Tetra hedral angle

Here is a link describing the tetrahedral angle (109.47 degrees). While the proof is not listed, it has a good summary of the properties of the tetrahedron. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahedron

Attention Chem C111 Students: There will be a required lecture this saturday October 31st starting at 9 am. We will cover chapter 9--chapter 8 having been covered on Friday the 30th (chapters corrected) . There will be time after the lecture--about 2 hours to work in the lab.

Organic Students: The lab will be open to you this Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm.

Please show up on time. As the building is locked I have to escort everyone to and from class.

I reserved the right to not let you in if you are late.

Chem C101 Test is November 9th
Chem C111 Test is November 13th
Chem C221 Test is November 13th.

Review Session is Saturday November 7th from 8 am to 1 pm.

Chem C221: Please make sure to bring your model kits for the next few weeks.

Things to note for this week.

Chem C111 will have a mandatory make up this Saturday October 31st from 9 am to 2 pm; we will be covering Chapter 9 (Chapter 8 will have been covered on Friday the 30th). There may be some time on Saturday for Lab work.

All classes: Please make sure you are up-to-date on all your homework and lab assignments. Some students are way behind on Homework and labs, and while there are substantial deductions for late work it sure beats a zero on the assignment.

A Demonstration is planned for the 4th of November around 6:37 pm outside on the dirt south of the parking lot. Goggles will be required. I will be setting up a thermite demonstration on an aluminim block engine.

Exam II Announcements

Chem C101: Your test is Monday November 9th during class time
Chem C111: Your test is Friday November 13th during class time
Chem C221: Your test is Friday November 13th during class time

Make an appointment in LRC if you can't make these dates, and let me know by October 30th.

There have been a couple of confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in town. Most recently, an instructor at Cerro Coso has been diagnosed with seasonal flu (not H1N1). Wash your hands fequently


The best information about the swine flue can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ and I will be speaking to our local microbiologist (the smartest person I know) later today. Remember you do not get very good information from the popular media.

We will have class as scheduled

We will have an extra lab session this Saturday October 24th in MB 328

We will have a mandatory make up session for Chem C111 on Saturday October 31st in MB 328

We will have a review for the second midterm Saturday November 7th in MB 328

Organicers: I have 2 chromatography columns. The purpose of the lab is to demonstrate an absolute hatred for column chromatography, even though it is a powerful and useful separation technique. The 10th lab experiment will most likely be the nitration of methyl benzoate.

All Chemistry Classes: The next exam is coming up. It will be either the week of November 2nd or November 9th. A formal announcement and specific date will be set by this friday.

I forgot to acknowledge H Hasc for the photos, and here is the movie:

Class schedule started up.

I confirm the following:

Saturday October 24th from 9 am to 2 pm is a lab day. Priority to students with the BIOL conflict. Location MB 328 (BIOL Lab)

Saturday October 31st will be a required lecture from 9 am to 2 pm for Chem C111. We will cover Chapter 9. We might have some time to work in the Lab for a bit. Location MB 328 (BIOL Lab)

Meet me at the front entrance of the College. Remember the college is closed, so please be on time. I have to escort everyone in and out of the building.

Here is a photo of the Charcoal popsicle made during Chem C101 tonight.

Weekend Update

Just got back from recruiting at Cal Poly Pomona. It's a great school.

Normal Class Schedule for this week.

Chem C101: Remind me to take the class up to the lab so we can look at the cholesterol.

Chem C111: We will cover Chapter 7 on Friday October 23rd. There will be a make up lab period Saturday October 24th 9 am to 2 pm priority will be given to the students with conflict with BIOL C111 and the Wednesday pm Organic Group. We will cover Chapter 8 on Friday October 30th--wear your Halloween costume. We will cover Chapter 9 on Saturday October 31st from 9 am to 2 pm.

Also just got word that the State has approved our AA in Engineering.

Friday October 16th Class Cancellation

Chem C221 and Chem C111, as well as my 5-8 pm office hours will be cancelled this Friday October 16th. I will make up the missed time on the next possible Saturday, either the 24th and/or the 31st from 9 am to 2 pm. Check the blog later for updates.


