Fundamentals of Chemistry

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Fundamentals of Chemistry
Syllabus for CHM-130
Instructor Ken Costello
The images shown above represent the evolution of
chemistry. For example, on the left the four
recognized elements were fire, air, earth, and
water but it turned out that none were elements.
We now recognize 114 elements, with my favorite
being element 111 called unununium. The other
images also has their stories, which we will
discuss in class.
Welcome to the Fundamentals of Chemistry. You
can think of chemistry as a recipe book for the
universe. Whether it is stars or a starfish,
chemistry helps you understand the ingredients.
Chemistry is a vast subject, more than you or I
could ever know, but fortunately learning the
fundamentals of chemistry is possible. One
fundamental of chemistry is understanding the
electrons, neutrons, and protons that make up
atoms. Its amazing that everything you can see
or touch is made from these three tiny particles.
However, their microscopic world is very
bizarre, similar but stranger than Hollywoods
virtual world called the Matrix. After learning
chemistry you will look at the world differently
just as Neo did in the movie.
The key to learning chemistry is to keep it
simple as long as possible. For example, what is
this paper made of? The simplest answer is
something you already know Its made of
electrons, neutrons, and protons. Later you might
say cellulose. In other words, learn the
fundamentals well and they will give you answers,
perhaps not the most complete, but enough to
build confidence and steer you in the right
direction.
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Textbook Fundamentals of Chemistry by Ralph A.
Burns, 4th Edition
Besides the textbook, you may want to purchase
the Study Guide and Selected Solutions Manual.
You can probably find them used at MCC bookstore
or the bookstore across the street.
The textbook may or may not come with a CD-ROM.
It doesnt matter if you get it or not.
You will also need a scientific calculator
Prerequisites
Phone [phone] Email
costello_at_mail.mc.maricopa.edu
Instructor Ken Costello
Classroom PS3S
Office hours Tuesday 7pm-9pm
Monday 6pm-7pm
Home page www.mc.maricopa.edu/costello Also
visit course through MCC portal
Things you should expect to get out of this
course.

• Gain an appreciation of chemistry its value to
  society, its role in history, the effort to get
  this far, the modern marvels.
• Learn about the fundamental processes in
  chemistry Purify, analyze, synthesize.
• Learn the fundamental behaviors of atoms
  Electrostatic forces, the bizarre world of
  quantum physics, chemical bonding, and the
  periodic behaviors indicated in the Periodic
  Table.
• Smarter consumer of chemical products Better
  understanding of labels, smarter at reading past
  the hype or paranoia, and better at recognizing
  pseudoscience.
• Improved chance of survival Knowledge of
  neutralizing acids/bases, better avoidance of
  chemical dangers, better at improvising, better
  at solving problems, and better at critical
  thinking.

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Below is the planned schedule however,
unexpected events may change the schedule.
Changes announced in class will override this
schedule.
Course Schedule
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(No Transcript)
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TEST A four letter word
No one likes tests, even teachers. In the old
days, when people learned by apprenticeship,
there wasnt a need for tests because the master
knew how the apprentice was doing by watching
them and regularly asking them questions.
However, in a classroom of 40 students, the
instructor may have know idea how much a student
has learned, so a test is one way of finding out.
One philosophy of teaching is that instructors
are only sure that they have taught the subject
if they find out that students have learned the
subject. In other words, I must ask you a lot of
questions to see if Im both you and I are doing
a good job.
Everyone gets it correct
My expectation is that everyone understands
everything on the test and gets it 100 right.
Everyone may not get it 100 the first time, but
they should get it correct on the 2nd, or 3rd
time. It makes no sense to go on when there is
something critical missing. Much of chemistry
builds off the previous material. Of course, a
person who takes three tries to get a question
right doesnt deserve the same amount of credit
of the person who got it right the first time.
But getting it right the third time still
deserves credit. On problems you missed, you have
the opportunity to be retested with a similar
problem. You get 90 of the score you would have
gotten if you got it right the first time. Each
time you have to redo it will cost another 10.
For example, if you miss a 10 point question but
get a similar one correct on the retest, you make
9 points, which is much better than losing all 10
points. You just have to make an extra effort
to do it again. In short, Im more interested
in you learning the material than giving you low
grades. Im not eager to do extra grading, but
Im willing to do that if you are willing to put
in the time to restudy and retest on what you
missed. Final grades are not based on a curve,
so students who ace a test the first time
shouldnt worry about the students who retake the
test to improve their scores.
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GRADING is not an exact science
I really hate to talk about points for two
reasons First it takes your attention away from
the subject. Second, it implies that grading is
accurate down to the last little point. It
would be hard to prove that a person with 524
points actually knows more than someone with 523
points. Mathematically it seems accurate, but in
actuality grading is approximate. When a
teacher says one question is worth 15 points and
another is worth 10 points, the choice is rather
arbitrary. With this said, we can use points
because it is easy to work with, but it is only
approximate. People who focus only on learning
the subject do better than those who worry about
grades. Thats because when you worry about
points and grades, you are not thinking about the
subject. Listen and learn in class and grades
will take care of themselves. In case you are
still interested, here is the breakdown of points
that will serve as a guide to your
grade Attendance 100 points3 Class-time tests
100 points each totaling 300 points1 Take-home
test 100 pointsFinal test 100 pointsPoster
project 100 pointsMiscellaneous assignments
100 points Total 800 points Grades are
90-100A, 80-89B, 70-79C, 60-69D, Below
60F If your points are close to a better grade,
I will always give you the benefit of the doubt
and give you the better grade because, like I
said, grading is not that accurate. Notice
attendance is a big contributor to your grade. I
figure that every time you come to class, you
demonstrate a willingness to learn and will
probably learn something that day, so you deserve
credit. Perfect attendance will be like getting
a perfect grade on a test. I again apologize for
this much attention drawn to tests and points.
Being aware of them is good, but worrying or
being fixated on them will actually take
attention away from learning and hurt your grade.
The best thing is to get interested in the
subject and that motivation will help you do good
on any tests that come your way.
Special Learning Needs
If you have any special learning needs, let me
know. Deaf students will enjoy the many visuals
I use in class. Visually impaired students with
some vision can get my PowerPoints so they can
view them in the librarys Adaptive Lab.
Totally blind students will have a bigger
challenge, but I am willing to try some
alternatives.