the course calendar for exam dates.

   • Additional required practice - printouts/worksheets so you can practice writing out the chemistry. Print outs will be available in Canvas or by handout in class.

   • Additional optional practice - available for many different topics throughout the course.

How to Contact me

There are three very quick ways to contact me:

1. Send me an email, and include the course you are emailing me about in the subject line or message. If you can't remember your course section number, just include when the lab portion of when your course meets (example: "I'm in Tuesday morning Chem lab")

2. Contact me through the Course Team (in Microsoft Teams) - you can find the information to join once the course is available in Canvas (MJC students only)

3. If you are officially enrolled, send me a message from within Canvas - you can do this from the Inbox or the Help (? icon) in Canvas. Both are available on a computer or a mobile device.

You can also contact me through the "Questions for my instructor" discussion in Canvas, once you have access to the course site. There are 2 advantages to using this discussion for general questions, though it may take slightly longer to get a response:

1. See if others have asked the same question

2. Other students may also share the answer they found to the question

I also encourage asking questions in lecture or lab sessions - that's part of the whole purpose of having class sessions!

How quickly can you expect a response?

I generally respond to emails within 24 hours on weekdays or up to 48 hours on the weekend. Generally, I respond to emails very quickly, but do remember, I have to sleep, too! I typically do not read emails during lecture times or office hours, since I am focused on students in the room. If you have a question during office hours, you can get an instant response by stopping into office hours (either the in person or virtual hours).

Due Dates for Week 1

Read/Watch

• Syllabus

• Chapter 1 and 2 of the textbook

• Math review

• Lab safety reading and video - we will cover this in lab, but they will be available in Canvas for you to review anytime

• Attend lecture for lecture content - there are Week 1 videos available that cover the material we will focus on in week 1, and these video links are included in the Week 1 Videos section on this page. The videos are great for previewing the content or reviewing areas where you struggled in class.

Complete

Note - assignments can be submitted early, and it is recommended to complete them as early as you can, to give yourself some flexibility

• For Lab

  • Attend the lab session you are registered for this week, or contact me as soon as possible if you cannot attend. We will typically do a lab in week 1. If we do a lab, it will be due the same day you meet in lab - submit it through Canvas by scanning to PDF (detailed instructions will be in Canvas). I will hand out the physical copy of the lab to complete - you do not need to print it out.

• For Lecture

  • Turn in Week 1 in class assignment by uploading to Canvas as soon as possible after completing in lecture (if you are on the waitlist, hold onto this, in case you can get into the class) - I will hand out a physical copy of the week 1 assignment, you do not need to print it or work on it early

  • Come to lecture and participate on your Lecture days 

• Monday/Tuesday of the first week (depending on which day of the week is the first day of the course) 

  • Complete the syllabus quiz to stay enrolled in the course. You just need to attempt the syllabus quiz at least once, you do not need a perfect score. This is part of week 1 attendance - I will contact you if you do not complete this, to check if you want to stay in the course. If you do not complete the syllabus quiz or contact me, then I will drop you from the class.

• Tuesday

  • Submit math pre-assessment, so you know what topics to review. This is one of the few "quizzes" with only one attempt, but it is okay if you do not do well on this. It will not affect your final grade in the course.

• By end of day Sunday

  • Submit Chapter 1 homework

  • Complete "About Me" survey

  • Complete all the Read/Watch items above

  • Finish any late assignments from the week

• See the "Schedule" page for additional week content

Materials you will need for week 1

All course materials can be found in Canvas. Here's what you can access outside of Canvas:

• Full course textbook - available from LibreText - select PDF or Downloads to download the entire book (you can also download individual chapters, if you prefer). The Downloads link can also allow you to order an optional print copy of the book, or you are welcome to print the pages you would like from the book.

• Course Handout packet or individual assignments - I will hand out materials in class, as needed, or provide them in Canvas for printing. If you lose materials, you can print them out.

• Computer - You will need regular access to a computer that meets Canvas technical requirements to be able to complete assignments. There are many other resources for online coursework. Be aware that if you have the wrong browser, you may not be able to view certain images or other items in Canvas, and that can be frustrating. I want you to have a good experience with this course. If this is your first course in Canvas, I recommend the free Canvas training courses provided by the college.

• Microsoft 365 Suite - This is available for free to all students! Once you have access to your student email account, you can access the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite. Make sure to download Microsoft Excel to your computer, at minimum, since you will need it later in the course. You can, generally, use Google Sheets instead, but you will need to have a Google account to do so. Either option will be fine for this course.