There will be class on Wednesday, tomorrow October 14th for all classes.



There will be class on Wednesday, tomorrow October 14th for all classes.



There will be class on Wednesday, tomorrow October 14th for all classes.

Update on Incorporation of Topics Discussed in Williams

I reread Williams Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
2004, 20(2), 232-247. I am really struggling with the concept of how my blog will be useful. However, as most things start small, I’m willing to give things a try.

What my blog can do:

1) Provide an electronic bulletin board of sorts that students could visit in case they missed/misunderstood/slept through the announcement.

2) Provide asynchronous feedback, in the form of comments, which might be addressed quicker than email and will reach all the students who read my blog.

3) Provide me with information on whether any students are interested. For example, if I have about 30% of my students visit my block or provide me with positive feedback on the blog this semester, it will qualify as a good start.

4) Provide me with a real-time record of my thoughts and any relevant issues that came up with the students.

What my blog can’t do:

Provide the students with detailed feedback on problem solving, in both inorganic and organic chemistry. The technology is just not there. The interface will require some sort of “Chemical Structure and/or Unit Analysis recognition and voice recognition software” that will post my solutions/suggestions on the internet. Right now, it takes me about 2 minutes to write out a unit analysis/multi-step synthesis on the board—I go over about 5-10 problems in class and spend most of my time explaining. It takes about 23 minutes to draw this out on equation editor/Chem Draw, and I can’t point to things, or highlight things real time. Perhaps someone will integrate the smart board into the internet. A former colleague of mine talked about a live class where this was done on the LCD projector—it had the support of 3-4 technicians. It was great, but I don’t have the technical support.

Bottom Line:

I’m going to try this for the rest of the academic year. If I get about 50% of the classes to participate, I’ll keep it. Anything significantly less and I will stop. In either case, I will have learned something.

I'll also have to be careful. The Blogosphere can be pretty nasty place. When I was in college, a mean person could only do so much (spreading nasty rumors etc). In the blogosphere, there are a lot of mean people spreading lies and morons getting a lot of attention. To quote a famous Auror (Moody): Constant Vigilance!

Other announcements and informations

To reiterate, I will be having an additional lab/office hour section on Monday October 12th from 9 am to 12 pm.

For Chem C111 Students, the link to the Gillespie Algorithm is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillespie_algorithm . Dr. Gillespie is the only person whom I have ever met who understands Quantum Mechanics.

Organic Update

Emailed the entire class today asking them to check things out.

I have the following announcements:

• The Star Party is tonight at 5:30 pm. Mention my name at the gate and I will get you a ticket.
• There will be a supplemental lab period from 9 am to 12 pm on Monday October 12th, and yes the college is OPEN!
• There will be a substitute for the Friday Morning Lab from 9 am to 12 pm on Friday October 16th. Class will meet.
• My afternoon Chem C111 12pm to 5pm class will be cancelled, as will my 5 pm to 8 pm lab hours on Friday October 16th.
• Please feel free to email me or post comments regarding the laboratory questions for your recent organic experiments.

The Organic Experiment

I think I might mention this blog to my Organic for Majors class. Perhaps I can use this to reiterate some topics for the week, some deadlines, and other announcments. I'll ask them what they think about virtual problem solving or question/answer over the blog.

Star Date 00.00

This is the first blogging post. I'm beginning to analyze how I could incorporate some online and asynchronous topics to help in my chemistry class. I've got be be very careful because the classes must transfer to other institutions (4 year universities) so for now I will examine how I can use these as aids and additions to my classes and not as subsitutions. For now I'm looking at

• A Discussion board that lists the relevant assignments, lecture notes, schedules and syllabus--probably all separated out
• A regular chat hour. I've got to be very careful about this. A lot of students need face-to-face help with the laboratory and, as I strongly believe my physical presence at the college is important I don't want to go too overboard with everthing being virtual.
• A topic in the discussion board for recitation--where students ask specific questions about homework or lab problems. I don't know if the technology is there for drawing complex organic structures or for solving complex acid-base titration problems (in fact I suspect doing this online will take about 5.6 times longer than the old fashioned chalkboard way.

That's it for now. I think I'll read some more, cogitate on this and revisit.