Submitted by James F. Dunne / Central College on Tue, 01/29/2019 - 16:16
My Notes
Specific Course Information
Course Area and Number
Chem 221
Institution
Central College
Location
Pella, IA
Textbook
Inorganic Chemistry (7th ed.), Weller, Overton, Rourke, Armstrong
Course Meetings and Time
Number of meetings per week
3 meetings / week
Time per meeting (minutes)
50 min / meeting
Number of weeks
15 weeks
Lab Associated
Yes, required, concurrently
Average Class Size
25 to 35
Typical Student Population
This course is taken by a mixture of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, and environmental science majors. It is intended to be taken by chemistry and biochemistry majors in the spring semester of their first year; however many students choose to take it later. Thus, the class is generally a mixture of 1/3 first-years and 2/3 sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Description

This course is an introduction to the field of inorganic chemistry.  The student is expected to be well-versed in the material covered in general chemistry, as this will serve as the foundation and launching point for the material to be covered this semester. The course will begin by examining the properties of the elements, and expand outward to consider chemical bonding and the electronic factors that govern metal reactivity.  These factors include acid-base theory, thermodynamics, electrochemistry and redox, and coordination chemistry.

File attachments
Learning Goals

By the end of this course, students should have the ability to:

  • accurately visualize compounds in three dimensions by correctly assigning symmetry point groups and unit cell formulas.
  • utilize orbital interactions to draw MO diagrams for diatomic and simple triatomic molecules
  • apply band and crystal field theories to predict conductive and magnetic properties of molecules
  • apply three major acid-base theories (HSAB, Lewis acidity, frontier orbitals) to ligand binding in coordination compounds.
  • predict chemical reactivity from emf and thermodynamic calculations
  • assign IUPAC names and oxidation state to coordination compounds.
How the course is taught
The course is primarily taught via lectures with periodic class time devoted to small group work.
Evaluation
Grading Scheme
The final grade for the course will be determined based on the student’s performance on three in-class exams (40%), laboratory reports (20%), homework assignments (15%), in-class assessments (7.5%), exam corrections (7.5%) and a final exam (10%).
Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA