Welcome to C2507, Intensive General Chemistry Laboratory! In the following pages you will find general
information about the course.
Teaching team
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Prof. Luis Avila |
avila@chem.columbia.edu |
4-8587 |
455 Chandler |
Isabelle Vu Trieu |
ilv2@columbia.edu |
4-6790 |
343 Havemeyer |
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Office hours |
Joan Raitano (Associate) |
jmr27@columbia.edu |
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Qazi Hai (Associate) |
qih1@columbia.edu |
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Chaya Ben-Porat |
chb2001@columbia.edu |
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Sarah Cummings |
sac2005@columbia.edu |
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Gordana Dukovic |
gd2012@columbia.edu |
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Iris Tam |
iwt2001@columbia.edu |
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George Tulevski |
gst2002@columbia.edu |
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Amanda Willis |
alw2005@columbia.edu |
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Room 302 Havemeyer
Monday section: 1:00-5:50 PM.
Tuesday section: 1:00-5:50 PM.
Mentoring session: 209 Havemeyer (Brian Bent Lecture Hall)
Friday 1:10-2:00 PM.
You need to
register for CHEM C2507y, Intensive General Chemistry Laboratory, if by the end of fall
semester 2001 you have completed CHEM C2407x, Intensive General Chemistry
Lecture, or CHEM C3045x, Intensive Organic Chemistry Lecture for Freshmen. This course will provide an introduction to
techniques and practices of modern experimental chemistry in a contextual,
collaborative learning environment.
The first two experiments
will serve the purpose to induce the formation of groups and to assure your
mastery of the basic laboratory techniques necessary to successfully complete
the series of experiments that follow immediately after the second week of the
semester. These experiments will cover
concepts in general chemistry, including kinetics, reactivity, spectroscopy,
and quantum mechanics.
The groups will be assembled according to the bench number
assigned to you during the first laboratory period (1/28 - 1/29). Each group will be designated by a letter (A
through L) and will have a Teaching Assistant (TA) / Mentor assigned. You are expected to remain in this group
throughout the semester, unless you request for a transfer due to extenuating
circumstances.
Transfer will be honored any time prior to the day of the fourth Mentoring session (February 15) under the following condition: you find another student from a different group who is willing to switch with you, or you make a written request to your mentor for transfer. In the later case, your mentor, in consultation with Professor Avila, will consider your reasons for transfer and will honor and arrange for your transfer only if your reasons deem substantially sufficient. Due to constraints of the course structure, transfer requests will not be accepted on or after February 19.
Group Responsibilities
Once you are assigned to a group, you will be held responsible collectively to fulfill the course requirements, which include:
· Weekly mandatory Mentoring session
· Preparation of Plan of Action to execute the experiments
· Preparation of a Case Study Plan of Action
· Case Study Laboratory Report
· Case Study Group Presentation toward the end of the semester.
Each group is expected to hold a weekly mandatory group
meeting every Friday from 1:10 to 2:00 PM in 209 Havemeyer. The group’s Mentor
will supervise the group meetings. An
attendance sheet signed by each member of the group must accompany the Plan of
Action to be turned in at the beginning of the upcoming laboratory period.
The agenda for the group meeting should include:
· Pooling the data/results from the last experiment
· Brainstorming about the Discussion of Results section of the Laboratory report
· Drafting the Plan of Action for the next experiment.
It is therefore imperative that each member makes ample preparation before attending these group meetings such as analyzing the data from the previous experiment, reading the manual for the next experiment, and attending the pre-lab lecture on the course website. Once each group member is assigned particular tasks such as library work or Internet search, the group should meet again before reconvening for the next experiment.
Except for the first experiment, The Plan of Action for each
experiment will be conceived during the group meeting before the
experiment. This word-processed
document will describe the distribution of the experimental tasks among the
group members, and will include a well thought strategy to complete those tasks
in the allotted time. Essentially
The document should include the attendance sheet to the group meeting, the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) of the main chemicals to be used, instrumentation guidelines, hints, and references; especially in the use of chemicals and laboratory facilities and the waste disposal protocol for the experiment. The Plan of Action is due at the beginning of each laboratory period.