• Scientific Calculator - Non-programmable,TI 30XA or TI 30XIIS recommended. Graphing calculators are not allowed. If you do not have a scientific calculator the library may have one to borrow, and we will have appropriate calculators available for check out in the lab for the semester. You do need an actual calculator for exams, and it is best to practice with it. If you need a calculator to use while you wait to get your real one, you can use an online calculator for homework, such as the Desmos Scientific Calculator or you can use calculator apps on your phone until you get your actual calculator. Remember, you want to practice with the calculator you will use on exams, so get your calculator as soon as you can. It does not go well to use a calculator for the first time on an exam!

• A way to take digital pictures or video (phone, laptop, digital camera, etc.) and scan papers to PDF (a scanner or a phone app that allows scanning). Please, make sure to have a way to convert materials to PDF, so they are readable. I will help with this in the lab classroom, and I encourage you to talk to other students with similar technology to find out what works for them.

Optional (all materials below are free)

• Canvas Student app for your phone or tablet. Available for Android or iOS. Most materials in the course can be viewed on a mobile device.

• Microsoft Teams App for your phone, tablet, or computer.

• Scanning App (a few options are below, but you are welcome to use any tool that can scan a multi-page document to a single PDF)

  • Adobe Scan app to create PDFs from images and/or a scanner. 

  • Google Drive on your phone, you can also use that to scan to PDF. How to Scan to PDF with Google Drive.

  • iPhones can scan to PDF using the built-in Notes app or Files app - How to Scan a Document for iPhone

• YouTube videos I made for each course unit. If you find any issues with the videos, contact me so I can fix it right away - don't just press the downvote! I'd be happy to add/replace videos to help you! Videos are required for hybrid versions of the course.

  • Unit 1

  • Unit 2

  • Unit 3

  • Unit 4

• A really great playlist of math review topics for chemistry:

  • The Math You'll Use in Chemistry, by Melissa Maribel

  • See the Math Review Suggestions on this page for more details!

Optional Math Review

Reviewing major math topics for chemistry can help you prepare for the rest of the course. None of the items below are required, but they may be helpful as you complete the course .

Self-Paced Math Review

Complete a free, optional math review for critical chemistry topics through MyOpenMath. If you have never used MyOpenMath before, you can start the self-paced review anytime by following these steps:

1. Go to https://www.myopenmath.com/forms.php?action=newuser

2. Fill out the form

   1. For Course ID enter: 45013

   2. For Enrollment key enter: GSoow285c

3. Select “Sign Up”

4. This will give you access to the “Just-In-Time Math Review for Chemistry”

5. You may complete as little or as much of the review as you like at your own pace – the course is organized by chemistry topic, so you can see which math topics you need to review for each major math-based chemistry topic in the course

There are a variety of math topics you may need to review. These include scientific notation, rearranging equations, percent, and order of operations.

Videos that may be helpful

These materials were made by other people - not by me, and they are not curated by me. If the links stop working or you experience other issues, make sure to contact me. I also encourage you to reach out if you find a better resource - I would be happy to include it!

Here's a YouTube Playlist recommended by other chemistry students:

 The Math You'll Use in Chemistry by Melissa Maribel

Review materials by Topic

Scientific Notation

📙If you prefer to read to review, here's a short textbook page to help with reviewing scientific notation: Scientific Notation from Libretexts

🎦Here's a good summary video from Melissa Maribel:

Scientific Notation and Standard Form

And an alternative video from Khan Academy:

Scientific Notation Examples

Rearranging Equations

📙There is an excellent description of the basic rules of rearranging equations in the following free textbook chapter: Solving Linear Equations. 

There are also some good practice of rearranging equations for certain variables at the top of the following page: Solve a Formula for a Specific Variable. Focus on the first half of the page up to Example 2.3.12. The geometric examples after that are a bit more complicated than we will use.

🎦If you prefer videos,

Melissa Maribel has a good, short video on rearranging chemical equations you may find helpful:

How to Rearrange Equations

Khan Academy has one below with a different equation as an example:

Rearrange Formulas to Isolate Specific Variables

Order of Operations

📙Read a little review of Order of Operations from LibreText

🎦Watch a video, if you prefer:

Introduction to Order of Operations from Khan Academy

Percent

📙Read about Percent problems from LibreText - focus on percent calculations using decimal form versus fractions.

🎦Watch a video from Khan Academy, if you prefer (please note - there are additional videos for specific types of percent calculations we will encounter throughout the course, so you will see percent again)

Converting Percent to Decimal and Fraction

More advanced review - good to do if you have time, but we will cover in detail in class)

Once you have a good grasp of the basic math topics for this class, you'll want to work on reviewing additional topics. 

