Chemistry 6BL:
Introductory Inorganic
Chemistry Lab

Instructor: Ian J. Ball, Ph.D.
Summer Session I, 2006

Last updated:  August 6, 2007.
This version:  1.10

Welcome to the webpage for Chemistry 6BL: Introductory Inorganic Chemistry Lab!

NOTE: Anyone enrolling in Chem 6BL NEEDS TO HAVE COMPLETED CHEM 6B in order to enroll! (In other words, you can no longer take this course concurerently with Chem 6B; you can however take this concurrently with Chem 6C. Please see the instructor if you have questions about this...)

Spring & Summer 2007 students, go here.

The best times to get a hold of me are during office hours - see the Syllabus (this is the Summer 2007 version)!

E-mailing me: If you wish to E-mail me about this course, please put "6BL" and your Section # (e.g. "A02") somewhere in the Subject Title. Also, you are strongly advised to E-mail me from a UCSD E-mail account only, especially on weekends!

Regrade Office Hours: Note the Regrade Policy (note: this is the Spring 2007 version of the Regrade Policy - I'll probably be a little more informal about this during Summer Session) - still, read this before coming to a Regrade Office Hours!

End-of-Session Announcements:

08/06/07 - Everything has now been scored, and the course grades are in and submitted to the Registrar. Final Exam scores and Course Grades are available from here (you need the Chem 6BL Username & Password, and then your own last name & ID#! - Note: When you input your ID# now to access your scores, use A - e.g. "A03400100", not "103400100").
Note that all lab report scores for every section were normalized, and this affected final grading tabulations. The graders were relatively "easy" during Summer Session, so the A/B cut-off was 87.5%, while the B/C cut-off was 80%. (A histogram of the final course scores are shown here for interest's sake (covers roughly 600-1000 points)...)

The Final Exam average was 72.4/100 (s = 22.4); the high scores were 100/100 (× a bunch!). (Note: The Final Exams were graded out of 30 points, and then factored to 100 points.)
If you want to arrange to either view your Final Exam, or to discuss other grading issues, you will have to make an appointment with the next instructor of Chem 6BL - do NOT contact me!

Unclaimed Lab Reports: There are no unclaimed lab reports from Summer 2007 in my possession - presumably, that means that everyone got all of their labs back from their TAs. (Yay!)

Previous Announcements:

08/01/07 - The Keys to Prelab/Postlab for Experiments #5 & #6 have been uploaded.

FINAL EXAM: The time & place of the 6BL Final Exam has been confirmed: Thursday, August 2, 11am-12:30pm in CENTER 105...

07/30/07 - The Mid-Term #2 scores are available from here (you need the Chem 6BL Username & Password, and then your own last name & ID#! - Note: When you input your ID# to access your scores, use "A" - e.g. "A03400100", not "103400100").

The Mid-Term average was 30.0/50 (s = 9.35); the high scores were 50/50 (×2 - Congrats!), 47/50 (×2) and 45/50 (×2).

The Keys to Mid-Term #2 have also been uploaded.

07/27/07 - The Keys to Prelab/Postlab for Experiments #4b & #4c have been uploaded.
(Note that the Answer Keys to the Prelab/Postlab for Experiments #5 & #6 won't be made available before Mid-Term #2...)

07/24/07 - Mid-Term #2 will be given during your regularly scheduled lecture period on Mon., 07/30.
Sample Mid-Term #2 has been uploaded.

The Keys to Prelab/Postlab for Experiments #3 & #4a have been uploaded.

07/18/07 - The "full paper" Lab Report for Experiments #4a-c will due on Thursday, July 26...

08/01/07 (updated!) - The (updated!) Mid-Term #1 scores are available from here (you need the Chem 6BL Username & Password, and then your own last name & ID#! - Note: When you input your ID# to access your scores, use "A" - e.g. "A03400100", not "103400100").

The (updated!) Mid-Term average was 29.8/50 (s = 9.9); the high scores were 50/50 (×1 - Congrats!), 47/50 (×3) and 45/50 (×1).

The Keys to Mid-Term #1 have also been uploaded. (Note: These Keys are the same as before, as the online Keys were always correct...)

