Chemistry 101

CHEMISTRY 101

While reading in a textbook of chemistry, ... I came across the statement, 'nitric acid acts upon copper.' I was getting tired of reading such absurd stuff and I determined to see what this meant. Copper was more or less familiar to me, for copper cents were then in use. I had seen a bottle marked 'nitric acid' on a table in the doctor's office where I was then 'doing time.' I did not know its peculiarities, but I was getting on and likely to learn. The spirit of adventure was upon me. Having nitric acid and copper, I had only to learn what the words 'act upon' meant... I put one of them [cent] on the table, opened the bottle marked 'nitric acid'; poured some of the liquid on the copper; and prepared to make an observation. But what was this wonderful thing which I beheld? The cent was already changed, and it was no small change either. A greenish blue liquid foamed and fumed over the cent and over the table. The air in the neighborhood of the performance became colored dark red. A great colored cloud arose. This was disagreeable and suffocating—how should I stop this? I tried to get rid of the objectionable mess by picking it up and throwing it out of the window, which I had meanwhile opened. I learned another fact—nitric acid not only acts upon copper but it acts upon fingers. The pain led to another unpremeditated experiment. I drew my fingers across my trousers and another fact was discovered. Nitric acid acts upon trousers. Taking everything into consideration, that was the most impressive experiment, and, relatively, probably the most costly experiment I have ever performed.

— Ira Remsen

F. H. Getman, The Life of Ira Remsen (1940), 9

email: chem101@caddell.org

HOMEWORK

Quiz Date	Homework
9/2/15	Chapter R: 15, 19, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 39, 41, 45, 47, 53, 63, 65, 75, 77, 79, 81
9/9/15	Chapter 1: 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 43, 45, 51, 57
9/16/15	Chapter 2: 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 55, 61, 63, 65, 67, 71, 72, 75, 79, 80, 125, 133, 152, 154
9/23/15	Chapter 2: 83, 85, 90, 91, 92, 95, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 119, 121, 123, 156, 158
9/30/15	NO QUIZ
10/7/15
10/14/15
10/21/15
10/28/15
11/4/15
11/11/15
11/18/15
11/25/15
12/2/15
12/9/15

^* There are no quizzes on exam days (the days in red), but the exam will contain material from the homework assigned for that date.

LECTURES

Chapter R
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

VIDEOS

Here is a video explaining how to convert units raised to a power.

Here is a video on how to draw a best-fit straight line with Excel.

Here is a link to a youtube video showing how to draw Lewis Structures.

Here is a video showing how to plot Absorbance v. [Co²⁺] for your spectroscopy data and get the [Co²⁺] in your unknown.

Here is a video explaining the Acid-Base Titrations procedure.

Here is a video explaining the Acid-Base Titrations calculations.

Here is a video explaining the calculations for part 1 of the Thermochemistry lab.

Here is a video explaining the calculations for part 2 of the Thermochemistry lab.

Here is a video explaining the calculations for part 3-Mg of the Thermochemistry lab.

Here is a video explaining the calculations for part 3-MgO of the Thermochemistry lab.

Here is a video explaining the calculations for part 3-Hess's law of the Thermochemistry lab.

Here is a video explaining how to use Excel to find T_F for all 3 parts of the Thermochemistry lab.

HERE is a link to a youtube video of me explaining the constants, data, and calculations for the Determination of Empirical Formulas lab.

Here is a video explaining the Acid-Base Titration lab.

Here is a video explaining the Spectroscopy experiment.

Here is a video explaining Experiment 12 Part A

Here is a video explaining Experiment 12 Part C

Here is a video showing how to draw a best-fit straight line and get the equation of the line using LibreOffice Calc

Here is the laser diffraction calculations explanation part 1 for the "Measuring Really Small Things" lab.

Here is the laser diffraction calculations explanation part 2 for the "Measuring Really Small Things" lab.

Here is how to calculate the size of your nanoprisms in the "Measuring Really Small Things" lab.

Here is how to solve problem 110 chapter 3 in Zumdahl.