Some additional topics you should review are:

• Dimensional analysis (video below to help you review) - we will do this extensively in class and on every single exam in this course

• Exponents and log10 relationships

• Graphing equations

Dimensional Analysis Video by Melissa Maribel (look also at my Unit 1, Week 2 videos on this page)

For Lab:

Safety Video

Please note that the link above is to the Unit 1 YouTube Playlist. If you allow it to continue playing, you will see each of the videos below in order, then the videos for the rest of Unit 1.

Chapter 1 - You may access the readings directly in the Full course textbook.

• Describe the steps of the scientific method

Chapter 2 - You may access the readings directly in the Full course textbook.

• Perform calculations:

  • Using scientific notation - see review materials in Math Topic Review

  • Using proper significant figures

    • What are significant figures?

    • Exact vs. Measured numbers and significant figures

    • Rounding Rules

    • Significant figures in multiplying/dividing

    • Significant figures in adding/subtracting

    • Mixed calculations

Note - if you are on the waitlist, you will not be able to log in to the course until you are officially enrolled.

• Everyone (yes, that includes you!) can learn chemistry, and I am here to help you to find the ways that work best for you.

• Chemistry is the central science, and it is important to everyone and everything. It has been studied by people from all walks of life, and it is incredibly important for people from diverse backgrounds, with diverse abilities, and with diverse goals to study and participate in chemistry. I treasure the unique view each student brings to the course, and sharing these views makes the course better for everyone.

• Learning chemistry requires action and interaction. Supported practice, interaction with the text, other students, and the instructor, and experimentation are all essential. These all will help you find your unique voice in chemistry.

• Our classroom is a learning community, where I encourage students to make the connections and the social/emotional support that makes completing challenging courses so rewarding.

• Mistakes are a part of the learning process, perhaps the most important part! Flexible due dates, choice in assignments, and other features are part of my courses to help you feel comfortable making and learning from your mistakes.

• Keep a positive attitude! 

• Practice, Practice, Practice! The problem-solving skills you will learn in this class will lay the foundation for your future career goals. The homework is set to allow repeated practice. I recommend practicing until you don't get it wrong - not just until you get it right the first time.

• Always ask questions! I love questions, and you are definitely not bothering me. If you get stuck on practice, don't just dive right into doing it again, ask. A single question can save you a lot of time!

• Read the chapter. Really! Each semester I have students surprised to see questions from the readings on exams, but I don't hide this information.

• Take careful notes when you read, watch videos, and perform labs. Do the problems - don't just read them. The course is designed so everything works together to support learning.

• Contact me for help or when you just need a little cheering up. I really do enjoy helping you understand chemistry.

• Look over your homework and other assignments and learn from your mistakes. This is really helpful for your homework, since it can give you low stakes practice before your exams. You will see questions from your homework on exams.

• Form a study group with others in the class. Work together on homework but do your own work. Homework will prepare you for the exams, so make sure you understand how to do it on your own!

• AI and other tools can be tempting to use, and there are good ways to use them and ways that will hurt you in this class and your future courses that rely on this one. If you are ever unsure of whether your intended use of AI is allowable for this course, please, make sure to ask. Here's a few examples of ways to use AI, and whether they are a good idea or not:

  • Good uses - do use with caution since many AI are really, really bad at doing chemistry - I would be happy to help you determine if the AI you are using is doing a good job or not, since I want you to practice in an effective way

    • Generating additional practice problems based on ones I've provided

    • Seeing examples of worked out problems

    • Summarizing readings that you've read and need an alternative point of view on

    • Converting readings to audio or alternate formats, such as podcasts or other engaging content

  • Ways that will hurt you long-term

    • Using AI to complete your homework, lab quizzes, labs, or any other part of the course for you - this is academic dishonesty, and students who do this generally fail the exams, even if they are not "caught." Most students who take this course need it as a prerequisite to other classes, and it is really important to learn this content to succeed in future courses.

    • Using it with any of the "good uses" without having done the readings or watched videos - it is important to still read or watch the videos if you use AI, so you can tell if it is doing things correctly. AI can "hallucinate," or make up things that are not true. This is particularly common in chemistry. Often, AI will include ways of doing things that are more advanced than this course, or ways that are wrong. Always use AI materials with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The course objectives below are what you should be able to do by the end of the course. These are broken down into specific things you should be able to do each week in the course. These weekly objectives are in the "Overview" for each week of the course in Canvas, and all of the required assignments, homework, labs, and exams are focused on these objectives.

You can think of the weekly objectives as the weekly list of skills you should have once you've mastered that week's content. You never need to guess what you need to know for a particular week or exam, since the specific skills are listed for you.

