College of Saint Mary, Fall 2008
Foundations of Chemistry, CHM-100
Instructor: Dr. Peter Ilich Your name: ___________________________
Project # 1: Write and submit a document on one of the following topics:
(a) Fossil Fuels – What do we burn in our furnaces and our car engines?
(b) Octane Number – Is the number 87 at a gas pump better or worse than 91?
(c) Polyethylene and other polymers – The Saran® wrap, the sandwich bag, the PVC tubing in my house.
(d) Haloalkanes – PEP (Persistent Environmental Pollutants) we should know about, e.g. chlordane, DDT.
(d) Biofuels – What are they?
How much to write?
About ¾ to one a a half page; single to 1.5 spaced typed.
WHAT to write and HOW to write?
First, make sure to DEFINE or CLEARLY DESCRIBE the major topic of the report. For example, if the report is about unsaturated cyclic alcohols then state clearly what is an alcohol and also what is an unsaturated cyclic compound. Keep in mind the rule: a 14-year old should be able to read your report and get at least a general idea what the report is about. So -- write your report for a reader with little or scientific knowledge or training. (Another way -- that looks derogatory but should be taken in a jocular sense -- of saying this is: "Use the KISS principle!". What's "KISS"? Keep It Simple, Stupid.)
Use a format of a technical report; emphasize the quantitative information, the formula, and the number rather than trying to make a lot of artistic metaphors. DEFINITELY include structural formulas of the major (not ALL!) compounds you are writing about; draw them by hand, paste them from Internet (e.g. Google Image) or ask the instructor to help you.
After providing basic description it is a good practice to cite the importance and use (both technical, chemical as well as societal, e.g. therapeutic drugs, or food additives) of the compounds you are writing about. Also the report will look more complete if you identify and briefly state the positive as well as negative (if there are such) sides of the title compounds, for example, "... fossil fuels are excellent energy source and have significantly contributed to the technological progress and overall development .... yet they are also the source of pollution and suspected agents of climate change...".
ALWAYS state the basic information:
The college, the semester & year, the course title, the instructor's name, the project title and -- your name & date.
Cite the source of each important statement or data; for example, if you write "... the global use of oil fuels in 2006 was 3.9 billion tons ..." then you MUST cite the source of this information.
Closing comment: The PURPOSE of this project is that you LEARN SOMETHING NEW, something about the presence, importance and uses of alkanes, alkenes, benzenes and other CnHm compounds and their derivatives in the world today., rather than to present your teacher a page of numbers, formulas, data and statements. Also, LEARN to create a readable, succinct technical report of a lasting value.