1^st lesson free

Thomas

Rate $21
Response 19h
Students
Number of students Thomas has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
3
Number of students Thomas has accompanied since arriving at Superprof

$21/h

1^st lesson free

Math
Chemistry

Retired Chemist with Industrial, Academic, and International Experience, Taught Chemistry, Physical Science and Remedial Mathematics at Community College and University Levels for 14+ Years, 25+ Years

Math
Chemistry

Lesson location

- online

About Thomas

In terms of my educational background, I graduated with a BS in chemistry from Elizabethtown College. I then attended Case Western Reserve University, where I earned my doctorate in Physical and Analytical Chemistry. My dissertation was centered mostly around applications of P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to facilitating the characterization of phosphorus-containing compounds. Included in my dissertation was some work in characterizing solid polyphosphates via solid state NMR at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Following my return from Europe, I then embarked on an industrial science career at companies like Dow Corning Corporation and Owens Corning, where I worked in three broad areas: specialty chemical, building products, and automotive components. My industrial experience involved technical service and development, new product development, industrial troubleshooting, and overseas technical transfers.

In 2008, I embarked on a career change by becoming a chemistry instructor at Northwest State Community College in Ohio. In the course of my career there, I worked to offer my students an enriched chemistry curriculum that involved external speakers from government, industrial and academic sites, as well as field trips to those sites.

Following my retirement in 2022, I believe that I have a wealth of experience and insights that would benefit the students who I would tutor.

About the lesson

In my experience, I have found that students may not have particular with chemistry concepts, but they may have trouble converting them into mathematically meaning expressions. So, I tend to concentrate on the mathematics that would allow them to succeed in a quantitative science like chemistry.

In practice, I have found it a productive exercise to help students with the four-function mathematics that would be helpful in the bulk of a one-semester principles course or the first semester of a general chemistry course. For the second semester of a general chemistry course, it has been my experience that attention to helping students apply natural and common logarithms to solving problems is also a productive exercise for having them understand chemical concepts like pH and activation energy.

In my lesson plans, I have tried to stay abreast of newer technical developments. To illustrate, I offer my lesson plan for our unit on nuclear chemistry for a class that has a substantial number of nursing students, as well as some aspiring engineers:

1) To become acquainted with how unstable atomic nuclei lose energy via radioactivity

2) To become familiar with the following emitted subatomic particles:
a) Alpha rays
b) Beta rays
c) Gamma rays
d) Positrons
e) Neutrons

3) To write symbols for isotopes

4) To write nuclear equations

5) To become acquainted with the role of the nuclear force in the atomic nucleus

6) To describe the band of stability as it relates types of radioactive decay of nuclei outside of it

7) To relate the role of half-life in radioactive decay

8) To describe the workings of both handheld and wearable measuring devices for radioactivity

9) To become familiar with units of radioactivity

10) To distinguish among measurement of radioactivity at the source, the amount that reaches a target, and the amount that gets absorbed by a given tissue

11) To describe the difference between somatic and genetic damage inflicted by radiation and how they are influenced by the energy and chemistry of a radioemitter

12) To describe the symptoms of acute radiation syndrome (radiation sickness)

13) To distinguish between the various forms of background radiation and the means of avoiding exposure

14) To describe various countermeasures for radiation sickness

15) To describe both mass defect and its relationship to nuclear binding energy

16) To describe nuclear fission and the roles that critical mass and chain reactions play in it

17) To describe the 2 routes the USA pursued to develop atomic weaponry during WWII

18) To describe the workings of the conventional light water nuclear reactor

19) To describe the drawbacks and safety issues associated with solid fuel nuclear reactors

20) To compare and contrast the likely advantages of liquid fluoride reactors (LFTR) and small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) with conventional solid fuel reactors

21) To describe how nuclear fusion differs from nuclear fission

22) To highlight the difficulties associated with producing usable energy from nuclear fusion

23) To compare and contrast medical and non-medical applications of radioactivity:
a) Positron emission tomography
b) Netron activation analysis

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10 h: $210

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This first lesson offered with Thomas will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

1hrs

Retired Chemist with Industrial, Academic, and International Experience, Taught Chemistry, Physical Science and Remedial Mathematics at Community College and University Levels for 14+ Years, 25+ Years

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About Thomas

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Retired Chemist with Industrial, Academic, and International Experience, Taught Chemistry, Physical Science and Remedial Mathematics at Community College and University Levels for 14+ Years, 25+ Years

Lesson location

About Thomas

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

free lessons

Other tutors in Math

Hamid

Nihit

Alireza

Avneet

Ammar

BARNABAS

Jaspreet

Alireza

Moe

Divya

Saurav

Mr Ali

Alaa

Parham

Cameron

Brendon

Ali

Jalal

Qasim

Laura

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