Spring 2017

Administrative Information

Class meets: MWF 9:05-10:00am in SCST 349A
Class Text: General Chemistry: Atoms First (Custom USD version) with 4-year MasteringChemistry online resource, Pearson Publishing, by John McMurry & Robert Fay. This should be the same as your CHEM151 textbook last semester (or last year).

Instructor: Dr. Jeremy Kua
Office: SCST 381
Phone:  (619) 260-7970
E-mail:

Office hours: MWF 10:30-11:30am, T 3-4pm, R 10-11am
Class web site:  http://home.sandiego.edu/~jkua/chem152spr17/

Course goals:
This course builds on the foundation of Chem 151 by continuing the fundamentals of chemistry for a student majoring in the physical or life sciences, and/or on a pre-health path. Course topics include: thermochemistry, thermodynamics, properties of solutions, kinetics, equilibria, and electron transfer reactions. Within the construct of these topics, the main goals of this course are for you to develop a visual image of what is occurring at the molecular level and develop your problem-solving skills to answer a given chemical question.

Learning outcomes:
At the end of the course, you should be able to:
1. Assess spontaneity of a reaction both qualitatively and quantitatively.
2. Connect knowledge of the atomic/molecular level structure of liquids, solids, gases and mixtures to their macroscopic properties.
3. Use experimental data to determine a reaction's rate law and propose a plausible corresponding reaction mechanism.
4. Apply knowledge of dynamic equilibria to predict and manipulate reaction outcomes.
5. Predict the type of reaction and the likely products for various combinations of reactants.
6. Apply stoichiometry, thermodynamics and equilibria to various chemical reactions.

Course requirements: 1a. There will be three in-class hour long exams (all of them count) and one comprehensive two hour Final Exam.
1b. There will be 12 to 16 five-minute quizzes that will take place right at the beginning of class. These will take place randomly over the course of the semester. Only the top ten will count and lower scores will be dropped.
1c. Online homework will be facilitated through Mastering Chemistry. It is highly recommended that you attempt these before the next class period. (They will officially be due 9am two class days later, although you really should have it done before the next class. Exception: On the class just before an exam, homework will be due at 9am just before the exam.)
1d. There will be several homework/problem sets handed out in class. Due dates will be posted on the Quiz and Homework Log.

2a. Feel free to ask each other for help with the homework but if you get help from someone else, make sure you understand how to work through the problems on your own before the exam if you don't want to do poorly.
2b. There will be NO collaboration on exams and quizzes.

3a. Grade breakdown is as follows:
                10 Quizzes at 0.5% each            5%
                Homework                                14%
                3 Exams at 16% each               48%
                Final Exam                               33%
3b. Tentative Grading Scale (subject to change by the instructor at any time)
                A     85-100%
                B       70-84%
                C       55-69%
                D       40-54%
                F          0-39%
Appended + and - will approximately constitute 3% widths at either end of the scale for A-D grades. 

4a. There are no make-up exams. If you have a very good reason for missing an exam you have to let me know beforehand or as soon as possible. If I judge the reason to be valid and you did let me know beforehand or ASAP, an alternative will be available (probably in the form of an oral exam where I ask you anything I would have expected you to know on the exam).
4b. There are no make-up quizzes since I am only counting the top 10, i.e., 2-6 of your lowest quiz grades will be dropped.

5a. Username and password to access Previous Year Exams for practice will be given in class.
5b. Mastering Chemistry offers web-based tutorials and problems. When you register at www.masteringchemistry.com, you will be asked for an access code (which is packaged with your textbook along with step-by-step instructions of exactly what to do for access). When prompted for a course ID, ours will be MCKUA201701. Using the materials is quite self-explanatory. If you feel you need more practice understanding a concept, try the questions or tutorials assigned as "practice" (they are not for credit). If not, you can go straight to the questions assigned for "credit". Many of them can also be found in your textbook.

6a. Students are most welcome to come in during office hours. Generally if my office door is wide open even if not during my office hours, you're more than welcome to stop by. Remember, I'm here to help you master the material. On the rare instances I'm super-busy right when you appear, I'll just ask you to come back a little later.
6b. You can also make an appointment to visit with me. (Check my weekly timetable on my home page.)
6c. I check my e-mail reasonably often during working hours so you can contact me that way too. (Don't expect replies on weekends and evenings.)
6d. I love talking about chemistry, in particular chemical bonding and the strangeness of the universe we live in. So if you have musings, thoughts or ideas, stop by my office so we can chat!

7. All students are expected to adhere strictly to the Academic Integrity policy. Violations will be dealt with through the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, in accordance with the University of San Diego policy on academic integrity.