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Environmental
Lab Syllabus
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for Lab
Manual
INSTRUCTOR: Professor Teresa J. Bandosz
office : J-1316;  Telephone: (212) 650-6017;
 E-mail: tbandosz@scisun.sci.ccny.cuny.edu
Blackboard site: http://online.cuny.edu:8001
CONSULTING HOURS: Tuesday, and Thursday: 11-12 or by
appointment.
TIME: 4 hours/ 2 credit hours: Tuesday 5:00-
8:40 PM
PREREQUISITES:
Environmental chemistry, CHEM A1100
GENERAL OBJECTIVE: Environmental Chemistry is
intended to broaden the students understanding of chemical processes taking
place in our environment. The relationship between atmospheric, soil and water
chemistry will be underlined. This course draws upon general, analytical and
organic chemistry experience.
HOME ASSIGNMENT:
Before each lab read carefully the experiment description and refer to the
chapter in the text book (Manahan, Environmental Chemistry) describing the
particular chemistry content objectives.
QUIZZES: Before each
laboratory starts the students will be asked to find an answer for one question
or solve the problem (15 minute quiz) dealing with the experiment which they are
about to do. The grading from quizzes will consist of 10 % of the total
laboratory grade.
Student are required to start their laboratory
experiments on time
ATTENDANCE:
You are required to come to the
lab on time. Attention: their will be a lateness penalty (10 points out of 100)
of you show up later than 5:15 p.m. Moreover, if you are late you will not get
your quiz points (10%). If you do not show up at all, your grade will be zero
PERFORMANCE:
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Always prepare for the
lab, so you can do the experiment efficiently. |
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Handle the equipment and
chemical with care. Attention: safety glasses
must be worn while working with chemicals - you will not be allowed to
work if you do not bring them. |
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Keep your workplace
clean |
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Record the measurements,
calculations and results in a bind book. |
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Before you leave the
lab, the instructor should see your results and sign there (you may
have to show the original results to the instructor later, so do not
lose your notebook). At that time ask any questions you have about
carrying out the calculations, doing the report, etc. |
REPORT:
The lab report should be typed or
hand written legibly on white 8.5 x 11 format paper and handed in to the
instructor on week after the experiment. Late reports will not be accepted.
The report should include:
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Theoretical part (do not
write too much-it should not take more than one page) |
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Experimental procedure |
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Data analysis: detailed
calculations using significant figures and correct units. If there are
any graphs, they should also be included in this section. The graph
should be done using computer programs. If computer is not available,
graphs can be done on an accurate graph paper. In both cases linear
regression analysis is to be used to analyze data if linear dependence
is expected. |
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Discussion: discuss your
results and analyze sources of errors that might have occurred during
your experiment. Explain how these errors could have been avoided. |
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Answer to questions if
there were any. |
GRADING:
The lab grade carries 30% of the
final score. Each experiment is graded on the scale from 0 to 100 points.
| Quiz 10% |
| Performance in the class 10% |
| Form of the lab report 10% |
| Results and Calculations 50% |
| Discussions 20% |
To arrange a make up of the lab a note from a
doctor, etc. HAS TO be shown.
SUGGESTED
TECHNIQUES:
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Before
filling a pipette or burette always rinse it with small portions of
solution. |
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In reading
meters and burettes, be careful to avoid parallax. |
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Always read
your burette to the second decimal. |
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Never weight
either a hot or a cold sample |
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never put a
pipette into a bottle of stock reagents. You can contaminate the solution
and ruin every determination made with it. Instead, pour some of the
solution into a dry beaker and pipette from the beaker. Discard the
residue |
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Use
graduated cylinder only for measuring approximate volumes |
SCHEDULE
OF LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS
AND
CHEMISTRY CONTENT OBJECTIVES
Experiment
# TOPIC and chemistry content objectives
1. Nitric dioxide in Urban Air: Its origin,
concentration and fate (one week)
| to learn an experimental method of
detecting NO2 in air |
| To apply Beer's Law and spectrophotometry
in environmental analysis. |
| To determine correlation between NO2
concentration in air and sources of environmental pollution |
2 & 3. Lead in Soil (two weeks)
| To learn an experimental method of
detecting lead in soil. |
| To apply Beer's Law and
spectrophotometry in environmental analysis. |
| To determine correlation between lead
level in soil and sources of environmental lead pollution |
4 & 5. PCBs in Hudson River sediments;
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To investigate the
sources of the Hudson River pollution |
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TO apply gas
chromatography with ECD detector |
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To determine the content
of PCBs in river sediments. |
6. Lean in shells of living organisms (one
wek)
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To investigate the
sources on natural water pollution. |
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To apply polarography to
determine trace amounts of pollutants. |
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To determine the content
of lead in shells of living organisms. |
7. Sulfur in coal (one
week)
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The content of sulfur in
coal |
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Environmental effects of
the presence of sulfur in fossil fuels |
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Chemical principles of
complexometric titration |
7. Sulfur in coal (one
week)
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The content of sulfur in
coal |
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Environmental effects of
the presence of sulfur in fossil fuels |
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Chemical principles of
complexometric titration |
8 & 9. Pesticides in
fruits and vegetables (two weeks)
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To investigate the
content of pesticides in fruits and vegetables |
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To compare organic food
and regularly grown from the point of view of pesticides content. |
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To apply gas
chromatography with ECD detector. |
10. Sources of odor from
the Hudson River. determination of hydrogen sulfide concentration (one week)
| To investigate the
sources of river water odors. |
| To apply Beer's Law
and spectrophotometry in environmental analysis. |
| To determine
correlation between the Hudson River odor and the hydrogen en
sulfide concentration. |
11. Nitrates in soil (one
week)
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To investigate the
natural characteristics of soils. |
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To apply the
potentiometric and spectroscopic methods in environmental analysis. |
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To determine the content
of nitrates in NYC soils. |
12. The Hudson River water:
Basic characteristics of natural water (one week)
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To apply the titration
(acid/bas), potentiometric and electrochemical methods in
environmental analysis. |
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To determine the basic
characteristics of natural waters. |
13. Determination of Henry's Law
constants for volatile organic compounds.
14. Sorption of anilines, phenols,
and carboxylic acids on activated carbons.
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created
by TJB. last
updated: May 29, 2002 updated
by Thiri
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