Monthly Archives: September 2012

Review materials for Days 5-9

Posted on September 28, 2012 by alan

You can find a variety of things here as you prepare for next week's exam: How to construct an MO orbital mixing diagram (Day 5) Activity 6 – internal rotation – Selected answers Activity 7 – cycloalkane conformers -… Continue reading →

Posted in Post-lecture | Comments Off on Review materials for Days 5-9

(More) Practice problems for learning activity 7

Posted on September 24, 2012 by alan

The learning objectives for activity #7 include being able to interconvert free energy changes (ΔG or ΔPE), equilibrium constants (Keq) and the percentages of the two conformers at equilibrium. Unfortunately, I neglected to list practice problems for this topic… Continue reading →

Posted in Post-lecture | Comments Off on (More) Practice problems for learning activity 7

Bond Order Goes under the Microscope

Posted on September 20, 2012 by alan

The 2012 Sept 17 issue of Chemistry & Engineering News ("C&ENews" is what we call it) begins with an article, Bond Order via Microscopy. A team of scientists at IBM's Zurich research center used a scanning probe microscope to… Continue reading →

Posted in Post-lecture | Comments Off on Bond Order Goes under the Microscope

Lecture slides (Day 5) for hybrid & molecular orbitals

Posted on September 17, 2012 by alan

You can download the slides that I showed last Wed/Thur (Sept 12/13) here. I didn't get to show all of the slides, but if I could have, I would have divided the talk into three sections: what you already… Continue reading →

Posted in Post-lecture | Comments Off on Lecture slides (Day 5) for hybrid & molecular orbitals

Learning objectives (Day 5) for hybrid & molecular orbitals

Posted on September 16, 2012 by alan

I have prepared a list of learning objectives and study tips for last Wed/Thur's (Sept 12/13) class. You can download them here…. Continue reading →

Posted in Post-lecture | Comments Off on Learning objectives (Day 5) for hybrid & molecular orbitals

Challenge Problems + Molecular Modeling Questions = Answers

Posted on September 11, 2012 by alan

I promised that I would post answers to the challenge problems in the learning activities and I have also received requests for 'answers' to the molecular modeling activity (#2). Here are some answers and comments. Keep in mind: many… Continue reading →

Posted in Homework, Labs | Comments Off on Challenge Problems + Molecular Modeling Questions = Answers

Beyond Oil and Water

Posted on September 7, 2012 by alan

Organic chemistry is filled with mysteries. The measurements involved in this week's experiment (solubility of alcohols in water) are straightforward, but scientific understanding has not really kept pace. Why do some liquids mix and others separate into distinct phases… Continue reading →

Posted in Labs | Comments Off on Beyond Oil and Water

Vaux Swift Watch 2012

Posted on September 2, 2012 by alan

This post has nothing to do with o chem, but I think watching 5000+ small Vaux swifts swarm and then roost in the Chapman School chimney is one of the best FREE displays of urban wildlife you will ever… Continue reading →

Posted in Study habits & Distractions | Comments Off on Vaux Swift Watch 2012