Assignments

Assignments

Assignment 3 (5%) due in by 9.30 am Tuesday 16th March

Download a copy of the answered assignment (). Note that these are not "model" answers, just a rough guide. More depth was expected for full marks.

Assignment 2 (5%) due in by 9.30 am Tuesday 24th February

Download a copy of the answered assignment (). Note that these are not "model" answers, just a rough guide. More depth was expected for full marks.

Assignment 1 (5%) due in by 9 am Monday 26th January

Your first assignment is an electronic one, which you will submit by email.

TO: mcindoe@uvic.ca
SUBJECT: Uses of {YOUR ELEMENT}

You have been assigned at random one of the elements we are studying in 424/525. Go to http://www.webelements.com/ and find out about some of the uses of your element. Select one or more, and find out more using the wider internet. Try and focus on what it is about the chemical and physical properties of your element that makes it particularly suitable for the application(s) you describe. You may include figures, but be sure to reference them. At the end of your email, list the full URLs of the pages you used to compile your assignment. I will be checking these.

Class Presentations

These are expected of 424 students only (i.e. just the undergraduates). All presentations will be held in class, and will be for five minutes plus a brief discussion time. You will be expected to choose a recent article in the popular science press (e.g. C&EN, New Scientist, Scientific American) about one of the heavy metals studied in this course and explain the chemistry behind the story. A one-page summary sheet should be prepared in advance to hand out to all members of the class.

Example plan of attack:
Go to C&EN
Search for “zirconium"
Select “The latest fix for nitrogen"

Email me with suggestion(s) for possible articles. I will select the one I think to be most appropriate. At this stage, you should go and track down the original article that C&EN is citing [in this case, it was Nature, 427, 527 (2004)]. Follow the literature as far as you need to get a full understanding of the material covered; use textbooks to ensure you have the basics covered. Write a one page summary of the article; this will be handed in to me in advance of the day of your talk. This summary should complement the material you plan to present in class; a dim view will be taken of those who just regurgitate their summary in their presentation. A second page can be used to list your references. The presentation will be 5 minutes long (followed by questions) and held in mid-March, dates to be confirmed. The presentation is worth 10% of your final grade, and both summary sheet and presentation itself will be graded.

Term Papers

These are expected of 525 students only (i.e. just the graduates). The term paper can be on any topic related to heavy transition metal, lanthanide or actinide chemistry subject to approval of the instructor. The paper should present a survey of the topic with appropriate background and provide a thorough discussion of current research trends in this area. The paper should be 20-25 pages double-spaced in length and include figures and appropriate literature references. All papers must be typewritten.

Graduates should come and discuss possible term paper topics with me early in the spring term.