Monday, August 25, 2014

CHEM 312 Fall 2014: Lecture 1 Introduction and Chart of the Nuclides

The class outcomes, expectations, and grading are explained. A history of radioelement discovery and radiation research is presented. The Chart of the Nuclides and Table of the Isotopes are discussed and used. Atomic properties, nuclear nomenclature, X-rays, types of decays and physical forces are introduced.

40 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your lecture! I've never taken an online class before, but it really doesn't seem to be much different than listening and taking notes in a classroom.

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    1. thanks Sam. I will try to keep it interesting. thanks for this and future feedback

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  2. So I just submitted quiz 1, and so far I feel like I'm still with the material.

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    1. hello Alex

      Please resubmit your quiz. I did not receive it.

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  3. I submitted quiz 1 as an attachment to an email. Using the submit button in the program was not working.

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  4. Hello,
    I am a bit nervous since this is my first online class, but I look forward to adapting to a new style of learning. I enjoyed the brief historical facts about radiochemistry. I am excited to get deeper into this subject.
    Thank you,
    Mihaela

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  5. After listening to lecture 1 I feel like I'm learning how to swim and I just got thrown in the deep end. I plan to learn through the semester even if it means I have to doggy paddle.

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    1. I hope the ability to review material will help you find a suitable pace. Please contact me with comments or questions anytime.

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  6. Hi! I listened to the lecture and it is just as if it was a classroom lecture, the sound and speed is good. I just submitted my quizz 1

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  7. I just listened to the lecture and did the PDF quiz. It all went smoothly!

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    1. thanks Julie. It hope all the other lectures are easy to follow.

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  8. Enjoyed lecture one especially the history and contribution of many scientists to this field. i also submitted quiz one.

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  9. Hi Dr. Czerwinski. I have just finished lecture one, and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of this subject and how it developed over time. I was a little lost in part two, however, as I was mostly unfamiliar with the content. I hope I continue to get better as the course progresses. Overall, the lecture was easy to follow and had excellent sound quality. I have also submitted Quiz one.

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    1. the lectures can be supplemented with the reading material and the posted links. If you have questions for me please let me know.

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    2. Thanks. Also for Question 3 of the quiz, two isomeric states with 2 radioactive half lives for Rf261 were provided in the Chart of Nuclides book. I went ahead and calculated the decay constant for the one that had a half-life of 1.3 m. Did you want us to calculate both?

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  10. I listened to Lecture 1 and submitted the corresponding PDF quiz. I have a question about interpreting the information on the Chart of Nuclides.

    Question 3 asks about the decay constant of Rf-261. I checked the Chart of Nuclides and noticed that Rf-261 has two isomeric states, both of which are radioactive. Since we were asked for the decay constant of Rf-261, rather than Rf-261m, I figured that we should be interested in the half-life of the ground-state isomer. The Chart of Nuclides listed this value as 4.2 s. However, I also checked the Table of Isotopes listed as link 6 on Lecture 1, and it stated that the half-life of Rf-261 is 65 s. Obviously, these two values yielded fairly different decay constants, and I'm not quite sure why there is a discrepancy. Can someone help clarify this?

    Also, in regards to submitting PDF quizzes and other assignments, if we notice that we've made a mistake after submitting the quiz once, can we fix the error and resubmit? Or are we limited to a single attempt? Thanks!

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    1. Naomi

      Excellent questions. You are correct on the isotope. If I wanted the metastable state I would have requested the decay constant for 261mRf.

      You also found different data. That will occur. Just choose one. In the blog you can state there is different data in the literature. You can state the one you choose.

      Feel free to resubmit PDF quizzes at any time. The input time is recorded.

      thanks for your comments.

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    2. Thank you for asking this question, as this was my dilemma exactly. I am glad to know that details and specificity will be noted in questions to avoid confusion in the future. :)

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  11. Hello Dr. Czerwinski,
    I finished listening to lecture 1 and submitted Quiz 1. The MOV format of the second part of the lecture was very helpful when you were explaining the Chart of the Nuclides and the Table of the Isotopes.

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    1. thanks Trisha. Did you view this on an apple device since you used the MOV format.

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  12. Dr. Czerwinski,

    The lectures were enjoyable and I have submitted Quiz 1. With the first lecture being extremely enjoyable I cannot wait for what the rest of the semester unfolds. This is the first class that I have had lectures online like this and I do say it is the best way you can teach an online class.

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    1. thanks for the comments Ryan. I hope the format is useful for the entire semester.

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  13. Dr. Czerwinski,
    I have finished the lectures and submitted Quiz 1. Thank you for including how to navigate and read the Chart of Nuclides in the lectures, it was very helpful.

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    1. thanks for your comments. If you can use the chart of the nuclides then I will consider the class a success!

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  14. I really enjoyed this lecture, especially the history of radiation research. I think the discoveries of selected radionuclides may have been better to present after some of the basic radiochemistry ideas such as radioactive decay, as I found those topics a little hard to follow having no prior knowledge of radiochemistry or radioactivity. This was a great lecture overall, though.

    Also if anybody is interested, Salman Khan has a few videos on Radioactive decay on Khan Academy. The material presented is the same as this lecture and is actually not as comprehensive, but he approaches it from a different angle that some might find helpful.

    https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/radioactive-decay

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    1. thanks for the khan academy link, I will put it on the website.. I actually wanted to put this course online since I could not find a radiochemistry course.

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  15. The following have responded to Quiz 1. Please respond if you are not on this list. Quiz 1 answers will be posted Tuesday 2 September

    Last Name First Name
    Aleshire Kyle
    Banaga Rosa
    Miller Samantha
    Okada Naomi
    Palma Derrick
    Tyler Williams
    Zegarac Marko
    Campo Trisha
    Doan David
    Dotson Julie
    Eister K. "Alan"
    Escobedo Daniel
    Fitsum Kebede
    Hicks Ryan
    Kutsch Kevin

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  16. Hello,
    I was finally able to submit the quizzes! I am sorry for the delay!
    I am amazed by the complexity and usefulness of the Table of the Nuclides! I am looking forward to the next lecture!

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    1. Mihaela

      I have not received your quiz. Please resubmit and send as an e-mail attachment.

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    2. Okay, I did get your quiz 0. Thanks

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  17. This is turning out to be a very interesting class and I am quite shocked at the amount of material we will cover this semester. This class seems quite unique compared to others, since it provides one with a skill set and ability to understand the material to conduct research, where as others just teach the material to teach it. I cannot wait to learn more about radiochemistry.

    My only question is when will we actually have class? Will we be notified by email? Thank you in advance.

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    1. thanks for the comments Natalie. I will schedule any classroom meetings based on travel.

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    2. Thank you for the update I appreciate it! :)

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  18. Thank you for providing the well-done lecture. It is very clear and interesting lecture, and I have learned the material quite well. Thanks again.

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  19. Thank you for all the lecture formats. They are very useful and informative.

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