Welcome

Welcome to General Chemistry Lab!  This is a brand new manual designed especially for the CHM1020L course.  When designing this manual, we tried to focus on three key concepts: 1) the labs should challenge the student to think independently about chemistry both in the lab setting and in the world environment, 2) the labs should support and expand upon the material that is being covered in the classroom, and 3) the labs should build the student’s skills in basic chemistry techniques.

Whenever possible these labs have been designed to incorporate real life chemistry in areas of industry, the environment and medicine. Because this is a liberal studies course we want to show you as many of the “cool” aspects of chemistry as possible. So we have tried to design labs that are fun to do as well as educational. We hope that you will enjoy them enough that you might even consider joining us. There is always room in the world for more chemists.

Since this is a new lab manual there are bound to be typos and language that doesn’t come across the way we intended. Please let us know of any errors you find or any suggestions you may have regarding future editions of this manual. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Well, good luck with your semester and I look forward to seeing you in lab.

Stephanie R. Dillon, PhD
Coordinator of General Chemistry Laboratories
The Florida State University