Welcome to Physical Chemistry I (CHEM 331). Physical Chemistry is generally considered one of the harder disciplines of chemistry to learn. You will therefore be expected to work diligently in and out of class in order to receive a passing grade. Your attendance in class will not be recorded, however, it is strongly recommended that you attend all classes. Failure to do so will result in poor performance in your exams, assignments and quizzes. You are reminded that during all aspects of this course you are to adhere to the University Honor Code (http://honorcode.gmu.edu/).

This course primarily concentrates on the thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical processes. Consequently, there is a lot of math that you are going to be required to perform in the course. However, exams, tests, assignments and quizzes will not test your math ability. They will test your understanding of the theory and the application of theory to solve chemical problems.

WEEK STARTING	SECTION	ASSESSMENT
08/31/09	Introduction/Chapter 1
09/07/09	Chapter 1/Chapter 2
09/14/09	Chapter 2
09/21/09	Chapter 3	Assignment given Thurs
09/28/09	Chapter 3
10/05/09	Revision	Test 1 Thurs
10/12/09	Chapter 4	No Class Tues
10/19/09	Chapter 5
10/26/09	Chapter 6	Assignment due Thurs
11/02/09	Chapter 7
11/09/09	Revision	Test 2 Thurs
11/16/09	Chapter 22
11/23/09	Chapter 21.1-21.4	No Class Thurs
11/30/09	Chapter 25.3-25.5, 25.8-25.13
12/07/09	Revision

The final exam will be held on Thurs 12/17/09 (10.30am - 1.15pm)

Your final grade will be evaluated as follows:

Final Exam - 30%

Test 1- 20%

Test 2 - 20%

Assignment - 15%

Wiki-notes - 15%

The final exam will be cumulative and will cover all material covered in the course. Test 1 will cover material from Chapter 1-3 and Test 2 will cover material from Chapters 4-7. Exams and tests will contain approximately 50% questions pertaining to theory that will require a written explanation. The remaining 50% will consist of numerical calculation type questions. You will be allowed to take one page of hand-written notes (computer printed not allowed) into the tests and two pages of hand-written notes into the final exam.

The written assignment will consist of a substantial paper on a topic to be determined. Extensive research is expected in order to complete the assignment. Assignments with only internet-related citations will receive a substantially lower grade. Citations of chemical journal articles and books is expected.

As part of your grade you will also be required to participate in the wiki-based class note taking. Each lecture, several students will be required to create the "class notes" for that particular lecture. From your lecture notes and from referring to your textbook, you will create a wiki-page that explains in sufficient detail and clarity the lecture of the day.

Problem sets will be assigned for each chapter of material covered. These will not be graded, however it is strongly recommended that you complete these problem sets. Numerical questions in the final exam and tests will come directly from these problem sets. Solutions will be posted regularly.

The grading scale for the course is as follows:

A+ >95%

A 90-94%

A- 85-89%

B+ 80-84%

B 75-79%

B- 70-74%

C+ 65-69%

C 60-64%

C- 55-59%

D 50-55%

F <50%

Final scores will NOT be curved. Your final score will be determined by your final grade.

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