These weekly skills build to the course goals below:

Upon satisfactory completion of this course, the student should be prepared to:

1. Solve abstract and complex chemical problems using general chemistry principles and theories.

2. Describe key events in the development of chemistry and recognize that science is an evolving body of knowledge

3. Identify and use chemical laboratory equipment and instrumentation.

In addition to the specific course learning outcomes listed above, as a result of satisfactory completion of this course, the student should be prepared to:

1. Demonstrate proficiency in Natural Science by describing how scientific discoveries and theories affect human activities.

2. Demonstrate proficiency in Natural Science by explaining how the scientific method is used to solve problems.

The waitlist for this course can be quite long, and unfortunately, some students won't be able to enroll in the course because it is full. Unfortunately, I do not know your individual chances of getting into the course. I know this is stressful and frustrating, so I hope I can make it as stress-free as possible. Here's a bit more detail on the waitlist:

• I promise that if you are on the waitlist, I will tell you by the end of week 1 whether you are in the course or not. I will send an email to your student email address making your status clear.

• I cannot add anyone from the waitlist before the course starts or after week 2 of the class - the technology does not allow it.

• There may not be physical room for you to attend class in week 1 or 2. If that is the case, you will have the option to complete your attendance another way so I know you are still interested in the class. Keep an eye on your student email for details on how to attend in week 1 and 2. If you do not see a message from me before week 1 starts, please email me for information, since it can be easy to miss seeing important emails. If in doubt, please show up to Week 1!

• Before the class starts, all add authorizations are automatic - I have no control over the system. Watch your email if you are on the top of the waitlist. Make sure to regularly check all folders for messages, since add windows are short. If you miss your add window, you are automatically dropped from the waitlist, and will have to re-add to the end of the waitlist if you still want to take the course. Please, don't get into that situation - watch your email regularly - including all email folders, particularly if you are near the top of the waitlist.

• After class starts, if a spot opens, I will give students who are active in the class add authorization in waitlist order. If you are the next active student on the list, I will authorize you to add to the course. You should receive an email from the college to your student email address with information on how to add at that point.

• You will not be penalized if you get added to the course late - no points will be deducted. You will be able to submit any assignments that were due before you added - Canvas will mark them as "Late" but it will not affect your grade in the course or anything else. You will want to catch up promptly, though. Getting behind is not a recipe for success.

• Keep in mind - the lecture hall has far more seats than the lab rooms. That means that just because there's room in the lecture hall, there may not be room in the lab. Labs have a specific cap on number of students students for safety, and I will not go over that limit.

• You are encouraged to attend the entire first week of the course, so you don't get behind. Links to the first 2 weeks of lecture videos are on this page (See Week 1 videos above and Week 2 videos below). If you are unable to attend the first week, make sure to contact me, so I know you are still interested and active in the course.

• Yes, I am aware of how important getting into this course is for your academic progress. It's just as important to everyone else on the waitlist. It breaks my heart each semester to have to turn students away, since I know how important it is to you all. To keep it fair, though, I can't skip the waitlist order. I wish we had room for every student who wants to take this course each semester!

Videos for each week are organized by objective. Videos are short, to allow you to focus on one concept at a time, though since this is an introduction to some complicated calculations, these videos are up to 10 minutes each. Some topics will also have other practice materials or multimedia you may want to use, and links to these tools will be in Canvas. The total view time for all material on this page is about 80 minutes. I do suggest breaking it up, versus watching it all at once, and make sure to take good notes to refer to later, so you don't have to rewatch them too many times. Chapter 2 is the most critical to success in this class, so getting started on this early is a recipe for success!

Chapter 2, continued

• Using dimensional analysis

  • What is dimensional analysis? 

  • To convert between units in the metric system (these all will use dimensional analysis, so make sure you understand dimensional analysis first)

    • Major units in the metric system

    • Metric prefixes, equivalencies, and conversion factors

    • One step metric conversions (examples: g--> mg, kg-->g, m-->nm)

    • Two step metric conversions (examples: kg-->mg, cm-->nm, mL-->dL)

    • Conversions of compound units (examples: kg/h-->mg/s, mm/min-->km/day)

      • A more complicated example

  • To convert between non-metrics units of measurement, if given conversion factors

  • To convert between units of temperature (Celsius, Kelvin, Fahrenheit)

  • Complete calculations involving density

    • Calculating Density

      • 1. 1. 1. 1. • if you know or can find the mass and volume

    • Using Density as a conversion factor

      • 1. 1. 1. 1. • if you know two of the three variables in the density equation

Chapter 3: Matter and Change

• Classify matter as an element, compound, or type of mixture

• Distinguish physical and chemical properties and changes (includes physical states of matter)