Handouts for Chemistry 108

© copyright 2009-2012 by Craig Rusbult ,

all rights reserved.

(but you can use these handouts in any way you want

for teaching, with no formal citation-credit required)

Another page links to my personal history with summaries and describes the course:

Chemistry 108, developed by Cathy Middlecamp, is about "chemistry in context"

with applications for nuclear radiation & environmental issues & human physiology

(cancer, suntan/sunburn, nutrition,...) & plastics & biopolymers, and more.

{ Cathy Middlecamp is editor for the ACS textbook, Chemistry in Context. }

Here are some introductory comments about
Content, Format, Revisions, Links, and Contact:

Early in the semester, I recommend a strategy for learning:

In September and October, you [students] can begin learning in ways
that will help you prepare more effectively for your Final Exam.
When your knowledge is logically organized, it will be
easier for you to understand, remember, and use it.

This page ends with

Practical Strategies for Effective Learning

but most of the page is

links to handouts I've made for you, to summarize ideas
(as in Cliffs Notes) and to help you organize these ideas.

Most comments below were written for my students,
so imagine that "you" are a student.

Preparing for Exam 1

• NUCLEAR REACTIONS  —  You [students] can use this summary

(which is densely packed and, compared with later summaries,
is less logically organized) to make your own summary notes.
And you can highlight it — on your original or a new copy —

maybe doing this as in my COLORIZED version from Fall 2011:
Nuclear Reactions (3 main types & more) are in dayglow-yellow;
green is particle-characteristics (summarized in the "little numbers")
along with "compare to find SIMILARITIES, DIFFERENCES" in the
middle of the page, plus why-and-when beta emissions occur;
Chemical Reactions (ionizing) are blue, #1 has been emphasized;
Penetration/Shielding is orange;
Health Effects are pink, on left side and lower center;
and a variety of topics (check the colors) are from center
of page downward and rightward, including the two factors
(# of atoms, radioactivity per atom) determining the Curie-rate.

Also, in mini-handouts that you may or may not find useful:

Flash-Card List for memorizing Names-and-Symbols

e = mc² — four problems (and more) with answers:
The bottom of this page has the e-mail I sent you R morning
before Quiz 3, with a few minor revisions, like adding superscripts.

Preparing for Exam 2

• CARBON-SULFUR-NITROGEN (plus OXYGEN)

This is the handout I gave you [students] W, October 3.

I recommend using the COLORIZED version, because the colors
can help you see logical organization in rows & columns;
on left side of the table, rows are chemicals, and
columns are reactions that form it or use it:
• 4 black squares (left side) for 2x3 blocks (CO/CO₂, ...);
• 5 orange reactions of O₃ chain, in middle and at top,
to form ozone and (in the 5th reaction) to eliminate it;
• yellow (upper-right & bottom-center) are acid (and base)
reactions, which are related to aqueous solubility (in blue);

• green shows respiration & photosynthesis (with CO₂ & O₂),
• right-side column shows properties & detective work.

(and you can fill a blank grid with information about C-S-N-O-etc)

Microsoft Word Documents:
Exam 2 (most text for Carbon-Sulfur-Nitrogen Grid)

and for later, Quiz 7a - Quiz 7b - Exam 3a - Exam 3b
Quiz 8ab - Quiz 8c - Quiz 9 plus Quiz 9 (old version)

W, Oct 10, I gave you
a worksheet about reactions & calculations.

• ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
COLORIZED (recommended)* or extra black-and-white + blank grid.

{ * due to the colors, plus revisions that aren't on "black-and-white",
which include fixing some (but not all) of the ERRORS described below }
Again, there is a logical organization in the rows-and-columns,
which you can discover by studying the grid;  it's important to know
what each type of radiation does (ionizes, break bonds,...) in orange;
also important, UV in yellow;  for other parts (e.g. blue-highlighted
Chapman Cycle, and how Cl• is produced from CFCs and on PSCs),
wait to see Dr Larson emphasis-and-content in lectures;
the vertically-middle part of the page is Health Effects,
and the bottom 1/3 has a variety of topics, including (at left)
reflection-absorption-transmission + ACE, and (at right) structures.

