Dr. Marge Legg
· Lewis 308, phone 333 6370, home phone 355 0777 (before 9pm only)
· email LeggMargaretJ@sau.edu
· REQUIRED TEXT: usually Atkins Physical Chemistry (current edition).
COURSE OUTLINE: Physical chemistry establishes and develops the principles that are used to explain and interpret the observations made in other branches of chemistry (Atkins, 1998). This is the quantum mechanics and reaction dynamics semester of a two semester course in physical chemistry. We will study the material from Structure and Change.
1. to develop an understanding of the theories that are used to discuss chemical structure and dynamics at the molecular level
2. to improve problem solving skills
3. to improve communication skills
4. to become familiar with some current topics in physical chemistry
EXAMS: The examination schedule is flexible. I suggest a minimum of three and a maximum of four.
Exam accommodations: Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities at 333-6275 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
HOMEWORK: You are required to answer in detail assigned end of chapter problems. Homework Problems are normally due at the next class. Announcements will be made in class.
Collaboration is a good way to begin to tackle homework problems. However, homework is a part of your grade and I expect that collaboration means joint understanding and mastery of the material. Copying another student’s work is plagiarism. If you have an answer key, using it to submit homework as your own work is also plagiarism.
COMPUTER PROGRAMS: We will also introduce some mathcad and Spartan molecular modeling experience in this course. Learning and using mathcad and Spartan will be part of the “lab” time. Expect to be here doing mathcad programs and/or Spartan when you are not doing lab. Just like traditional labs, computation will be used to experiment and explore topics.
LABS: You will be expected to participate in the data collection and analysis. You will be expected to keep a lab notebook and to write lab reports. More information will be provided as the semester progresses.
GRADING: Your grades will be based on a weighted average of your achievements on all the evaluations using the scheme: exams 65%, homework 10% and mathcad and Spartan activities and labs 25%.
Based on a 100 point system, grades will be assigned:
| A | B+ | B | C+ | C | D | F |
| 88-100 | 83-87 | 77-82 | 72-76 | 66-71 | 55-65 | below 5 |
ATTENDANCE: I request that you attend all lectures. You must fulfill the homework, mathcad, Spartan, and lab experiments on a definite schedule. If your homework or lab is not complete on the due date, submit whatever part of the assignment is done by the due date and make arrangements with me for completion. Extremely late assignments that are submitted will be given a D, passing grade.