Chemistry 448 Course Page
The files listed below are in PDF format. They can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. University computers have Acrobat Reader already installed and you may print them out at any university computing center.
Although the notes below have been proofread, there may well be mistakes in them. I would appreciate it if you would let me know when you find mistakes. Please let me know either by telephone (x6486) or email (castella@marshall.edu). There is a date at the end of each chapter’s notes. When substantive corrections are made, that date will be changed so you know how current is the posted version. Finally, the notes are a work in progress. For that reason, when you click on a link you may get an error message. In all likelihood, it means that those notes haven’t been posted yet.
The study hints provided were written for Chemistry 211, but many of the suggestions apply to this course as well.
General Information
Lecture Notes
Handouts
Old Tests
Interesting Links
3DChem.com has a website that shows the 3-dimensional structure of a large number of molecules that can be manipulated by you much including the VSEPR figures available in the table shown on this page. The structures of the top 50 prescription medicines are available, as are 1600 structures of inorganic compounds (e.g. the structure of the gemstones Ruby and Garnet, the polymorphs of carbon: buckminsterfullerene, diamond, and carbon), and assorted other molecules (e.g. the molecules that give rise to the scents of garlic and cloves).
WebElements is website devoted to the periodic table. It provides information about the physical properties, history, and reactivity of all of the elements. In some cases, there are movies for downloading that show aspects of the reactivity of the element or one of its compounds. The site also contains interesting chemistry trivia (e.g. the origin of the names of elements). Finally, there are some excellent graphics for comparing the physical properties of all elements collectively.
The Los Almos Laboratory Periodic Table has some nice information about the elements and is relatively easy to read.
Dean Johnston’s Symmetry Tutorial is a fantastic way of visualizing symmetry operations if you’re having any trouble with this. It not only goes through each of the symmetry operations, but graphically shows how they work and provides some sample molecules. There is also a link on the side that provides pictures of a number of the crystalline solids that you need to be able to recognize. To view the figures on these pages you must first install the program Chime® from MDL (Molecular Design Limited).
The Orbitron by Mark Winter at the Univesity of Sheffield (also the creater of WebElements) shows images of the different orbitals at various energy levels (e.g. 1s, 2s, 3s, …) as well as molecular orbitals. Animations of orbital formation are also included.
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