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Specific Course Information
Course Area and Number
Chemistry 240
Institution
Davidson College
Location
Davidson, North Carolina, USA
Textbook
N/A, POGIL series on IONIC VIPEr from Joseph Keane at Muhlenburg College
Course Meetings and Time
Number of meetings per week
2 meetings / week
Time per meeting (minutes)
75 min / meeting
Number of weeks
15 weeks
Lab Associated
Yes, required, concurrently
Average Class Size
25 to 35
Typical Student Population
Students are chemistry majors and/or pursuing pre-health careers.
Categories
Topics Covered
Description
Inorganic chemistry is a branch of synthetic chemistry typified by its focus on compounds composed of elements other than carbon and hydrogen. But don’t let that fool you! Even graphite (all-carbon allotrope) and Bucky balls (C60) are considered to be in the purview of inorganic chemistry. Inorganic chemistry is best described when contrasted with organic chemistry, and the two together form synthetic chemistry. This course will serve as a survey of structure, bonding, symmetry and reactivity of compounds composed of elements all across the periodic table!
Learning Goals
- Correlate nuclear decay processes with a reactants-to-products description
- Identify characteristics of nuclear stability and calculate thermodynamic values
- Predict and explain the observed electronic structure of atoms, ions, and molecules
- Identify symmetry operations and point groups of a given molecule in a specific structural orientation
- Identify acid-base interactions in the form of chemical bonds between elements in a molecule
- Identify the building blocks and symmetry of crystalline solid-state materials and their relationship to one another
- Build a Band Theory Model from concepts in Molecular Orbital Theory
- Predict and explain chemical structures of homoleptic main group, transition metal, and lanthanide compounds based on several bonding models including Ligand Field Theory and Crystal Field Theory
- Correlate aforementioned bonding models to electronic structure of chemical compounds
- Rationalize the oxidation-reduction behavior of a compound or element based on molecular or periodic trends
How the course is taught
small groups using POGIL method
Evaluation
Grading Scheme
A very traditional grading method using points and averaging tests and problem sets.
Three Reviews 45%
Problem Sets 30%
Laboratory 20%
Participation 5%
Three Reviews 45%
Problem Sets 30%
Laboratory 20%
Participation 5%
Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA