• INSTRUCTOR: John Winn, 204 Burke, office hours by appointment. Please ask if you need help, and see below about BlitzMail policy.
   
• LAB MANAGER: Charlie Ciambra, 117a Burke.
   
• TA: Yinghua Shen. Contact her via BlitzMail.
   
• CLASS TIMES: M, W, and F, 8:45 - 9:50; X-hour, Th 9:00 - 9:50, 101 Fairchild. X-hours will be used frequently for problem discussion sessions as well as additional lectures as warranted. I will try to keep the web calendars current.
   
• TEXT: Physical Chemistry, by John S. Winn, HarperCollins College Publishers (also available as a paperback reprint from Pearson Custom Publishing). This is the same text used for Chem 71 & 72. Since I feel a little strange requiring my own text for a course I teach, we will have a class vote as to the charity of your choice to which I will donate the royalties I receive from adopting my own text for this course. (It isn't a ton of money, by the way!) One of the topics we'll cover in this course is the interpretation of the text's cover figure, shown below.

• BLITZMAIL POLICY: I love BlitzMail - don't we all? But it is not the medium to answer specific technical questions, such as "How do you work the third homework problem?" On the other hand it is an ideal way for us to keep in touch outside class time. I will blitz info to all of you from time to time, and you should feel free to blitz me whenever you'd like to set a time to meet in person, whenever you will miss an important class event, etc. You can use the Blitz short-cut "jwinn" (or "jwinn@dartmouth.edu" if you're off the BlitzMail system) to reach me.
  

• EXAMS: There will be two exams during the term, both from 7 to 9:30 PM:

The final exam will be Saturday, December 7.

• HOMEWORK: Each week, (more or less -- see the course calendar pages for details) I will assign a variety of problems, some from the text and some that are not. It is vital that you attempt all the assigned problems. You cannot wait until the last minute to try to master this material. If you find you are having difficulty with the problems, see me as soon as possible so that we can work together on them. The homework assignments will be archived on the Homework page.
  The solutions to (almost) ALL the problems from the book will be available as PDF (Portable Document Format -- see the Plug-ins page) files. The problems not from the book are to be turned in as instructed each week following their assignment. These are to be your own work, and they will count in part toward your grade in the course. Solutions to these will be handed out in class and posted on this site on the day they are due.
   
• LABORATORY: The lab periods are 2-6 PM, Monday and Thursday. There are four laboratory experiments plus a computational exercise. Every undergraduate taking the course must do three of the four labs plus a computer exercise. (Graduate students are exempt from doing the labs, but they are expected to understand the theory behind each lab.) Failure to complete the laboratory portion of the course can result in failing the entire course no matter what your exam performance has been. You will work in pairs, and sign-up sheets will be available in class. Each lab uses specific, research-quality equipment and thus meets in different rooms. See the Lab page for more details, including when lab reports are due.
   
• GRADES: The course grade will reflect your exam performance (80%), your lab performance (15%), and your over-all performance on the homework I will ask you to submit (5%). Graduate students taking the course are exempt from the labs, and their grade will be weighted 85% exams, 15% homework.
   
• SOFTWARE: Obviously, a Web browser is needed, with the appropriate plug-ins. In addition, you will need your word processor for writing lab reports, and the Mac application LeastSquares (which is available on the PUBLIC file-server - follow the path Courses & Support > Academic Departments & Courses > Chemistry > Phys Chem) may prove to be handy, but isn't required. You should also have some experience with Microsoft Excel, any version.
  

• DISABILITIES: Any student with a physical or learning disability or a chronic health problem for whom special accommodations would be helpful is encouraged to discuss with me the types of assistance I might be able to offer.
   
• HONOR PRINCIPLE: It is vital that you understand the role of the Dartmouth Academic Honor Principle in all aspects of this course. Please inquire if you have questions or feel you need clarification on any of the following explicit dictums of the Honor Principle for this course. In particular, you should be aware that the Honor Principle is a two-way agreement: you agree, by enrolling in Dartmouth, to uphold it, and I agree, by accepting employment on the Dartmouth Faculty, to enforce it. The link above to the Honor Principle states my duties as a faculty member. Read them. I will follow them if need be. Bottom line: a failing grade is always preferable to a trip before the Committee on Standards. Don't screw up.
   
  For this course, there are specific aspects of the Honor Principle you must keep in mind:
   
  Examinations: Any of the numerous activities normally considered cheating is a violation. Examinations are not proctored; however, I will be present from time to time during exams to answer questions that arise. Since exam graders do not have perfect records of accuracy, claims of injustice in grading will be carefully considered. The changing of an answer followed by the return of the paper to the instructor for reconsideration is a direct violation of the Honor Principle.
   
  Laboratory: The principle of academic honor is at the very heart of experimental science. Unless permission is granted by the instructor, use of another student's laboratory data is a violation. When use of another's data is allowed, the source of the data must be indicated. Fabrication of data or alteration of your own data to secure some desired result is also a violation. In the case of experiments where two students work together and data have been recorded in one student's notebook, a copy of the data may be made in the other student's notebook with an appropriate citation to the location of the original data. Any other material in the notebook which has been copied from any source whatever must also be provided with a source citation. The laboratory report must represent your independent calculations and individual conclusions. Of course, direct copying of any portion of another student's laboratory report is a clear violation of the Honor Principle.
   
  Homework: The problems I will assign that do not come from the text and that I indicate you are to submit for a grade must be your own, independent work and are governed by the constraints of the Honor Principle. These problems help you learn the material and help me learn what you are finding difficult. They carry so little academic weight that submitting solutions that are not your own is the most foolish form of academic suicide.

Copyright 2002 John S. Winn. All rights reserved. Last updated August 27, 2002.