CHEMISTRY 3321

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY II

SPRING 2010

 

 

Required Text:     Physical Chemistry, 8th edition, by Peter Atkins and Julio de Paula, W.H. Freeman and Company, 2006.

 

Instructor:             Dr. Gerry Clarkson

                                Office:   W-106

                                Phone:   (325) 646-2502 ext. 5407                                  E-mail:  gclarkson@hputx.edu

 

Lecture:                 MWF 11:00 AM-11:50 PM in W-107

 

Office Hours:       Office hours will be posted on my office door.  A tentative schedule of office hours is as follows:

 

M            4:00-5:00 PM                                       Th           8:30-9:30 AM, 11:00-11:59 AM

                                                T             8:30-9:30 AM, 11:00-11:59 AM     F              1:00-2:00 PM

                                                W            2:00-3:00 PM

 

 

                                        I will be available immediately after class if you wish to talk to me briefly on an individual basis.  If you wish to talk to me at some time other than office hours, please feel free to talk to me about an appointment for another time.

 

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

Content and Objectives

 

CHE 3321 is the second semester of a two semester course in Physical Chemistry.  This semester we will focus primarily on the structure and properties of atoms and molecules using quantum mechanics.  The primary objective of this course is to provide the student with a basic understanding of chemical properties and reactions from a physical point of view.

 

Students will be assessed by exams, homework and in-class exercises.  The course will be assessed by responses on the student course evaluation.

 

Format

 

Class time will be used for lecture, discussion and questions.  I am available during office hours and at other times to discuss any aspect of the course.

 

Prerequisites/Corequisites

 

CHE 1489, MAT 2351, PHY 1419

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNED READING AND COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Assigned Reading

 

Please read the material assigned prior to the class.  This will give you the needed background for each class.  Our discussions and activities will assume that you have read the appropriate material in your textbook.  We will not necessarily talk about everything mentioned in your text.  You are responsible for all assigned material whether it is discussed in class or not.

 

This semester we will concentrate on Part 2 of the textbook concerning the structure of matter.  If time permits we will look at selected topics from Part 3.

 

I plan to have 3 tests: after chapters 8-11, after chapters 13-15, and after chapters 16-17.  The final will be comprehensive and include any additional material we discuss following the last test.

 

Please note that this schedule is tentative and may be altered, including the number of tests to be given and the chapters to be covered.

 

The scheduled final time is Wednesday, May 5 from 10:30 AM-12:30 PM.

 

 

GRADING

 

General

 

Course grades will be based on class exams, a comprehensive final exam , homework,  and in-class exercises.  These will be weighted as follows:  class exams-35%, final exam-15%, homework-25%, in-class exercises and discussion-25%.  No extra credit work will be allowed.

 

 

Homework

 

Homework assignments will be due one week after they are assigned unless otherwise indicated in class.  Homework will be due at the beginning of class.  Late homework may be turned in up to the beginning of the following class period for 90% credit: after this time late homework will receive no more than 50% credit.

 

Homework should be submitted in a proper form for grading.  Your assignments should be neat and legible.  It may be helpful for you to write on one side of the paper only and to begin each new problem on a separate sheet of paper.  Include your name and other pertinent data on each sheet.  All sheets should be stapled together.  Show your work.  It is usually helpful to box all important results and your final answer.  Please attempt all problems and ask for help when you get stuck on a problem.

 

Final Exam

 

The final exam will include material covered since the last class exam as well as material from previous exams.  The final will be given at its scheduled time:  Wednesday, May 5 at 10:30 AM.

 

Attendance

 

Please note that the Howard Payne attendance policy states that a student cannot receive a passing grade in a course unless they have attended at least 75% of the scheduled classes. 

 

 

 

 

Cheating

 

The first incident of copying, plagiarism, or other form of academic dishonesty will result in a score of 0 for that part of the assignment.  The second incident will result in a score of 0 for the entire assignment.  The third incident will result in a grade of F for the course.

Assignment of Grades

 

It is my intention to assign grades according to the following scale:

 

                                90-100%       A                                                             60-70%          D

                                80-90%          B                                                             0-60%            F

                                70-80%          C

 

Final grades may be curved slightly in your favor, but do not count on that.

 

 

SUGGESTIONS

 

1.       Attend class.  For most students regular, active attendance is an extremely important key to mastering the material.

 

2.       Read the assigned material before class.  This will allow you to better appreciate class discussion, ask questions and contribute your insights to the rest of the class.

 

3.       Think of class as an active exercise on your part.  Ask questions about things you do not understand from the reading or from previous discussions.  Asking questions will not only benefit you, but it will likely benefit others in the class and will also benefit me in that I will not have to guess at what I should be trying to explain better.  Also feel free to raise questions on related topics of interest to you, even if they are not directly mentioned in the reading or class discussion.

 

4.       If you would like to discuss something in more detail than time permits in class, please feel free to see me on an individual basis.

 

5.       Do the assigned homework.  If you have questions, ask.