Physical Chemistry Lab Chem 303-307 Syllabus
2024 Fall Semester
Professor: Frank Cheng, ifcheng@uidaho.edu, 003 Renfrew Hall,
Office Hours MWF 10:30-11:30, TR 9:30-11:30.
Teaching
Assistant: Forrest Dalbec, dalb6827@vandals.uidaho.edu, Office Hours: Thursday 9:30-11:30.
Required
Equipment: lab safety goggles, lab coat, pad
lock, lab notebook and USB flash memory drive. There is no local storage of
data you must record your data on your USB drive.
Required Reading: Read Safety in Academic Chemistry
Laboratories. A hardcopy of this booklet is available in the lab and the PDF
link is here.
Also see NIOSH Pocket Guide to
Chemical Hazards
Tentative
Schedule.
Week # Week
of
1 August
20 Short Lab Lecture -
Select Team Members – Assign Labs – Acid-Base Titration Demo.
2 August
27 10-minute lab quiz (10%) – Prelabs (Introduction
and Experimental Procedure, 20%) are due - Begin Lab
3 September
3 Continue Lab
4 10 Finish up Lab
5 17 15-minute Team Presentation (70%). Turn in PPT slides to TA.
6 24 Begin Second Lab
Prep, first lab teams will act as consultants for the second lab teams
7 October
1 10-minute Lab Quiz -
Continue Lab – Prelabs (Introduction and Experimental Procedure) are due.
8 8 Continue Lab
9 15 Finish Lab
10 22 15-minute Team
Presentation. Turn in PPT slides to TA.
11 29 10-minute Lab
Quiz (10%) - Continue Lab – Prelabs (Introduction and Experimental Procedure,
20%) due.
12 November
5 Continue Lab
13 12 Finish Lab
14 19 Individual
Post-Lab Report 3-5 pages (70%), Check out.
15 December
3 Dead Week – No lab
One Page Handout for the Lab. These
along with other materials will be emailed to you at the start of the semester.
Please save them.
Current Labs.
Thermodynamics.
1. Heats of Combustion. J. Phys. Chem., 1968, 72,
222 Sime p420; Garland p145*
2. Heat Capacity Ratio of Gases Sime p408;
Garland p104
3. Heats of Ionic Reactions, Garland p167, Anal.
Chem. 1957, 29(1), 9*
Equilibrium
4. Conductance of Solutions, Sime p558; Garland
p228, J. Chem. Eng. Data, 1972, 17, 55*
Transport and
Bulk Properties
5. Partial Molar Volume, Sime p500; Garland
p172**
6. Surface Tension of Solutions, Sime p514;
Garland p292, Biochem. J., 1925, 19, 281-289
7. Surface Tension of Solids, J. Chem Ed. 2000,
77, 63-65**
8. Goniometry of water droplets, Young’s contact
angles. J. Chem Ed. Surface tension of solution and substrate.
a. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ed077p59
b. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/la5018328
c. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ed077p63
9. Measurement of Standard and Formal Reduction
Potentials and Diffusion Coefficients by Cyclic Voltammetry.
a. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00361
d. More to come….
*Labs that will focus on Chem 111,
112, 253 skills.
**Held in Reserve.
All labs will be done in duplicate
with preference for triplicate runs.
Notebook: At the end of each lab you must ask either
the course instructor or the teaching assistant to sign your notebook. This
requirement will provide you with an opportunity to request feedback on
notebook keeping and writing lab notes. Ultimately, good note-keeping will help
you write good reports. To acquire these points, by the end of the semester you
must collect at least ten individual signatures.
Keeping a laboratory notebook is an
important skill. All students are required to keep a detailed lab notebook of
their procedures and results. Before coming to class, students are expected to
prepare for lab by writing in their notebook the procedure they intend to carry
out. As the procedure is carried out, notes on any deviations from the plan
should be recorded. Data should also be recorded as it is collected.
Laboratory notebooks help ensure
scientific integrity. All notes written in the notebook should be composed in
ink. Nothing should be erased. If a mistake is made, draw a line to the mistake
and note why that note was invalid.
Lab notebooks should have numbered
pages and be hardbound (not spiral-bound). A lab notebook need not be perfect,
but it should be legible. The notebook will be graded periodically for
completeness and organization.
The lab notebook should contain the
following:
1)
Dates for every entry.
2)
Title and brief description of the experiment
3)
Experimental procedures (with additions and adaptations, as needed).
4)
Data collected in lab, including units and uncertainties.
5)
Identity, sources, and purities of all chemical used.
6)
Relevant calculations needed for preparation of solutions and calculated
concentrations for these solutions.
7)
Copies of computer-generated plots, tables etc. (staple or tape these to a
blank page in the notebook)
8)
Water bath temperature, barometric pressure, etc. as relevant
9)
Specific equipment used (type, brand, model, if available).
10)
References to any books, websites, data tables, etc. you used to gather
information about the experiment.
Prelab and
Postlab Reports: Experiments will be conducted by small groups
(2-3) of students. For the individual lab reports, the data used by all members
will be the same, however the analysis and description of that data must be
each student’s own work. Reports may be checked for plagiarized material.
·
During Lab Preps
you are to locate the procedure, equipment and familiarize yourselves with the
lab. You will discuss the lab theory with the TA.
·
The Prelabs will
be a description of the theory and purpose (Introduction) and procedure (Experimental 15 pts) of the lab. Enough
detail should be provided so that an educated 3rd party will be able
to replicate the lab. See Journal of Physical Chemistry articles for examples.
Descriptions of dilution factors should be omitted as it is assumed that
scientists/engineers will know already how to do this. Simply stating that
solutions were made with class A volumetric glassware suffices. These should be emailed to the TA on their
due dates by 8 am before the lab starts.
·
The Postlabs will
consist of the Abstract, Results and Discussion, Conclusions and References of
the labs, again see Journal Physical Chemistry series for examples. 15 out of 25 pts will be
directly from the quality and accuracy of the data. The
edited prelab (Introduction and Experimental) will also be inserted into this
report after the abstract.
·
The report layout
should follow the Journal of Physical Chemistry format (http://pubs.acs.org/journal/jpcafh).
The report needs the following components, plus a title page that includes
names of the experimenters: Abstract, Introduction, Experimental, Results,
Discussion, Conclusions, References. Lab report requirements and point
breakdowns will be described in a separate handout.
·
Reports
containing plagiarized material will earn a grade of zero. Tips that will help
you avoid plagiarism can be found at the following link: http://goo.gl/PvVtK. All students should do
their own calculations.
·
It is a good idea
to compare results with other group members to catch mistakes prior to turning
in the laboratory report. The lab report must be typewritten in a modern,
professional format. Use the equation editor when including equations in
your report. Also use the endnote and cross-reference features of
MS Word.
Will consist of 4 questions related to
proper use of chemical glassware/technique, or general chemistry knowledge that
is required for completion of the labs. What you need to know will be either
directly hinted at or taught the prior week of lab. Students must past the quiz
(3/4 answers correct) or will be subjected to a 5% deduction from the next
assignment and will be required to leave the lab for 1 hour to refresh the
material then return to retake the quiz.
Presentations:
The 15-minute presentation should be
aimed at informing your classmates on the theory, experimental setup and
results of the lab. Enough information should be provided for them to get a
fast start on the lab. The presentations will be done for the first two labs
you completed, each will be graded out of 50 pts based on the following 5
categories:
1. Introduction
(10 pts): heavily based on why you’re doing the experiment, what you’re trying
to prove, and the theory behind the experiment.
2. Experimental
section (10 pts): what you did, how you did it, the chemicals used, with enough
information that a subsequent group can perfume the experiment.
3. Results
(10 pts): The data you collected, its quality, and how it’s conveyed to the
audience.
4. Discussion
(10 pts): How your results compared to literature and any errors in your
results
5. Questions/presentation
style (10 pts): The overall design of your PowerPoint, speaking performance,
and your ability to field questions from the audience
|
Points/Section |
Abstract (5 pts) |
|
1 |
1 paragraph |
|
1 |
1 sentence of purpose/context |
|
2 |
Summarizes relevant results |
|
1 |
Summarizes conclusions |
|
Introduction (20 pts) |
|
|
2 |
2+ references |
|
2 |
1-2 paragraphs on why the project is important |
|
2 |
1-2 paragraphs on what principle is illustrated |
|
2 |
1-2 paragraphs on how that principle is illustrated |
|
3 |
Figure with a drawing of the apparatus or chemical structures, as used |
|
3 |
Key equations stated |
|
3 |
Key equations described (what are symbols, units, meanings) |
|
3 |
Expected results described |
|
Methods and Materials (10 pts) |
|
|
3 |
1 section per experiment |
|
4 |
Compete descriptions adequate for replication of experiment |
|
3 |
Departures from literature procedures should be documented and explained |
|
Results/Discussion (40pts) |
|
|
10 |
1 section for each experiment and a section for any calibrations |
|
5 |
1+ graph of results with a caption |
|
5 |
Error analysis (may accompany experiments or may be a separate section) |
|
10 |
1 section for comparison to theory |
|
10 |
Rationalize each result in terms of more fundamental theory |
|
Conclusions (20 pts) |
|
|
3 |
2-3 paragraphs |
|
5 |
Summary of the results (what happened?) |
|
5 |
Interpretation of the results (what does it mean?) |
|
5 |
Evaluation of the results (was it adequate to show the principle?) |
|
2 |
Ideas for future work |
|
References (5 pts) |
|
|
2 |
Separate section at the end – not footnotes |
|
1 |
Appropriate formatting consistent with that of the J. Phys. Chem. A |
|
2 |
2+ references |
Review of
Analytical Chemistry.
Physical Chemistry lab requires a
background in proper handling of volumetric glassware. Most of these techniques
were covered in Chem 111, 112 and 253. A series of YouTube videos offer
refreshers on this subject.
·
Standardization
of NaOH and NaCl solutions
·
Making solutions with
volumetric flasks
·
Buret Operation in
Titrations
TA Contact information:
Feel free to email the TA (Forrest
Dalbec, dalb6827@vandals.uidaho.edu) at any time with questions or concerns on
lab but know that the TA only respond to emails from 9 am to 5 pm
Monday-Friday. Questions received past those times will be responded to on the
next business day. Questions concerning what specific concentrations to use
during lab will not be answered and are up to the students to determine (most
of which can be found on the OneDrive literature).
Any questions, concerns, or
suggestions you may have about the lab feel free to email the TA.