First Year Student Registration

GENERAL CHEMISTRY PLACEMENT EXAMINATION

If you plan to take a chemistry course higher than Chemistry 102 at Lafayette, you must take the General Chemistry Placement Examination.  Depending on your background in chemistry and your score on the placement exam you will be advised to take either General Chemistry I (Chemistry 121), General Chemistry II (Chemistry 122) or a higher level chemistry course.

Preparing to Take the Chemistry Placement Examination

You will need your NetworkID and Password. These access codes were sent to your home in the Tech Orientation CD in mid-May. The placement examination is an online test prepared by the Chemistry Department and can be located by going to the Lafayette Moodle site.

Once you are logged in, you will see a block on the left of the screen labeled "My Courses." This contains three sites you currently have access to: Chemistry Placement Test, Math Placement, and Class of 2012; click the "Chemistry Placement Test" link. 

Take the Chemistry Survey

You must complete a short survey that will then direct you to the placement exam you should take prior to selecting the proper level chemistry course.  Immediately after completing the placement test, you will receive a score for your examination.  You will be contacted by a member of the Chemistry faculty within two (2) business days with the recommendation of the appropriate chemistry course for you.
 

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What is Chemistry 102? Chemistry 102 is a course for non-science majors that will fulfill one of the required two laboratory science courses.  It does not count as the required chemistry course for any science or engineering majors or students interested in health professions.

• Who should take the examination? Anyone planning on taking General Chemistry I (Chemistry 121) or any higher chemistry courses. 

• How do Lafayette’s General Chemistry I and II courses compare with the course I took in high school?  Generally, college-level chemistry courses are taught at a faster pace than are high school courses and have more extensive laboratory experiences.  You can find a list of the topics covered in General Chemistry I and II (Chemistry 122 and 122) at the bottom of this page.

• Can I earn credit for General Chemistry I (Chemistry 121) by performing well on this exam? No.  However, if you are offered the option of taking General Chemistry II (Chemistry 122) without taking General Chemistry I (Chemistry 121) and if you receive a satisfactory grade in General Chemistry II (Chemistry 122), you will then earn credit for General Chemistry I (Chemistry 121). 

• Suppose I do well on the examination but still want to take General Chemistry I.  Can I do that? Yes.  The examination is for advising purposes only.

• I took an Advanced Placement (AP) or higher-level International Baccalaureate (IB) Chemistry course and an AP or IB examination in Chemistry, but I do not yet know my score.  Should I take this placement exam? Yes.  

• What if I do well on my AP or IB Chemistry Exam? If you earn a 4 or 5 on your AP Chemistry examination or score greater than 5 on your IB examination, you are eligible to earn credit for both Chemistry 121 and 122 at Lafayette regardless of the outcome of this placement examination.  However, some students choose to enroll in General Chemistry, rather than making the large step of enrolling in a more advanced chemistry course.  If that is your inclination, we strongly encourage you to consider accepting AP credit for Chemistry 121, and to enroll in Chemistry 122 in the fall.  This option is especially recommended for students with limited laboratory experience.

• Do I need to review for this exam? We do not expect you to have studied for this exam.  The emphasis is on measuring your understanding of fundamental concepts rather than your memory of particular facts. 

• Will I need my calculator for the exam? Yes.

If you have questions, please contact Dr. Chip Nataro, Dr. Yvonne Gindt or Dr. William Miles.

List of General Chemistry Topics
Chemistry 121:  General Chemistry I

• Significant figures and their relationships to accuracy and precision
• Composition of the atom
• Naming of both molecular and ionic compounds
• Stoichiometry converting between mass / moles / molecules
• Balancing reactions / net ionic reactions
• Predicting products of precipitation, acid-base, and redox reactions
• Identifying limiting and excess reagents
• Calculating percent yields
• Making predictions using the ideal gas law
• Introduction to the Kinetic-Molecular theory of gases
• Calculating DH for chemical reactions and phase changes
• Calorimetry
• Atomic structure including the Bohr Model and Quantum Mechanical Model of the atom
• Predicting an electronic configuration using the Aufbau Principle
• Predict periodic trends in size, electronegativity, ionization energy
• Covalent vs ionic bonds
• Lewis Structures of molecules
• Resonance Structures
• VSEPR Model to predict 3-D structure of a molecule
• Intermolecular forces
• Phase diagrams
• Molarity

Chemistry 122:  General Chemistry II

• Calculating molarities, molalities, ppm, ppt, % mass
• Colligative properties
• Chemical kinetics
• Chemical Equilibrium
• Le Chatelier’s Principle
• Acid – Base Chemistry including monoprotic and polyprotic systems
• Complex Ion and Ksp  reactions
• Common ion effects
• Introduction to Thermodynamics
• Gibbs Free Energy Calculations
• Electrochemistry