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LAB MANUAL FOR CHEMISTRY: ATOMS FIRST by Gregg Dieckmann and John W. Sibert, 3rd Edition

© 2018

* The estimated amount of time this product will be on the market is based on a number of factors, including faculty input to instructional design and the prior revision cycle and updates to academic research-which typically results in a revision cycle ranging from every two to four years for this product. Pricing subject to change at any time.

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This laboratory manual presents a curriculum that is organized around an atoms first approach to general chemistry. Our motivation for writing this manual is to (1) tap into the natural curiosity present in all of us and provide engaging experiments that students will find interesting, (2) emphasize topics that students find particularly challenging in the general chemistry lecture course, and (3) create a laboratory environment that encourages students, on occasion, to “solve puzzles” and not just “follow recipes.” All too often, students view general chemistry lab as a boring exercise in which an exact set of instructions is followed, leading to an answer that, in many cases, results in a good grade regardless of how much learning has taken place. To these students, the successful lab is the one that takes the least amount of time! Unfortunately, a huge opportunity to get students truly turned on to science is missed. To us, the laboratory represents high-stakes ground for engagement and relatively low stakes for grading, as the laboratory is typically a single-credit course or minor component to the lecture grade. Thus, while the rigor of the experiments in this manual can be tuned to meet the needs of the instructor, our hope is that students will be encouraged to “play” (safely) with chemical concepts and laboratory techniques, with grades simply being a natural consequence of their laboratory actions. To facilitate such a mindset, this manual has been written to provide instructors with a weekly tool that can attract and keep student interest, while providing important connections to the material covered in an atoms first lecture course. Our philosophy: student curiosity leads to engagement, which leads to discovery, which leads to learning.
The manual is for a freshman-level general chemistry laboratory course, and serves as an ideal supplement for any atoms first general chemistry textbook (such as Chemistry: Atoms First by Julia Burdge and Jason Overby). It is designed for students at all levels, from those seeing chemistry for the first time to chemistry majors.

Laboratory 1 Exploration of Matter Through Density Determinations: An Introduction to Basic Laboratory Measurements 1 
Laboratory 2 The Discovery of Chemical Change Through the Chemistry of Copper: An Observational Preview of First-Semester General Chemistry 11 
Laboratory 3 Light and Nanotechnology: How Do We “See” Something Too Small to See? 21 
Laboratory 4 Shedding Light on the Structure of the Atom 33 
Laboratory 5 Periodic Trends: Densities in the Chromium Family of Transition Metals 47 
Laboratory 6 Molecular Geometry and Polarity 59 
Laboratory 7 Percent Composition from Gravimetric Analysis: Calcium Carbonate in Texas Limestone 73 
Laboratory 8 Limiting Reactant Lab 81 
Laboratory 9 Qualitative Analysis: Testing the Solubility Rules 89 
Laboratory 10 Titration I. Determination of an Unknown Diprotic Acid Through Volumetric Analysis 105 
Laboratory 11 The Activity Series: On the Chemistry of Metals 117 
Laboratory 12 Calorimetry I: Identification of an Unknown Metal 125 
Laboratory 13 Calorimetry II: Measurement and Calculation of Enthalpy Change, ΔH 137 
Laboratory 14 Gas Laws: Boyle’s Law and Experimental Determination of the Ideal Gas Constant 151 
Laboratory 15 A Capstone Experience: Toward the Creation of an Automobile Airbag 167 
Laboratory 16 On the Nature of Solutions: Structure, Polarity and Energy 173
Laboratory 17 Colligative Properties: Vapor Pressure Lowering and Molar Mass Determination Through Freezing Point Depression 189 
Laboratory 18 Kinetics—The Hydrolysis of p-Nitrophenyl Acetate 213 
Laboratory 19 Determination of the Equilibrium Constant of Phenolphthalein Dissociation 237 
Laboratory 20 Le Châtelier’s Principle: On the Effect of Concentration and Temperature on Equilibrium 251 
Laboratory 21 An Exploration of Buffer Solutions 263 
Laboratory 22 Titration II. pH Titration Curves 273 
Laboratory 23 Identification of an Unknown Weak Acid/Base 289 
Laboratory 24 Determining the Molar Solubility Product of Copper(II) Tartrate 297 
Laboratory 25 Thermodynamics of Formation of a Borax Solution 309 
Laboratory 26 Galvanic Cells and the Measurement of Cell Potential 321 
Laboratory 27 Color Changes in Ionizing Foot Baths? (Testing Marketing Claims: A Case Study) 335 
Laboratory 28 The Formation and Reactivity of Esters: A Bridge from General to Organic Chemistry 343

About the Author

Gregg Dieckmann

John W. Sibert

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