ERRORS — "NO₂ –(600 nm, visible light)→ NO + O" not N₂O.

As I've explained, the main cause of melanoma is UV-A.
And all sunblocks (Lecture 16, Oct 12, Slides 33-34) reflect,
although (CiC, page 84) "some absorb UV as well."
PSCs form due to "circular wind pattern" (which does reduce winds
blowing across the interior part of Antarctica) instead of "no wind".

I think all other info is correct, but (as always) if you see any errors,
please tell me ASAP so I can "pass it on to others" and your thoughtful
helpfulness will be sincerely appreciated by me and your fellow students.

btw - When the CiC-textbook is cited, usually it's for the 7th Edition, 2012;
but I've been making handouts since 2009, and maybe some page-citations
have not been updated, so you (teachers) should check these to be sure.

• CFCs-OZONE-etc (maybe on Exam 2?) is below.

Preparing for Exam 3

• CFCs-OZONE-etc (for Stratospheric Ozone,...)
is available in Black & White and with colors to clarify, with
red (re: H & lifetimes)

and blue (re: Cl & ozone depletion) to supplement blue parts of EM Grid.
The first 2 columns show how the group-name (CFC, HCFC,...) gives info
about STRUCTURE and PROPERTIES.  For the 3rd column (PROPERTIES)
look at the Colorized Version.  Use the final column (USES) along with
lecture-info (as always, they're first priority and ultimate authority)
and CiC-textbook, to make your own self-organized summary notes.

2 • Quiz 6 (CFCs-etc, acid-base, pH, polarity & solubility,...) – on Nov 2:
Quiz 6 (photo-scanned) – You can highlight it with colors, and
rearrange it to make your own custom-organized summary notes.

errors:  for "NH₃ + H₂O..." [OH^-] increases (basicity ↑, pH ↑, acidity ↓ );
and for "H₂SO₄ + H₂O..." the [H⁺] increases (acidity ↑, pH ↓ ).

3 • Quiz 7a (math with conversion factors) – handout on Nov 7:
Quiz 7a (scanned + text-only).  I recommend this year's 1-page version,
but an earlier 2-page version has some extra topics, described at the
bottom of the 1-page version:  colorized (page 1 & page 2) and a
text-only version (made from the word-file so the text is easier to read,
it just doesn't have the GE-diagram that I've re-drawn more logically).

4 • Quiz 7b - drawing & naming isomers (principles, examples),... – Nov 9:
This is the 2nd handout for Quiz 7, so it's Quiz 7b (scanned) & text-only.

error correction:  halfway down the right side, a line that begins
"B: 4 3 3 ..." should be "B: 4 3 2 ...";  do you see why?

Microsoft Word Documents:
Exam 2 (some text for CSN Grid)

Quiz 7a - Quiz 7b - Exam 3a - Exam 3b
Quiz 8ab - Quiz 8c - Quiz 9 plus Quiz 9 (old version)

5 • Exam 3b (info-sheet) - 3b-word & 3b-pdf - old version - email (M, Nov 12)

(in top-right area, second "A-Rain" should have upward arrow from NO to NO₂)

Preparing for Exam 4

Worksheet — Quiz 8a-and-8b (with principles) and 8a-colorized

Microsoft Word Documents:
Exam 2 (some text for CSN Grid)

Quiz 7a - Quiz 7b - Exam 3a - Exam 3b
Quiz 8ab - Quiz 8c - Quiz 9 plus Quiz 9 (old version)

Worksheet — Quiz 8c  (with practice problems + tips)

Questions and Key ( B-and-W & color )

I've colorized a lecture handout (maybe for W, Dec 12) showing
amino acids that are nonpolar, polar (neutral), acidic, basic.
The bottom shows peptide bonds, which are amide bonds
that have a special name when they occur in polypeptides.

also:

I just discovered a worksheet, from Fall 2011, with a problem
(to avoid "the answer" look at the bottom first) to find Functional Groups.

