Elemental Analysis & Instrument Design Laboratory

CHEM 441

ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS & INSTRUMENT DESIGN LABORATORY

Spring 2013

Instructor:Dr. Jason Bennett

Office:31 Hammermill

Phone: 898-6123

Email: (preferred)

Class Meeting Times:T 2:30 – 5:15 pm

Office Hours:M 10:00 – 11:00

W 4:00 – 5:00

Th 11:00 – 12:00 and by appointment

Prerequisites: Successful completion or concurrent enrollment of CHEM 440

Credits: 1.0

Required Materials: Laboratory notebook, safety glasses

Course Description:

The goals of this course are to understand how instruments operate, gain experience with optimizing experimental methods and to report significant and accurate results. Literature work, instrumental and experimental design, and statistical analysis will be emphasized. Students will be expected to maintain a laboratory notebook containing their results, analysis, and conclusions.

The course is comprised of 3 modules. There will be two modules going on simultaneously to try to minimize instrument back up, but you need to be patient when you need to wait for the instructor or for another group to finish up. You will complete the modules in groups of 2 or 3, but with the exception of the sales pitch (see below), you will each write your own report.

Module Description:

Module 1: Atomic & Molecular Spectroscopy (4 weeks)

This module is aimed at understanding the fundamentals of molecular and atomic spectroscopy. The molecular spectroscopic experiment will compare UV/vis absorption and fluorimetry to analyze polyaromatic hydrocarbons in an unknown sample. The Atomic Absorption experiment will consist of determining Cu and Zn content in a penny and understand the influence of a sample matrix. Each experiment will require a separate report.

Module 2: Build an UV/Vis Spectrometer (3 weeks)

This module will give students hands-on experience working with the components of an optical system in order to build their own spectrometer in order to collect an UV/Vis spectrum of a dye molecule.

Module 3: Electronics and Data Acquisition (3-4 weeks)

Students will gain an understanding of basic electronics and data analysis in this module using Arduino. They will be expected to understand the statistical methods used to improve data acquisition and analysis.

Assignments:

There will be an individual formal lab report due for each experiment (4 total). See my format guide, which is designed for you to prepare a concise lab report suitable for publication. Each report is due two weeks after completing a module (by the time I arrive on the 15th day). Since each module is a different length and you will be doing them in different orders, you will all have different due dates. It is your responsibility to hand in your report on time.

In addition to the report for module 2, you and your partners will be responsible for giving a sales brochure for your newly designed spectrometer. This can be done together and will be worth 20 pts. towards that module’s report. While this won’t be judged on creativity, it will be judged on overall completeness and effectiveness.

Please note that there will be a 10-pts/day penalty assessed for late lab reports. Do not take this lightly as this can severally impact your grade in this course. This means reports will not be accepted more than 2 weeks after the due date. Additionally, the absolute last day to hand in reports is Friday April 26th(by the time I arrive that morning) regardless of when you finish the final experiment.

Grading:

Module 1: 44% (22% for each experiment)

Module 2:22%

Module 3: 22%

Lab Assessment:12%

Total:100%

* The lab assessment grade is based on laboratory preparation, attitude, participation, experimental skills, keeping a notebook, and lab cleanliness. You are expected to clean up after yourselves!

Your final grade in the semester will be determined by the overall percent in the course and will follow the standard scale (i.e., 90% = A-). If you have specific questions about this or where you stand, please see me.

Note: To earn a C or better in the course, you must turn in every report

Academic Integrity:

Penn State puts a very high value on integrity, and violations are not tolerated. Any violation of academic integrity will receive academic and possibly disciplinary sanctions, including the possible awarding of an XF grade. All acts of academic dishonesty are recorded so repeat offenders can be sanctioned accordingly. More information on academic integrity can be found at

CHEM 441Syllabus

CHEM 443

ELECTROCHEMISTRY & CHROMATOGRAPHY LABORATORY

Fall 2012

Instructor:Dr. Jason Bennett

Office:31 Hammermill

Phone: 898-6123

Email: (preferred)

Class Meeting Times:T 2:30 – 5:30 pm

Office Hours:M 1:15 – 2:15 pm

W 10:10 – 11:00 am

Th 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Prerequisites: Successful completion of CHEM 440

Credits: 1.0

Required Materials: Laboratory notebook, safety glasses

Course Description:

The goals of this course are to familiarize you with electrochemical and chromatographic methods of analytical analysis. Each experiment will involve modifying various instrumental parameters to observe the effect on your data with the ultimate goal of optimizing your instrumental parameters to meet a particular goal.

The course is comprised of 3 modules divided into 5 overall experiments. There will be multiple experiments going on simultaneously to try to minimize instrument back up, but you need to be patient when you need to wait for the instructor or for another group to finish up. You will complete the modules in groups of two, but you will each write your own report.

There will be an instrument sign-up sheet so that you can work on your experiment when you intend to. This may mean you will need to find some time outside the designated class time to complete an experiment.

Module Description:

Module 1: Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry

Students will gain an understanding of how a GC and MS can be coupled in a practical manner. Various accelerants from ”arson” will be analyzed to determine the cause of the fire.

Module 2: Electrochemistry

This module is aimed at understanding the fundamentals of two prominent electrochemical methods. One experiment will focus on cyclic voltammetry and using it to understand electrochemical reactions and quantify the amount of acetaminophen in Tylenol. The second experiment will involve using potentiometric ion-selective electrodes (K+) to determine ion concentrations and evaluate electrode selectivity.

Module 3: GC and HPLC

This module will give students hands-on experience working with the components of each of these chromatographic systems, including optimizing instrumental settings. Gas chromatography will involve temperature programming and the Van Deemter equation to optimize a particular separation. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) will utilize our new LC-MS system using both UV and MS detection.

Assignments:

There will be a formal lab report due for 4 of the 5 experiments (Cyclic voltammetry, Ion-selective electrochemistry, GC and HPLC). The GC-MS experiment will involve writing a short forensic type report. For the formal reports, see my format guide, which is designed for you to prepare a concise lab report suitable for publication. Each report is due two weeks after completing an experiment (by the time I arrive on the 15th day). Since each module is a different length and you will be doing them in different orders, you will all have different due dates. It is your responsibility to hand in your report on time.

Please note that there will be a 10 pts/day penalty assessed for late lab reports. Do not take this lightly as this can severally impact your grade in this course. This means reports will not be accepted more than 2 weeks after the due date. Additionally, depending on when the last module finishes, the last day to hand in reports is Monday December 10 (by time I arrive on that morning).

Grading:

5 Experiments90% (18% each)

Lab Assessment:10%

Total:100%

* The lab assessment grade is based on laboratory preparation, experimental skills, keeping a notebook, and lab cleanliness. You are expected to clean up after yourselves!

Note: To earn a C or better in the course, you must turn in every report

Academic Integrity:

CHEM 443Fall 2012 Syllabus