2024 Spring Syllabus

Consider the Course Design page as an extension of the syllabus.

Class: CH 1223 – Chemistry II
Section 01: MWF 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM
Section 02: MWF 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM
Location: Hand 1100

Instructor

Name: Dr. Eric Van Dornshuld
E-Mail: edornshuld<at>chemistry(d0t)msstate{d0t}edu
Office: 1130 Hand Lab
Office Hours: MW 11:00 – 12:00 PM or by appointment. There are no office hours on in-person exam days.

Need to contact me? Send me an email. Do not use the Canvas messaging system.

Minimize Email Abuse: Office hours are usually better suited for answering questions. Please prioritize office hours for questions rather than using email.

Course Description

CH 1223 - Chemistry II addresses the principles of atomic and molecular structure, energetics, dynamics, and synthesis as related to chemical systems. The laboratory course CH 1221 is designed to complement CH 1223 although they have separate registration, syllabi and grades.

Required Course Materials

  • Textbook: Chemistry 2e from OpenStax
  • Coursebook: CH-1223 Chemistry II Coursebook 2023 (Barnes & Noble campus bookstore) for HW Exams
  • Scientific calculator (non-graphing, non-programmable, non-internet capable)
  • Your MSU ID for attendance reporting/scanning

Optional Course Materials

Lecture Schedule

Tentative chapter start date

Date Chapter
01/17 10
01/29 11
02/09 12
02/23 13
03/08 14
04/05 15
04/08 16
04/15 17
04/26 21

See the Fall 2022 class progress.
See the Spring 2023 class progress.

Schedule for Summative Exams

Date Time Location: Exam
01/31 6:00 PM Online (Canvas) Fundamentals Exam (Chemistry I Review)
02/28 6:00–8:30 PM Old Main 1030/1050 Comprehensive Exam I (Ch. 10–12)
04/17 6:00–8:30 PM Old Main 1030/1050 Comprehensive Exam II (Ch. 10–16)
See Schedule See Schedule Hand 1100 Final Exam (Ch. 10–17, 21)

Spring 2024 Academic calendar: https://www.registrar.msstate.edu/calendars/academic-calendar/c/?year[value][year]=2024&semester=spring

Note: Exam coverage is tentative and is dependent upon the progress made in lecture.

Learning Objectives

Students will utilize critical thinking skills to learn and the following concepts:

  • Liquid and solid-phase structure
  • Intermolecular forces and effect on physical properties
  • Colligative properties
  • Equilibrium and Le Châtelier’s principle
  • pH and pOH of acid/base solutions and buffers
  • Thermodynamics: enthalpy, entropy, and free energy
  • Balancing aqueous oxidation-reduction reactions
  • Galvanic and electrolytic cells under (non-)standard conditions
  • Rates of reaction and dependence on concentration, time, and temperature
  • Nuclear decay, fission, fusion, stability, and decay

Grading Rubric

Component %
Fun. Exam 5
Canvas Exams 25
HW Exams 5
Comprehensive Exam I 15
Comprehensive Exam II 25
Final Exam 25
 
Total 100

Grading Scale

Ltr. Grade %
A ≥87
B ≥75
C ≥63
D ≥51
F <51

Canvas

Canvas is the online hub for all announcements, grades, and assignments.

Fundamentals (Fun.) Exam

The Fundamentals (Fun.) Exam will be given on Canvas the second week of the semester. This exam is a Chemistry I Review exam covering the fundamental concepts in the prerequisite course, CH-1221 Chemistry I, for this class. You are required to take this exam on your own without any help from any person or persons within the allotted amount of time.

Your overall score will be determined as a function of the points scored and the total number of points as follows:

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 5\% = \mathrm{Fun.~Exam~\%.}$$

Canvas Exams

Canvas Exams are formative assessments will be offered periodically online via Canvas in an asynchronous manner. Each Canvas Exam will have the following instructions included at the top:

You must work this exam on your own. You may not receive any help from any person or person(s) (including contract cheating sites) except the professor and Chemistry II TAs. This content is protected by copyright and is not allowed to be reposted anywhere. Any violation of academic or copyright integrity will be reported to the Dean of Students’ office.
This exam is open-book. Enter your answers into Canvas.

There will be many Canvas Exams throughout the semester. Your overall score will be determined as a function of the points scored and the total number of points as follows:

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 25\% = \mathrm{Canvas~Exams~\%}$$

Homework Exams

Homework Exams (HW Exams) are summative assignments (called worksheets in your Chemistry II Coursebook) and are turned in as a single, scanned PDF file per assignment to Canvas. The total for the class is determined as a function of points scored and the total number of HW Exam questions assigned as follows

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 5\% = \mathrm{HW~Exams~\%}$$

Any modifications to the HW Exams will be sent out via a Canvas announcement.

HW Exam Due Dates

The tentative schedule is below for HW Exam due dates. All HW Exams are due at 5 AM on the specified date.

Date HW Exam
02/04 10
02/18 11
03/03 12
03/17 13
04/07 14
04/14 15
04/21 16
04/28 17

HW Exam Policies

  1. Show all of your work.
  2. Include units on all appropriate numbers (i.e. if the number is unitless, do not include a unit). If you write down a number at all and it has a unit, write out the unit. Failure to include units will result in no credit for the question.
  3. Be organized. Your reported work should be legible, logical, methodical, and reproducible. I should be able to follow your work step-by-step and reproduce exactly your reported answer.
  4. Do not report a number that does not match the work you have shown. If you do, grading will stop immediately and your entire assignment will be given a zero.
    • Example: Writing “1 + 2 = 5” violates point 4 above.
  5. Fill out the cover page (i.e. self-evaluation sheet) for each assignment and include it as the first page in each HW submission. Misrepresenting the information you report on your cover page is not allowed. Be sure to write the number of points at the bottom-right corner of your sheet.
  6. Any work that looks suspiciously copied from unauthorized resources (e.g. contract cheating sites and services) may result in a zero for the assignment. The zero may be withdrawn if a reasonable explanation of the provided work can be given.

A violation of any of the HW Exam policies may result in point deductions or a zero.

NOTE: Assigned HW Exam grades are subject to change should any violation of the HW Exam policies (above) be discovered after a grade was assigned.

See Common HW Exam Issues for more guidance.

‘Close’ is good enough

Many HW Exam questions come with the answer(s) provided. Often in chemistry, numerical values are dependent using measured quantities (thermophysical properties, measured values, etc.). Depending on the quantity chosen, the final answer can vary a bit from the reported answer. Complicating matters further, measured quantities can vary depending upon the experiment implemented to measure. Therefore, if your final answer is reasonably close to the correct answer, it will be considered correct. Keep in mind significant figures and rounding rules should always be appropriately employed.

Errata

In some instances, minor corrections or clarifications to HW Exam questions may be needed (called errata). Errata will be posted here. Be sure to check this page occasionally for updates.

HW Exam Submission Procedure

  1. Scan your worksheet as a single PDF file per assignment.
  2. Ensure the pages are in the correct order.
  3. Upload to Canvas
  4. Log into Canvas to make sure that Canvas has received your submission. Download your submission to ensure it was submitted properly.

NOTE: Every step of this procedure is mandatory. Step 4 is the most important, yet most ignored step. If your assignment is not submitted to Canvas by the due date/time, a zero will be administered.

Comprehensive Exam I

The Comprehensive Exam I is a summative assessment that will cover all material covered in-class up to the day that the exam is administered. This is an in-person exam.

All material from the textbook (Ch. 10–12) is testable material. In-person exams will utilize assigned seating. Determine your seating assignment before showing up for the exam. Seating assignments will be posted to Canvas the day of the exam. Your overall score will be determined as a function of the points scored and the total number of points as follows:

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 15\% = \mathrm{Comp.~Exam~I~\%}$$

Comprehensive Exam II

The Comprehensive Exam II is a summative assessment that will cover all material covered in-class up to the day that the exam is administered. This is an in-person exam.

All material from the textbook (Ch. 10 to wherever the cutoff is in class) is testable material. In-person exams will utilize assigned seating. Determine your seating assignment before showing up for the exam. Seating assignments will be posted to Canvas the day of the exam. Your overall score will be determined as a function of the points scored and the total number of points as follows:

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 25\% = \mathrm{Comp.~Exam~II~\%}$$

See post-exam feedback from previous classes.

Final Exam

This course employs the ACS Final Exam for 2nd-term General Chemistry and will be administered on the official final exam date and time for this course in Hand 1100. Your overall score will be determined as a function of the points scored and the total number of points as follows:

$$\dfrac{\mathrm{earned~pts.}}{\mathrm{total~pts.}} \times 25\% = \mathrm{Final~Exam~\%}$$

Final Class Grade

Your final grade will be determined as follows:

$$\textrm{ (HW + Fun. + Canvas + Comp. Exam I + Comp. Exam II + Final )} \% ~ \mathrm{contribution} = \mathrm{final~class~score}$$

Cross-reference the percentage with the Grading Scale to determine your final letter grade. Final grades ending in .5 will round up.

