Syllabus
Course: CH 220.2   Methods in Chemical Research

Semester: Fall, 2008

Professor: Carl Salter
Collier 228     Phone:   625-7920         email: csalter at chem .moravian .edu

Catalog Description: An introduction to the use of the computer in chemical experimentation and research, including the production of research-quality manuscripts that include scientific tables, figures, and chemical drawings.  The use statistical programs and experimental design will be covered. Real-time data acquisition hardware and software will be used by the students to gather data for analysis in spreadsheets. Students will be introduced to on-line searches of the chemical literature using Chemical Abstracts and the Science Citation Index. Fall. One 100 minute period each week. One-half unit credit. 

Required Text:  Beall & Trimbur, A Short Guide to Reading and Writing About Chemistry, 2nd Ed, Longman, 2001.

Optional Texts: D. C. Harris, Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 6th Ed, Freeman, 1999.
You will read and outline chapters 3, 4, and 5 from Quantitative Chemical Analysis; chapters 4 and 5 illiustrate the use of EXCEL spreadsheets to analyze chemical data.
Any manual on EXCEL will be helpful. A Guide to Microsoft Excel for Scientists and Engineers 2nd Ed by B. V. Liengme is available in the Computational Chemistry Lab, CHS 227.  

Goal:  This is the writing-intensive course for the chemistry major.  You will learn how to write about science and science experiments in a variety of formats.  The production of well-written chemical manuscripts with charts, tables, and chemical drawings is a high priority of this class.  Your grade in this course is determined by the documents that you submit; these documents will be evaluated on writing and presentation of data.  The course will also familiarize you with computer techniques that you will need to perform research projects and carry out other functions of a professional chemist. These techniques include searching the literature on a chemical problem, designing statistically sound experiments to answer chemical questions, organizing and analyzing data using spreadsheets, and preparing professional documents that explain your work to other chemists. 
Four lab reports                                          40%
Writing journal                                             25%
Reaction paper to Asimov essay                  10%
Asimov's World of Nitrogen assignment      10%
"Forensics" letter                                            5%
Two  “Dear Aunt Gladys” letters                  10%

The Writing Journal: A bound notebook of the type used for laboratories can be used to submit your writing assignments from the Beall & Trimbur textbook, A Short Guide to Reading and Writing about Chemistry.  The assignments from the textbook should be completed in the notebook--you may write them by hand, but I must be able to read them!
Divide your bound notebook in two main parts.  Use the first two-thirds for your writing journal; use the last third as a lab notebook.  Your notebook should contain information on all the formal experiments that we do in lab:  Copper sulfate, pH titration, heat of fusion of ice, M&Ms, and the kinetics experiment.  Your notebook should include spreadsheet analysis of the data pasted into the book.

Here are the Assignments from the Short Guide to Writing:

Chapter 1: The Basics  Page 12, Exercises 1, 2, 3.
Prior to the copper sulfate experiment: Prepare a list of at least six web references on Spectronic 20s that describe how to use them.  Summarize the instructions each reference gives, then combine the instructions to produce your own set of instructions for the Spec 20. 
Summarize the research of a chemistry professor at a Big Ten or Ivy League university based on web references.

Chapter 2: Scientific Responsibility  Page 32, writing assignment 1

Chapter 3: Reading and Writing to Learn Chemistry
Page 36 Exercise 1: list models of acid-base chemistry you find in a general chemistry textbook
Page 45 Exercise 2: use a topic from chapter 4 or 5 of the quant book by Harris.
Page 49 Exercise 3: use chapter 3 of Harris's quant book.
Page 57 Exercise 2
In addition, compare the discussion of acid-base chemistry in a general textbook with that in your Harris's quant book.
Outline Chapters 3, 4, and 5 from Harris's quant book.  As you do, answer Harris’s essay problems: Chapter 4-1,2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17; Chapter 5-5, 6.

Chapter 4: Writing Lab Reports Page 61, writing assignment 1.

Chapter 5:  How to Read a Scientific Article: Writing Summaries and Critiques
What is the difference between a summary and a critique?
Summarize a research paper written by a member of Moravian's chemistry or biology departments.
Critique The Pleasures of Merely Measuring by Harold McGee, from chapter 11 of The Curious Cook.
Summarize the excerpt from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig.

Chapter 6: Writing Literature Reviews
 For the research paper you summarized in Chapter 5, search for more recent related articles using both Chemical Abstracts and Science Citation Index.  List roughly a half dozen and summarize their abstracts.

Chapter 7:  Writing Research Proposals          
Summarize a research proposal written by a member of Moravian's chemistry or biology departments.

Forensics Report: You're the employee of a private analytical chemistry laboratory, and you've been assigned to analyze a chemical recovered from the scene of a mysterious fire at Dr. Langhus's house.  The DA believes that the markings on the bottle are significant, and he wants them explained!  Prepare a professional report to Langhus's defense attorneys based on your analysis of the sample.   Present the evidence both scientifically and also in a form that is suitable for the use of the attorneys.  Be sure to explain the partial label on the bottle.

Reaction paper to Asimov essay: You will receive a copy of an essay by Isaac Asimov, famous science fiction writer, written late in his life, called The Relativity of Wrong.  Your assignment is to write a three-to-five page (double-spaced) response to Asimov’s essay, explaining his thesis and stating whether or not you agree with it. Asimov cites several examples of scientific theories to support his thesis; if you agree with Asimov, tell me which examples best illustrate his thesis; on the other hand, if you disagree with Asimov, pick one historical example and tell me why you find it unconvincing.   Read Lessons Learned from Lord Rayleigh ..., JCE 1990, 67, 925, and discuss the history of another scientific theory and why you think it either supports or contradicts Asimov’s thesis. Finally, tell me if Asimov’s assay has in any way changed your view of scientific research.

Asimov's World of Nitrogen assignment:  You will be assigned a chapter from a book by Asimov on organic chemistry called the World of Nitrogen.  The book was written in the 1950's; your assignment is to update the information in the chapter and include lovely structures produced by ChemDraw to illustrate the chemicals Asimov talks about. 
Browse World of Nitrogen, which is on reserve in the library.  You may also want to browse the companion book, World of Carbon, if you are just starting organic chemistry--it will get you off to a good start in understanding the material.   Write a proposal that tells me which two chapters of World of Nitrogen you want to work on, and why you want to work on them.  What I am particularly interested in is which chemicals in the chapter do you want to find updated information on, and why.  Be sure specify your first and second choice.  I'll do my best to assign you one of those two chapters. 

“Aunt Gladys Letters”: Your Aunt Gladys is curious; she knows you’re studying chemistry, and she would like you to explain how some amazing thing that she’s heard of really works.  Your task is to find the answer to her question on the Internet, in the library, or in the laboratory, and then write a letter back to her that she can understand.  In addition, you’ll be writing to her about soda and lemon juice, so take good notes!