Your performance during this semester will have an individual component that includes:
Prepare the experiment before the Friday group meeting. You need to read about the experiment in the laboratory manual and obtain the pertinent material available in the website. You should also prepare the laboratory session in your laboratory notebook. Your mentor will assess your preparation during the laboratory period.
You must purchase a laboratory notebook at the
beginning of the semester (available through the Chandler Chemical Society, at
Barnes and Noble’s or Papyrus). You should bring it to the laboratory with the
Plan of Action. The laboratory
manual will not be permitted in the laboratory.
Leave the first page of the notebook for a table of contents. For each experiment, write the title, date, and names of the group members on the top of the first page of the record. The notebook is divided into two columns, use the left column for procedural observations and reserve the right column for the pre-lab assignment and experimental observations. For example, if you wrote in the left column -transfer the filtrate into a volumetric flask-; the right column could say, -during the transfer process a few drops were spilled out-. Try to be organized in writing observations, when appropriate, draw data tables to organize data. Before coming to the laboratory, you must have completed the left column for that day’s experiment (date, names, title, purpose, procedure). It will often be useful to prepare calculations. The procedure flow-chart should state each step of the experiment that YOU will perform (by comparison, the Plan of Action states each member’s role). Your flow-chart should be complete enough so that you can run the experiment without the lab manual. This will save you lots of time! You should also include a list of any changes from the manual’s procedure that you were told to institute, as well as safety notes concerning the chemicals to be handled.
Name Date Luis 1/28/02 Procedure (…) |
Data & Observations (…) |
At the end of the laboratory period, sign at the end and tear down the duplicate pages of your record. Staple all pages together and submit them with the Plan of Action to your mentor.
This word-processed document represents the quality and understanding of your work in lab. Each laboratory report is divided into sections, which are graded separately. These include the Title, Abstract, Introduction, Experimental Method, Data & Results, Discussion & Conclusions, and References.
·
Abstract and Title page (10 points): When all
sections of the report are completed to satisfaction, write an abstract of
about 100 words to summarize the report.
The abstract should highlight the main points of the report. Special attention should be paid to report
the research questions asked and the results/findings of the experiment. The Abstract should appear on the Title Page
on which the title of the experiment, the name of the members in the group, the
date the experiment was performed, and the date the report was submitted should
appear.
·
Introduction (10 points): Using your own words, describe the
theoretical background upon which the experiment was based.
·
Experimental Method (10 points): Indicate
specific details of the apparatus used (e.g., "the spectrometer used was a
double-beam dispersive Perkin-Elmer UV-VIS-NIR equipped with a temperature
controlled sample-holder); physical properties of chemicals used, number of
runs, experimental conditions (concentration range, temperature, pressure,
etc.).
· Data & Results (30 points): Tabulate all data used in the calculation of results, number the tables and title them properly. Perform error analysis of your data. Provide a typical sample calculation both for the results obtained and the associated uncertainty. These sample calculations can be attached as an appendix and handwritten. Use a different numbering pattern for tables, figures, graphs and equations.
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Discussion & Conclusions (30 points): The purpose of the discussion is to expand
on your observations or to comment on possible causes of poor results. Make a quantitative comparison of your
results with literature values.
Evaluate the experiment's accuracy and precision. Answer any questions given at the end of the
experiment.
·
References (10 points): References are
usually located at the end of the report, right after the Discussion &
Conclusions section.
a.
b.
Z. Szafran; R. Pike; M. Singh Microscale Inorganic
Chemistry, John Wiley &
c. Citing a chapter
in a book of several authors
George, W. O. and Coates, J.
P. in Vibrational Spectroscopy-Modern Trends.
Trace Analysis by Infrared Spectroscopy
Barnes A. J. and Orville-Thomas W. J.
The ACS Style Guide, Dodd, J. S. Ed. Amer. Chem, Soc., Washington, DC, 1986.
All
lab reports are due the following week.
As described earlier in the Group Responsibilities section, the success of the group depends on the contribution of each individual in the group. Therefore, absence from a laboratory period is unacceptable, except for a reason such as medical emergency, religious observance, etc. Also, due to the course structure, it is impossible to make-up experiments. Therefore, the following attendance policy will be in effect: You may miss only one laboratory period provided that you notified your group members and your mentor and that you have a valid excuse. If you miss a lab session for a just cause, your group members have to assure that you understand the principles covered in the experiment, and you are responsible for writing a complete lab report. In addition, you will have to attend an oral interview with your mentor who will assess your understanding of the topic. Absences beyond the allowed one might seriously affect the grade in the course.
There will not be
any in-class formal examination.
Your mentor will assess your preparation for the lab experiment at the
beginning of each laboratory period.
Preparation
for Laboratory experiment
Procedures,
Techniques and Safety
Individual
Laboratory Reports
Peer
Assessment
Plans
of Action
Case
Study Plan of Action
Case
Study Laboratory Report
Case
Study Presentation
Chempreps has an
inventory of glassware, chemicals, and laboratory accessories. Staff in Chempreps will assist you with your
needs. For example, if you cannot find
a certain item in the laboratory, you should ask your TA before walking over to
the Chempreps window. Your instructor
will clarify the exact item you need, tell you whether the item you need is in
the laboratory, and if is not, advise you to get it from Chempreps.
The Chemistry
Library has a remarkably large collection of chemical literature from
textbooks, manuals, journal titles, to reference collections. There are computer terminals available for
you to search conveniently for chemical literature electronically. The Reserve section of the library contains
all the primary references used to prepare this manual; these references are
available to you on a two-hour loan basis.
You will be assigned a drawer of glassware and bench space for performing your experiments all of which you will be responsible for. On the first day of lab, you will Check-In to your drawer and make sure that all of your glassware is present and in good order. If anything is missing or broken, you should go to ChemPreps to replace these items. Only on the first day of lab you will not be charged for equipment replacement in order to obtain a complete set of glassware. For the remainder of the semester, you will be charged for what you loose or break.
On occasion, you will need to use equipment that will not be part of your assigned glassware and thus will not be found in your drawer. You will need to obtain these items from ChemPreps in exchange for your student ID card. Upon the end of the lab period, your ID will be returned to you in exchange for the cleaned, intact piece of equipment you used. To clean such glassware, wash thoroughly with soap and water, rinse with distilled water, and then rinse with acetone.
During the last laboratory session, you will Check-Out of your drawer, and pay any fine or breakage fees that you incurred during the program. In order for them to keep things in order, ChemPreps reserves the right to place a hold on your course evaluation if you have any outstanding issues with them, such as unpaid fees or unreturned keys.
All laboratory
safety protocols in CHEM C2507 will be strictly enforced. Violation of any safety protocol may result
in point deduction on the Procedures, Techniques and Safety section of your
individual Evaluation Sheet, and/or dismissal from the laboratory.
Safety
has two aspects: prevention of accident, and response to emergency. The golden rule is to use your common
sense. Treat your classmates and
chemicals in the laboratory with respect.
Do not work in the laboratory alone or perform unauthorized experiments. Ask your instructor whenever you do not know
how to perform a procedure.
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
Federal law
requires that manufacturers and distributors of chemicals provide users with
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).
MSDS is a fairly concise technical document that gives information on
any particular chemical among the over 10,000 frequently encountered chemicals
in research laboratories and industries.
The information includes contact address and phone number of the
chemical supplier, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, physical
hazards (such as flammability, reactivity), toxicity data and health hazards,
storage and handling procedures, emergency and first-aid procedures, and
disposal and transportation information.
The MSDS for a chemical can be conveniently located by submitting the
name of the chemical to a MSDS searchable database on the internet. In the Case Study, you will come into contact
with many chemicals that you may be unfamiliar with.
No chemicals can
go down the sink. Aqueous, organic, and
solid wastes should be disposed properly in clearly labeled containers.
Toward the end of
a lab period, you will be asked to clean-up your working area in the
laboratory. At that time, decide what
samples of chemicals you will save for the next lab period. In general, glass vials of various sizes
work well in storing aqueous and organic solutions and solid samples. If you are not certain how to store properly
your particular sample, ask your instructor.
Due to safety and
security reasons, you are allowed to use the laboratory (302 Havemeyer Hall)
only during the dates listed under the Schedule and Due Dates section.
EXPERIMENTS
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Notes:
1.
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3.
4.
The table on the next page describes
your schedule of experiments for the semester. Once you have found what column
correspond to your group (A through L), you can arrange your experiments in
order in the present manual.
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