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In most of the laboratory projects this year, a problem is presented
to which you need to find a solution. In some projects, you will
have to determine your overall approach. In others you will be
given hints but will have to work out the details. All new organic
lab techniques will be checked by your instructor in a manner
enabling her to certify that you have become accomplished in performing
that technique.
First semester, Chem 226 projects have been chosen primarily to
employ and illustrate the use of a variety of major organic chemistry
macroscale and microscale laboratory techniques and computer based
tools. There will be considerable reading in the laboratory textbook
about each laboratory technique. Near the end of the semester
there will be a written lab final exam including aspects of theory
and practice of these techniques and application to new situations.
Second semester, Chem 227, projects will deal with a few more
new techniques and resources. They will generally be longer and
require more independent thinking on your part. It is expected
that the amount of technique reading in the laboratory textbook
will be much less than in first semester and that usually there will not
be a laboratory final exam.
By the end of the year you should have the skills to be fully
capable of working in any organic industrial or academic laboratory
should you wish to do so.
This is a fun lab course. We have lots of good toys. Welcome aboard.
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Lab Schedule , Fall 2012 |
The text for the lab is: Anne Padias, Making the Connections 2: a How-To Guide for Organic Chemistry Lab Techniques,
Hayden McNeil, 2011. This will be used for information and reference on
techniques and for some problems. Details about the experiments
will be available in handouts downloadable from WebCT.
This course will involve a substantial amount of writing. For
each person there will be several lab reports done in the formal scientific style and several other
less formal written reports or lab information worksheets. In
addition there will be a few written reports done in groups
and oral presentations. You are expected to keep a proper
laboratory notebook record of all your work in lab. Before each
lab you are expected to read the experiment background information
and related techniques and to prepare a written prelab section
in your notebook containing: the statement of the problem, your
approach to the problem and an overview of your experiment, appropriate
reactions, structures of compounds, physical properties, and safety
information. There may be additional prelab questions. Some of
this information you will be expected to locate in reference sources
(books and the Internet).
This is a written exam but it may involve your looking up information
using various chemistry reference books and on computers. You
may be asked to demonstrate proficiency on the computers related
to any of the instrumental, drawing, or modeling software we have
used. There may be various experimental setups to evaluate at
stations in the lab. Other questions might be about safety, apparatus,
theory, calculations we have done, how to perform a certain technique
or evaluate results from that technique, what to do in some hypothetical
situation, what techniques to use for a specified situation, making
reasonable scientific decisions, etc.
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