Below are some answers to your questions from ACA2. I have not written out every question, because many questions were the same. So look at all of the responses below.

1. How is the best way to tell if the compound is homogeneous or heterogeneous?

If the substance is a compound than it is a pure substance, not a mixture.

2. Finding the formulas for the periodic tale, how?

You have to memorize those elements with formulas that differ from their symbol. We discussed those in class; H₂, N₂, O₂, F₂, Cl₂, Br₂, I₂, P₄, and S₈.

3. For problem number 2, was I suppose to know all the elements' properties in order to determine what phase at 25∞C?

Yes. I expect everyone to memorize the phase (at 25 °C) of every element in the periodic table. This is not too difficult. Memorize the liquids (Hg and Br₂) and the gases (H₂, N₂, O₂, F₂, Cl₂, He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe). Everyone else is a solid.

4. how to tell if a substance is homogenous or heterogeous in a diagram

First of all there MUST be two or more DIFFERENT substances in the container for there to be a mixture. If there is a single substance (independent of how many atoms or molecules are drawn) it is a pure substance. So if there are two different substances, to be homogeneous the mixture must be uniform (have the same composition). If the distribution of substances is not uniform the mixture is heterogeneous. Remember ANY mixture of gases is homogeneous.

5. How to write formulas

We'll begin discussing that in Chapter 2 in the section on nomenclature. We'll learn some rules on how to 'read' the periodic table.

6. I am unsure if I wrote the equation for the reaction right or wrong. I don't know what you wanted there.

The chemical equation I asked you to write in this ACA should be a challenge to most of you and that is OK. The particular reaction that you viewed is called a formation or synthesis reaction (we'll learn other types of reactions in Chapter 3 and 4). Synthesis reactions are straight forward (in the reactants) becasue they only involve the elements in their standard state. When writing a chemical equation we ALWAYS write the FORMULA of the substancce. So if the reactants are always elements in a synthesis reaction we must only write the formula of the element (and its phase). This is why I've asked you to emorize the formula of all the elements (Q2) and the phase of every element (Q3). Knowing those two pieces of information you will be able to write the reactants for ANY synthesis reaction I can imagine....and I'll expect you to be able to do that on the first exam...I promise!!

7. i cannot get quicktime to work. it freezes up my computer and then i have to reboot.

If you are not completely comfortable with computers and are using a PC, you might consider asking someone you know who is to install QuickTime on your computer. Currently the easiest way to do that is to install iTunes on your computer (you want iTunes so you can access the podcasts). I think that will automatically install QT. There are many resources that we will use during the semester that will require QT.

8. I do not know formulas very well and would like some help on them. Is there a place I can go to for help??

Try looking at the lecture notes for lecture on Tuesday, September 4, 2007. In these notes is assistance on writing formulas. You need to memorize the tables in Chapter 2 and on the last page of our textbook. Knowing these formulas will help to write formulas.

9. I DONT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING

OoooooK....This is not an uncommon response from students. However, how to address this concern is one of the things that separates successful students from unsuccessful students. Here is one possible plan of attack....Be sure to look at the Expert's Response Page and compare your responses to those of the expert. Check the answers to the DCI that we covered in class, and look at the examples discussed in the lecture notes and the PowerPoints. So you say, I read all that stuff...so what! OK so now you have to do problems. Check out the problem on the Problem Set. Also look at the problems at the end of the Chapter that are recommended in the Assignment Page. The odd questions all have answers in the textbook. You need to organize all of this information for yourself, if you can not I am afraid that it is likely you will not be successful in this class. I can help! Drop by my office with a few questions and I'll get you pointed in the right direction.

10. i'm upset because i feel like we didn't learn how to do the majority of this in class.

The questions on the ACA generally represent questions that I expect you to be able to answer after class. If you feel that there are no connections between the questions being asked and what we discussed in lecture this should be a concern. Did you have your notes with you when you attempted the ACA? Had you printed out the lecture notes I'd provided? The PowerPoint? Did you have the DCI we discussed in class and the answers to the DCI which are on the Assignment Page? Did you have the PLE for that lecture and the Expert's Response? You need all of this information available to you when you try the ACA. For ACA#2 you needed to have the DCI we covered in class in front of you. The first two images in Question 1 were exactly what we had covered in class. The third image pushed you further. I did not expect everyone to figure that one out...but I would expect 'A' students to have a reasonable handle on it, or go after using the textbook as a reference to see if there was something similar. Look at Problem 1.2 on page 31 of your textbook. Question 2 is just providing a typical type of question to test you whether you have memorize the information I requested (see Q2 and Q3above on this page). Question 2a asked you to describe what you observed in a chemical reaction. We did this for a number of reactions in class (review the podcast to listen to how I described some of those reactions). Question 2b is a little challenging since we did not get to writing any equations, but again did you look that up in your textbook (I'd given you the page)? The answer to the question was on page 303. ATTENTION!!! I have just held you hand on how to deal with the ACAs, I will not do this everytime....you are now officially in college...you are responsible for what you want to learn in this class. I WILL HELP!! IF YOU ASK!! Otherwise I have no clue what you need, to be successful in this class. I will do some examples of what I want you to learn in lecture, I will use the PLEs, the DCIs and the ACAs to provide examples of questions that you must be able to answer. If you can not get it from what I say in class you have to figure it out for yourself, I can not do that. Also I can not cover lots and lots of problems over the same material, better students will get bored. If you need additional help (which is perfectly normal) that is what the the TA office hours , my office hours, the help sessions and the podcasts are all for...to help. HINT: On exams...some of the questions are identical to questions you have seen before...some questions are NOT. However the questions that are not like the ones I've used before, can be done IF....IF you have LEARNED the material. If you memorize problems and their answers these latter types of problems will be challenging. If you understand the material they will be easy!

11. Still having problems knowing how to answer questions such as 1. a,b,c and similar questions on the Problem Set #1. How to determine by looking at picture if something is a liquid, gas, solid, etc...
It almost feels like the class has already started off above what I know making extremely difficult to understand some of the basic concepts of Chemistry. During class when we worked on the PS #1 I was totally confused and of the 3 people working on it with me, no one had the correct answer...can we or can you suggest some reading or website to help understand these concepts because lecture is not helping and I already feel like running away from this class since I am already "behind"

See my comments to Q10 above. Thursday's class was our first real lecture, so some amount of confusion is perfectly normal. What you are going to do about it is what will determine your success in this class. I expect the average student to spend 8 - 12 hours per week outside of class studying the material. That works out to 2 hours a day, with one day off from CHEMISTRY! How are you doing? Your question on solids, liquids and gases? Check out page 5 of your textbook, Google, Wikipedia, lecture notes, PowerPoint, answers to the DCI, web sites of other semesters of CHEM 1314. Some of this material is new, if you are unable to answer questions, you need to seek out the answers. As I said above I will help, but you have to ask! With regard to the DCIs that we do in class, if the other students in your group are clueless, either try to figure it out together, or find a different group when you come to the next class. I am walking around get your hand up I will try to get to you to faciliate the activity. However, I may not ANSWER your question...I will likely ask more questions. If I just answer your question what have you learned? If I ask you questions, listen to the questions I am asking. Those questions will be the path to enlightenment. Where to go to find the answer? Check out the question above and what I've suggested here. But equally important is finding the answer within yourself...can you take all the information (other examples) and formulate a response to a slightly different question? That is what you have to do if you want an A in this class. I WILL HELP....I WANT EVERYONE TO GET AN A!!!

12. When are we going to get to balancing equations? I love doing that kind of things

Soon, grasshopper, very soon.

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