CEM 141 Blog

Lab for 3/16

Doc Ott — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:52:10 +0000

Model Lab

Previous labs:

P in plant food

Chemical formula determination

Color in Soda

Emmision Spectra
Sugar in soda Penny Measurements

Molecules Slideshare

Doc Ott — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:38:54 +0000

Molecules Slideshare

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How to be successful in CEM 141 (according to you)

Doc Ott — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:16:59 +0000

1. takes notes
2. study every day in small bites
3. screencasts before, after class
4. problem set (do all problems)
5. come to class
6. use your peers
7. blog check every day
8. tweener room
9. ask questions, in person or email
10. lug lecture notes everywhere
11. be on time
12. do pre-lab
13. use the expensive text
14. Use the CSS
15. get enough sleep
16. eat well
17.

Phase I Stuff

Doc Ott — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:49:30 +0000

Problem set

Atoms.Slideshare

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Stuff to do, day 1

Doc Ott — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:10:41 +0000

In no particular order:
- Quick look over every entry in this blog
- Sign up for an appointment time with Dr. Ott (sign up sheet outside of lab room, JM 235)
- Read the syllabus (and print it out?) and complete your first homework assignment
- Start looking at the screencasts, especially the first one, since that one will NOT be covered in class.

Homework for 1/14

Doc Ott — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:58:46 +0000

Here is your first homework set, due by 10 pm 1/14/10. It is worth 10 points and covers the syllabus and course blog. I would read the entire syllabus first before you even look at these questions. This is NOT to be done as a group work exercise. You must do these on your own. Do no simply cut and paste from the document, either.
This homework set is to be emailed to your instructor (141@docott.com) and the subject line should contain ONLY your full name, nothing else. Would you believe getting the subject line correct is worth a point?
The answers should be in the body of them email do NOT make it in a word processor program and add as an attachment.
1. Why do you use ‘recycled’ paper for pre-labs and homework exercises?
2. What can (and probably will) happen to you if you are caught cheating?
3. Which of Dr. Ott’s office hours do NOT conflict with your class schedule?
4. Why should you check posted grades as soon as they go up?
5. What questions do you have about the course/syllabus at this point?

Some questions answered

Doc Ott — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:00:10 +0000

As they crop up on people doing the homework (question #6)

Q:Is it true that we do not have a cumulative exam?
A: No final exam per se, but there will be a couple of ‘larger than usual’ Monday quizzes, like 40ish points.

Q:Each week do you want us to have the lab printed off and with us each time we attend lab?
A: Yes.

Q:I was wondering how often online coursework will be used. I have dial-up at my house.
A: I strongly encourage you to use computers on campus. WA hall has whole classrooms, the lobby of McD, the 2 chem tweener rooms. In theory, there is enough advance warning that you can pull stuff from on campus on the days you are here.

Q:Do you ever grade on a curve? Historically, how many people finish your class each semester with a 4.0? How many people finish with 3.5 or a 3.0?
A: I shoot for 10-15% 4.0’s, but have given as high as 25% in one class and once had a class with NO 4.0’s. The current grading scale almost never gets curved. Long years of experience

Q:How quickly do we go through each chapter? (Approximately how many days will it take us?)
A: depends on the chapter, but roughly 1.5 week per full chapter.

Q: How long do we have to complete homework?
A: Generally 23 hours (assigned at end of class, due the next day)

Q: Do you prefer handed in items to be done in pen or pencil?
A: I don’t care either way.

Q:Are the grades posted in Jetnet or www.docott.com/141?
A:I will never post anything on jetnet. Ever. I’ll explain why later. Maybe.

Q: One question I did have about this course is I was reading the syllabus and it mentioned something about take home quizzes, will there be a lot of take home quizzes or very few in this course?
A: Sometimes you get homework problems, sometime above and beyond M and W quizzes. Usually for long drawn out problems.

Q:When we email you assignments, do you prefer us attaching the documents or copying and pasting the entire document into the message?
A: You will almost never email labs or homework assignments. Too many problems.

Q: Do you think that we are going to get through all of the questions on the syllabus as planned and on time?
A: I am 97% confident we will plow through it, without even ‘hurrying’ in the end. The new ‘order’ (the more logical one) makes our time more efficient.

Q: In case you miss a lab class, lets say on tuesday can you make it up on wednesday
A: generally yes, but let me know in advance if it is a date that you KNOW you will miss. There are no ‘make up labs’ at the end of the term, though.

Q: What is your view on lab reports? How many lab reports will we have?
A: You will do several (5?, 7?) short form memos, which run 1-2 pages. Other lab write ups are easier. No full blown bohemoths. Did you know if you type in ’short form memo’ into google, the above link is the seocnd one that come up? cool.

Q: Is there any extra credit in this class?
A: No. Not a lick. Don’t ask.

Q:When you put the grades up do they have are names up as well? or is it private?
A: You will be given a 4 digit random number that only you know. That is how they will be posted.

More questions/answers posted here as they arrive!

Units units units

Doc Ott — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:54:26 +0000

From this moment forward, if you do not include units in the intermediate portions of calculations, you will lose points. I don’t care if you get the right answer and the final units are given correctly. You don’t have the units ‘during’ the calc, points will be lost.

This stands for all calculations from this day forward.

First draft screencasts

Doc Ott — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:12:08 +0000

Here is the link to all the first draft screencasts for the course, broken down by chapter. You will have to ‘hunt’ for phase 3 content.
http://www.docott.com/files.141/screencasts/

Unit conversion worksheet

Doc Ott — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:17:41 +0000

For those of you still struggling with unit conversion (also known as dimensional analysis) I have prepared this worksheet that might help you.

Dimensional Analysis Worksheet