Rules of the Day
Click here for a copy of the handouts used in today's lecture
Golden Rules for Today: 1. In most stable molecules, all the atoms will have filled valence shells. 4. The most important question in organic chemistry is "Where are the electrons?"
1. Organic Chemistry is the study of carbon atom-containing molecules, how they intereact, and how to modify them in predictable ways. We will explain how molecules allow us to be alive, how medicines work, and how to make and break chemical bonds, the most important technology ever invented by the human race.
2. "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler" ........Albert Einstein
3. "The only real valuable thing is intuition"...........Albert Einstein
4. "Understanding Where Electrons Are and knowing how to apply the Golden Rules of Chemistry will make Organic Chemistry class as simple as possible, and will give you Organic Chemistry intuition"............Fortune Cookie Saying5. It is not an official Zen saying as far as I know, but it should be: "The most important thing is finding the most important thing".
6. The most important question in chemistry is "Where are the electrons?" because understaning that helps you predict chemical reactions. ...........The Dude
Understand and learn. Do not only memorize!
7. We are going to teach you how to think at an entirely different level.
8. The Eleven Golden Rules of Organic Chemistry explain most of what we will learn about organic chemistry.
9. You MUST become very good at drawing Lewis line structures in which a line represents a ‘bonding’ pair of electrons and lone pairs are shown as dots. Page 13 of the textbook is a great place to start. Golden Rule of Chemistry 1 is also helpful: 1. In most stable molecules, all the atoms will have filled valence shells.10. For the calculation of formal charge, half of the bonding electrons are assigned to each bonded atom, while lone pair electrons are assigned fully to the associated atom. Formal charge is the difference in the number of valence electrons counted as above compared to the number of valence electrons in the neutral unbonded state of a given atom type.
11. According to Linus Pauling More electronegative atoms attract the majority of electron density in a bond,thereby answering the most important question in chemistry.
12. Assigning formal charge is not theory, it is a method of counting the total number of protons vs. electrons around a given atom so we can quickly identify molecules with an overall charge. Formal charge does not necessarily tell you where electron density really is in a molecule, as it assumes electrons are shared evenly between two atoms taking part in a covalent bond.
13. Use the "Stepwise Lewis Structure Guide" when practicing drawing Lewis structures from chemical formulas.
14. More electronegative atoms attract the majority of electron density in a bond, thereby answering the most important question in chemistry.
15. Electronegativity is based upon charge attraction between protons in the nucleus (+) and elelctrons (-) so it increases with increasing nuclear charge (left to right on periodic table) but decreases with increased overall number of electrons around the nucleus (top to bottom on periodic table). Therefore, the most electronegative elements are in the top right corner of the periodic table, the least electronegative elements are on the bottom left corner.
HOMEWORK:
Read: Sections 1.1 to 1.5 in the ebook textbook. This text is part of the Longhorn Textbook access program.
Take the Daily Quiz 1 before 10 PM tomorrow. Click here to access the quiz. These quizzes are designed to review the important material from today's lecture. Together, they will count as 5% of your final grade.
Turn in the Extra Credit Homework before class (1 PM) on Monday August 29. Click here to access the Extra Credit Homework.This is designed to teach you how to use the Aktiv Learning electronic homework system along with Gradescope. Everyone who turns something in will get full credit. Click here to access to the Aktiv Learning electronic homework system. Click here for directions on how to use Gradescope.
Begin working on the Homework Problem Set 1, due at 10 PM on Thursday, September 1. Click here to access the Homework Problem Set 1. Note there are Aktiv Learning and Gradescope Questions, and you MUST DO BOTH. Collective, homeworks count for 15% of your final course grade. The Aktiv Learning homework provides multiple attempts and provides feedback. It is intended to help you prepare for the Gradescope Questions, so we recommend you do the Aktiv Learning questions first.
These quizzes and homeworks are designed to keep you up to date with the course material and prepare you for the format of the exams. Taken together, your cumulative daily quiz and homework score will count for 20% of your final grade.