Line Diagrams (Skeletal Diagrams) clearly explains-and-shows these
for alkanes (similar for alkenes), amines, acids, aromatics, ester.

Preparing for Quiz 9

For Quiz 9, re-study the recent handouts (given to you for Exam 4),
especially the parts marked with a vertical bar in the left margin,
that are labeled something like "after the exam, for Quiz 9" in the

  Handout for Exam 4

(  scanned black & white  &  COLORIZED Versions! )

Below are “strategies for learning” that students
may find useful in general, not just for Chem 108.

Practical Strategies
for Effective Learning:

Chemistry is cumulative, so consistent well-timed studying
will help you build and maintain a strong foundation.   But
don't waste time;  if you have trouble, get help from others.

It's not the will to win,
it's the will to WORK to win.
( A former co-teacher of chemistry was a star sprinter, and
one of her t-shirts was a reminder that "the will to work to win"
is essential for achieving high-quality performance in athletics,
this also is essential in chemistry and your other classes. )

SUCCESS, as defined by John Wooden, is "peace of mind, which is a
direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to
do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

A Master Skill for Life – Learning from Experience

Example 1 — do it better
One of my friends became an expert welder by following
wise advice from his welding teacher:  Every time you do a job,
do it better than the time before (by learning from the past and
concentrating in the present) and always be aware of what you
are doing now (and how this is affecting the quality of welding)
so you can do it better the next time;  you are intentionally
learning from the present, to help you prepare for your future.
( Learning from Experience - to Ski & Weld and do Much More )

Example 2:  Why did I miss it?  How can I fix it?
You can learn by using an Oregon Strategy (that was used
to help students one semester when I was visiting U of O)
so — like the welder — you will continually improve:
For each exam-question you missed, ask "Why did I miss it?"
( not enough studying time? not studying in the most productive ways?
not performing well during the exam, so you “knew” but didn't get credit?
or...? ) and "How can I improve? (so the next time I'll get it correct)"

These strategies – Learning How to Weld and Oregon Strategy – are
examples of Learning Strategies (to improve the quality of your learning,
thinking, and performing) that will help you succeed in Chem 108, and in
the rest of life.  The general skill of developing Learning Strategies could
be one of the most valuable skills you develop in Chem 108.  How?
Below is a general strategy to develop-and-improve a Learning Strategy.

Example 3:  A Strategy for Learning in Lectures
From the beginning, I've emphasized that the most important single
skill in Chem 108 is learning from lectures.  To improve this skill:
you make a strategy-plan for the first lecture;  you use this strategy
and observe your actions (in applying the strategy) and the results (in
your quality-and-quantity of learning);  you re-plan for the second
lecture (by using your experience to evaluate the strategy and your
actions, so you can decide whether to keep them as-is or revise them),
then use-and-observe in the second lecture;  you continue this cycle
(plan, use-and-observe, plan, use-...) so you can continually improve.

( Metacognitive Strategies for Learning-and-Performing )

I've made a page with useful principles for improving your
Skills for Learning (in lectures & other ways) for Chem 108:
use Course Information for planning, to use time effectively;
lectures (prepare before, concentrate during, review after);
concentration (internal vs external, "competition" principle);
FLASH CARDS are a good way to remember important ideas;
Quiz 1 vs Quiz 2 (why is #2 easier? what does the dog do?).

ASSIGNMENTS & WEEKLY PRELABS have heavy "late penalties"
so put them on your Weekly/Daily Schedule of Things to Do.
Some things are constant every week, and others change.

I recommend doing PreLab Quizzes after M lecture, and
don't procrastingate – if a Short Assignments is due Friday,
finish it T night (*) so you can print it and give it to me W, then
any last-minute surprises won't matter, and you won't forget.
* Also include it R night, in case T night you say "it can wait."

MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS
that can be fun and/or useful, including
7 Habits of Highly Successful People,
Pyramid of Success (from John Wooden),
Conflict Resolution.