Note: Canvas does not know how to compute your class grade. Canvas only records individual assignment grades. It is your responsibility to compute your class grade.

Learning Incentive

To motivate learning, your final class score can receive the following adjustment based on your performance on the Comp. and Final Exams as follows:

Ltr. Grade Comp. Exam I Comp. Exam II Final Exam
A +2% +3% +4%
B +1% +2% +3%
C – +1% +2%
D – – +1%
F – – –

For example, if you score a C on Comp. Exam I, a B on Comp. Exam II, and a C on the Final Exam, 4% will be added to your final class grade percentage (+2% for the B on the Comp. Exam II and +2% for the C on the Final Exam).

Take advantage of the entire semester to properly learn material in order to maximize your chance of obtaining a positive grade adjustment.

Late Assignment Policy

Any assignment that is not turned in by the due date and time will be awarded a zero.

Assignments should be completed well in advance of the due date. I recommend completing Canvas Exams within 48 hours of being posted. I recommend starting HW Exams when the appropriate chapter is starting to be covered in lecture.

Late Policy FAQ

  1. Assignment not turned in on time?

    • Result: It gets a zero. It is late.
    • Solution: Stay on top of due dates and times

  2. Weather knocked your power out the night an assignment was due and now you cannot submit on time?

    • Result: It gets a zero. It is late.
    • Solution: Do not wait until the last minute to complete and turn in an assignment.

  3. Your assignment did not end up on Canvas?

  4. You THINK the deadline is 5 PM and you miss the 5 AM deadline time?

    • Result: It gets a zero. It is late.
    • Solution: Rationalize and understand due dates and times. If you need clarification, please ask me.

  5. You upload the wrong document and it is now past the deadline?

  6. You get sick and you miss the deadline?

    • Result: It gets a zero. It is late.
    • Solution: Do not wait until the last minute to complete and turn in an assignment.
    • Exception: If you can provide documentation that you were incapacitated on every single day that the assignment was open and available, you may be considered for a make-up/extension.

Do not email me about make ups or assignment extensions if your situation reasonably fits within the listed (or unlisted but similar) scenarios.

Attendance policy for face-to-face instruction

Attendance is mandatory.

This section is a face-to-face instructional class. Please refer to
Academic Operating Policy 12.09, regarding attendance expectations and accommodations.

If you miss a summative exam due to an excused absence, you will be administered a makeup exam. This exam can be given at any time including weekends, holidays, early mornings or late evenings. Failure to take the make up exam at the scheduled time will result in a zero.

Attendance Reporting

Students are required to scan their MSU ID (at the attendance scanner in the classroom) when arriving to the beginning of class. Scanners open 10 minutes before class start. Those students who scanned in for class and leave class before class is dismissed are required to immediately self-report their exit via email so that the attendance record can properly reflect an absence for that day. Failure to do so is considered to be misrepresenting and falsely reporting class attendance.

Short Version: Do not cheat or violate copyright.

Longer Version: Do not do anything that can be construed as cheating (academic misconduct) or violating copyright (student misconduct). All non-HW Exams must be done on your own and you are to follow all stated directions in those assignments. You are not allowed to receive help from any person or person(s) for Exams. You may not share any portion of a Canvas exams, take-home exam and summative exam with anyone other than the instructor of the course. Under no circumstances is posting ANY of my content to ANY website allowed as it violates copyright. Therefore, do not use websites like Chegg to avoid violating academic integrity AND copyright.

Any violation of academic integrity will be submitted to the Honor Code office with a recommended outcome of an ‘XF’.

Mandatory Reporter Status

As the instructor for this course, I have a mandatory duty to report to the university any information I receive about possible sexual misconduct. This includes information shared in class discussions or assignments, as well as information shared in conversations outside class. The purpose of reporting is to allow MSU to take steps to ensure a safe learning environment for all. The university also has confidential resources available, who can provide assistance to those who have experienced sexual misconduct without triggering a mandatory reporting duty. Additional resources are available at https://www.oci.msstate.edu/focus-areas/title-ix-sexual-misconduct/ and at https://www.students.msstate.edu/sexual-misconduct-sexual-assault/.

University Syllabus

The Mississippi State University Syllabus contains all policies and procedures that are applicable to every course on campus and online. The policies in the University Syllabus describe the official policies of the University and will take precedence over those found elsewhere. It is the student’s responsibility to read and be familiar with every policy. The University Syllabus may be accessed at any time on the Provost website under Faculty and Student Resources and at https://www.provost.msstate.edu/faculty-student-resources/university-syllabus


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Last updated on Dec 7, 2023