07/17/07 - The Key to Prelab/Postlab for Experiment #2 has been uploaded.
(Note that the Answer Keys to the Prelab/Postlab for Experiments #3 & #4a won't be made available before Mid-Term #1...)

Note that I have an "MS Excel Graphing Hints" webpage at this for those trying to use MS Excel to generate graphs - this page will be especially helpful for those of you having trouble with the Experiment #3 Temp. vs. Time Plots, and Experiment #3, Prelab Question #6 (and also the required graphs for the Lab Report for Experiment #3).

07/12/07 - The Key to Prelab/Postlab for Experiment #1 has been uploaded.

Mid-Term #1 will be given during your regularly scheduled lecture period on Wed., 07/18.
Sample Mid-Term #1 has been uploaded.

07/05/07 - Safety: The Safety Exam scores are available from here - you need the Chem 6BL Username & Password, and then your own last name & ID#! (Note: When you input your ID# to access your scores, use "A" - e.g. "A03400100", not "103400100"!). The scores are shown as being out of 25.

Passing was 75% (19/25, or better); not passing was 18/25 or worse.
(Note: Student exam responses will be posted in the window (nearest the elevator) of York 4124 by Sheila Kennedy....)

Beginning-of-Session Announcements:

06/30/06 - The Syllabus for Chem 6BL for Summer Session I 2007 is now up - note that a paper version of the syllabus this will also be handed out in lecture on Monday, July 2.

Safety: A Safety Exam will be given, in lab, on Thursday, July 5.
Questions about the Safety component of this course (e.g. the Safety Exam) may be answered here. Note that you are responsible for attending to the Safety aspects of this course, including checking your Safety Exam score over the weekend of July 6-8!
(This instructor will not be responsible for people who do not pass the Safety Exam, and then miss the make-up Safety Exam!)

Lecture Notes: .pdf (i.e. for note taking) & .html versions of Lectures #0-6 are online (including the "summer" version of Lecture #0). I strongly advise that you download and read them before lecture, and ask me if you have questions about them!

Lab Equipment, etc.: Chem 6BL Lab Manuals for Summer 2007 (and you will need a new Lab Manual for this Summer Session), lab notebooks (with carbons) and a full-length lab coat & safety googles for eye protection should be available in the UCSD Bookstore (2nd floor, I believe).

NOTE: YOU ARE ADVISED TO GET GOGGLES FOR THE FIRST DAY OF LAB (i.e. the 'Check-in' day)!

It's the start of the Quarter, and I do get a lot of questions about the proper format for Lab Reports and Pre-Labs, etc. Before E-mailing me, check out the Lab Reports Guide webpage, the Experiments page, and the 6BL Course FAQ.
Lab Reports: Check out the Experiment #3 Lab Report Guide (I've chosen Experiment #3 because it is probably the longest Lab Report, aside from the Experiment #4a-c "full paper") and the .pdf of the Experiment #6 handout (minus the Prelab coverpage). These should help those of you who are trying to figure out exactly what should go into a Lab Report (esp. the Introduction, etc.). I'm only including a guide this detailed (e.g. with point breakdowns) for Exp't #3, but the general Lab Reports Guide page should be of more general help, as will the Experiments page.

General Announcements:

Scores for Exams, including the Safety Exam, will be available here (later!) - but you need the Chem 6BL Username & Password (and then your own last name & ID#!) to access them.

Lab Reports: Check out the Experiment #3 Lab Report Guide (I've chosen Experiment #3 because it is probably the longest Lab Report, aside from the Experiment #4a-c "full paper") and the .pdf of the Experiment #6 handout (minus the Prelab coverpage). These should help those of you who are trying to figure out exactly what should go into a Lab Report (esp. the Introduction, etc.). (See also the Experiment #4a-c Lab Report Guide for help in writing the full "paper" report for Exp't #4a-c...) I'm only including a guide this detailed (e.g. with point breakdowns) for Exp't #3, but the general Lab Reports Guide page should be of more general help, as will the Experiments page.

Lab Equipment, etc.: Chem 6BL Lab Manuals (and you will need a new Lab Manual for this Spring Quarter), lab notebooks (with carbons) and a full-length lab coat & safety googles for eye protection are available in the UCSD Bookstore (2nd floor, I believe).

Announcements for Old Chem 6BL Students: