2010/01/29

Kinetics began, slowly...

Today we started talking about chemical kinetics, the study of the rates and pathways of chemical reactions. Kinetics can be explained using Collision Theory, and we're in the middle of looking at different types of rates.

Have a good weekend, I'll see you on Monday and I'll have the exams graded.

2010/01/25

Exam Wednesday...

Today we talked about colloids a little and reviewed for the exam. I problem came up that I made a mistake on, but it wasn't the mistake I thought it was. We went through a quick osmotic pressure problem with approximately 1M MgCl2 in water and the answer I calculated on the board was around 74atm. That answer is correct. I was thinking about a vapor pressure problem that someone had asked about, and for a solution to have a vapor pressure of 74atm would be just goofy, at least under any reasonable conditions. An osmotic pressure of 74atm is also pretty high, but that's an indication of just how strong a force osmosis can be.

Because of the university closing, tonight's SI exam review session has been cancelled. If you have questions, feel free to email me, I will answer to the blog.

Stay warm, stay safe, and enjoy(?) the snow.

2010/01/22

Colligativity...

Today we wrapped up the colligative properties and concentration units we're going to talk about before next Wednesday's exam.

There is a new Mastering Chemistry assignment posted, due Tuesday.

2010/01/13

More IMFs...

Today we looked at how intermolecular forces can be used to predict some properties of matter like viscosity, surface tension, and capillary action. We also looked at vaporization and vapor pressure and discussed heating/cooling curves and phase diagrams.

We will not be meeting for lab this week BUT there is an assignment up on D2L covering the syllabus and course policies. It's due by Friday at 11:59pm, but you should be sure to look at it before then, perhaps during the 3 hours of open time you have tomorrow because we are not meeting for lab...

2010/01/11

Day One

Today we started looking at intermolecular forces, we'll continue on Wednesday.

Don't forget to sign on to MasteringChemistry and take a look at the current assignments as soon as you have a chance.