CHEM 235: Physical Chemistry II: Kinetics of Chemical ReactionsSyllabus for Winter 2011 Term

GENERAL INFORMATIONThis 3-credit course introduces the student to the theory and measurement of chemical reactions rates. It requires CHEM 234 (Physical Chemistry I), and is itself a prerequisite for CHEM 324 (Or-ganic Chemistry III), CHEM 326 (Natural Products), CHEM 327 (Organic Chemistry of Polymers), CHEM 334 (Physical Chemistry: Laboratory), CHEM 335 (Biophysical Chemistry), CHEM 421 (Physical Organic Chemistry), CHEM 424 (Organic Synthesis), and CHEM 445 (Industrial Catalysis).

Course Format: Lectures and laboratoriesInstructor: Dr. Guillaume Lamoureux Office: SP-201.09 Office Hours: by appointment Email: glamoure@alcor.concordia.ca Websites: Access from http://moodle.concordia.ca/moodle/ (also http://faculty.concordia.ca/glamoure/teaching.html)Lectures: Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:45 to 10:00 Location: CC-310Lab Instructor: Ms. Maria Dochia Office: SP-201.10 Office Hours: by appointment Email: marica_dochia@hotmail.com Website: Access from http://moodle.concordia.ca/moodle/Laboratories: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays (depending on your section),

from 13:30 to 17:30 Location: SP-220Textbook: Atkins & De Paula, Atkinsʼ Physical Chemistry, 9th Ed., Volume 1. (available at the Concordia Bookstore) The textbook is sold as a package that includes access to the bookʼs website.

It is highly recommended.Clicker: Not required for the course but if you have one, bring it in class.

COURSE GRADEThe final grade for the course is composed as follows: 15% for each of the two “midterm” exams, 50% for the final exam, and 20% for laboratories. The grade for the laboratories includes pre-lab, lab performance, lab reports, and lab exam. The lab exam will be written in class, will last 30 minutes, and will be worth 5% of the final grade. See the lab Moodle webpage for details. The minimum pass-ing grade for the course is 50%, but of these 50 points, at least 10 should come from the labora-tories and at least 40 should come from the midterm and final exams.

EXAMINATIONSThe “midterm” exams will be held on February 4 and March 4. The final exam date is set by the Ex-aminations Office. If a student is absent from a midterm, he/she must produce a written excuse ap-propriately signed (e.g., by a doctor or an employer) on letterhead paper. This letter must be deliv-ered to the instructor no later than one week after the exam. If the absence is not valid, the stu-dent will receive a mark of zero for that exam.

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MANDATORY SEMINAR AND QUIZAs part of this course, you are required to i) attend a one-hour Chemistry and Biochemistry De-partmental Seminar on the academic conduct code and the appropriate use of information sources and ii) pass the online quiz associated with this seminar. (Note: Passing grade for the quiz is 100%.) The aim of this seminar is to clarify the academic conduct code in terms of what practices will be considered unacceptable with regards to work submitted for grading in Chemistry and Biochemistry courses. You are only exempt from repeating the seminar and the quiz only if you have done both in Winter 2006 or more recently, otherwise you are required to repeat both this semester. (You are exempt if you can find your ID in the PDF file located on the CHEM 101 Moodle site. For guest login, go to http://moodle.concordia.ca/moodle, Arts and Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Specialized Chemistry Sites, CHEM 101, and look under FAQ.) Dates and times at which you can attend the seminar will be posted in the Departmental office (SP-201.01) and you will have to sign up to your preferred time. If you do not complete this course requirement, your final grade for the course may be lowered by one full letter grade with an “incomplete” notation until this requirement is completed. Please refer to the undergraduate calendar (section 16.3.6) for details on removal of an incomplete notation.

PLAGIARISM AND OTHER FORMS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTYThe academic code of conduct can be found in section 17.10 of the academic calendar (http://registrar.concordia.ca/calendar/pdf/sec17.pdf). Any form of unauthorized collaboration, cheat-ing, copying or plagiarism found in this course will be reported and the appropriate sanctions ap-plied. The mandatory seminar is a clear and fair opportunity to learn what our faculty regards as academic misconduct. Failure to take part in this learning opportunity and thus ignorance of these regulations is no excuse and will not result in a reduced sanction in any case where academic mis-conduct is observed.

LECTURE MATERIAL AND PRACTICE PROBLEMSAll concepts related to the course material will be covered in the lectures. The student is expected to read the appropriate sections of the textbook. There are no formal assignments for this course, but a list of suggested practice problems from the book will be provided with each section. It is the stu-dentʼs responsibility to use these problems to practice in applying the course material.

LABORATORY INFORMATIONAll questions on matters related to the labs should be addressed to Ms. Maria Dochia, the Lab In-structor. Laboratories start on Monday, January 10. Labs will be performed on a rotation basis such that you perform one lab every other week. Although experiments are performed with lab part-ners, you must submit your own, individual lab report for all experiments. Joint lab reports are not acceptable. Do not expect a particular laboratory experiment to be related directly to the material covered in the lectures of the preceding week. Consider the laboratory work as an additional, inde-pendent learning experience.

LABORATORY MANUAL AND MATERIALSThe lab manual for the five experiments can be found online from the CHEM 235 website listed above. You do not need to purchase a lab manual but should print out the necessary pages from this website. Other items such as lab coats and safety glasses (which are mandatory) are available at the bookstore.

LABORATORY EXEMPTIONStudents who are repeating the course, and those who have reasons to believe that they may be exempted from the laboratory, must verify this with Ms. Dochia during the first week of lectures, no later than Friday, January 7. A student who is denied exemption must repeat the laboratory.

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CALENDAR OF LECTURESPlease note that this calendar may change as the semester proceeds. The chapter numbers refer to the 9th edition of the full textbook.

Date Topics Reading

Jan. 5 Lecture Introduction, Molecular motion in gases 20.1–20.4Jan. 7 Lecture Molecular motion in gases (contʼd)

Jan. 12 Lecture Molecular motion in liquids 20.5–20.8Jan. 14 Lecture Molecular motion in liquids (contʼd)

Jan. 19 Lecture Experimental techniques 21.1–21.3Jan. 21 Lecture Rate laws, Integrated rate laws

Jan. 26 Lecture Integrated rate laws (contʼd) 21.3–21.4Jan. 28 Lecture Reactions approaching equilibrium

Feb. 2 Lecture Arrhenius equation, Problems in class 21.5Feb. 4 Midterm Exam #1 (covers Chapter 20 and Chapter 21 up to 21.4)

Feb. 9 Lecture Accounting for the rate laws 21.6–21.7Feb. 11 Lecture Accounting for the rate laws (contʼd)

Feb. 16 Lecture Examples of reaction mechanisms 21.8–21.9Feb. 18 Lecture Examples of reaction mechanisms (contʼd)

(Midterm break)

Mar. 2 Lecture Problems in classMar. 4 Midterm Exam #2 (covers Chapter 21)

Mar. 9 Lecture Reactive encounters 22.1–22.2Mar. 11 Lecture Reactive encounters (contʼd)

Mar. 16 Lecture Transition state theory 22.4–22.5Mar. 18 Lecture Transition state theory (contʼd)

Mar. 23 Lecture Homogeneous catalysis 23.1–23.2Mar. 25 Lecture Homogeneous catalysis (contʼd)

Mar. 30 Lecture Homogeneous catalysis (contʼd) 23.2Apr. 1 Lecture More complicated kinetics

Apr. 6 Lecture Problems in classApr. 8 Lecture Problems in class

TBA Final Exam (covers Chapters 21 (again), 22, and 23)

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