CH 222 Chapter Guides

Chapter Guide Six: Overview | Resources | Practice

  Overview of Chapter Guide Six

This module has two portions. The first portion (Chapter Twelve) introduces the concepts of kinetics, or how fast reactions will take to finish. The second portion (Chapter 21) extends the concepts of Chapter 12 to radioactivity - unstable nuclei that can be used as a benefit or a detriment to humanity

Chapter 12 explains the concepts of kinetics, the study of "how long" a reaction will take or "how much" of a reactant is needed. Reactions occur at different "speeds", and these can be broken into zero order, first order and second order reactions. All of the orders have their own definition of half-life, the time required for half of a reactant to disappear. Most of what we will study in Chapter 12 and Chapter 21 will utilize first order kinetics, so pay special attention to these behaviors. We will also explore the powerful information contained within a reaction mechanism, the atomic level understanding as to how a reactant is transformed into a product.

For a complete list of important concepts in Chapter 12, see the Chapter 12 Study Guide.

Chapter 21 furthers the work explored in Chapter 12 in the special field of radioactivity, the chemistry of the nucleus. Radioactivity can be used for both beneficial and detrimental purposes, and we explore the science behind the phenomenon in this chapter. We will use exclusively first order kinetics to understand the breakdown of nuclei. We will look at fusion, fission, balancing radioactive equations, and much more.

For a complete list of important concepts in Chapter 21, see the Chapter 21 Study Guide.

  Resources for Chapter Guide Six

For this module, you should read Chapter 12 and Chapter 21 in your textbook.

The following screencasts might prove useful to you as you study this chapter.

The Chapter Twelve lecture notes and Chapter Twenty-one lecture notes which accompany this lesson will be helpful to you when going through this section. These are Web versions of the lecture notes I use in my "normal" CH 222 class and should let you see what is important to me in this chapter. You can also view the Lecture Notes in presentation software for Chapter 12 (Keynote, PowerPoint) and Chapter 21 (Keynote, PowerPoint).

A variety of handouts are available from Chapter 12 and Chapter 21. Feel free to explore all of them or just the ones which give you difficulty.

Once you have mastered the concepts listed above, check out the Chapter Twelve Concept Guide and the Chapter Twenty-one Concept Guide for a series of worked problems relating to this module. They will help you to ensure the mastery of the knowledge from this section.

Finally, test yourself (and get extra-credit in the bargain!) on the following chemistry concepts. If you get 9 out of 10 correct (or some multiple thereof), submit the information to me to receive extra credit.

  1. Kinetics
  2. Using the Rate Law
  3. Mechanisms and Rate Laws
  4. Mechanisms and Rate Laws - Advanced
  5. First Order Processes
  6. The Arrhenius Equation
  7. Balancing Nuclear Reactions

  Practice the Concepts of Chapter Guide Six

Please complete problem set #6 to further explore kinetics and radioactivity. Problem set #6 covers several questions from Chapter 12 and Chapter 21 and it can be found here. We will discuss problems like these during recitation, so come prepared to ask and answer questions.

For additional practice, try completing practice problem set #6 (with answers included at the end) and/or the non-assigned problems in Chapter 12 and Chapter 21. Answers to many of those problems are listed in the back of your textbook.

If you need assistance on these problems, you have several options. You can visit the AVID / Learning Success Center located above the MHCC library on the Mt. Hood Community College campus; they have tutors available to help you with your chemistry homework. You can also contact me if you have any questions.

Test your mastery of the subject matter by trying the self quiz for Chapter 12 and the self quiz for Chapter 21. These are ungraded tests that you can use to gauge your comfort level with these concepts. This sample Quiz #6 (answers) (which was given during a previous year's CH 222 class) will help you understand the kind of questions that will be asked on the quiz.

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