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General Chemistry II is an equilibrium course at heart
Even when the unit title changes, much of 162 asks how systems distribute particles, energy, or charge under competing conditions.
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01:160:162 · Chemistry · School 01 — New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
General Chemistry 162 is Rutgers' second-semester general chemistry course for science majors. Recent Rutgers syllabi show the course focusing on solution chemistry, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, buffers and solubility, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and a later unit on molecular structure and functional groups, with lecture, recitation, and the 171 laboratory linked to the wider general-chemistry sequence.
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Students rate teaching
SIRS · 12,387 responses · 2016–2025
Spring 2027
46 open in snapshot · 3 instructors
When it meets
College Avenue, C/D, Livingston
Checked-in sections · current seat counts are unavailable.
MW 7:30 PM · Livingston · 7 sections · 7 open
MWF 2:15 PM · Livingston · 6 sections · 6 open
AI-generated overview
Higher means more demanding · AI summary
7 units · topic sequence may vary by instructor
Recent Rutgers 162 schedules start by finishing solution chemistry: solubility, heats of solution, concentration, Raoult's law, and colligative properties. This opening block matters because later equilibrium and thermodynamics problems keep reusing the same concentration and particle-count logic.
The next unit asks how quickly reactions happen and why. Students learn rate laws, integrated rate laws, temperature effects, mechanisms, and catalysis, which means moving beyond balancing equations into modeling chemical change across time.
Chemical equilibrium is one of the course's central pivots. Rutgers syllabi place equilibrium calculations, approximation methods, and Le Chatelier's principle before the acid-base unit so students can treat acids, bases, and solubility as special cases of equilibrium thinking.
A large middle section of 162 works through acid strength, Ka and Kb, pH calculations, polyprotic systems, buffers, titrations, and Ksp. This is usually where the course feels most calculation-heavy because students must interpret both equations and chemical context.
Later units connect spontaneity, entropy, Gibbs free energy, and equilibrium. This is the conceptual bridge between whether a process can happen, how strongly it is favored, and how that preference appears in measurable equilibrium behavior.
The electrochemistry block turns electron transfer into a quantitative topic. Rutgers schedules include balancing redox equations, voltaic cells, the Nernst equation, concentration cells, batteries, and electrolysis.
Recent summer syllabi close with stereochemistry, aromatic compounds, and functional groups. Even when this block is brief, it previews the structure language students will need for later chemistry courses.
Public r/rutgers discussion consistently describes Chem 162 as doable but unforgiving if you fall behind. The most repeated advice is to treat it as a practice-heavy course: use lecture notes, recitation, eLearning or posted problem sets, and office hours early, because exam performance depends more on applying patterns than on passively rereading chemistry facts.
Even when the unit title changes, much of 162 asks how systems distribute particles, energy, or charge under competing conditions.
Plugging numbers into formulas is not enough; students have to recognize what assumptions fit the situation and what a result means chemically.
Rutgers' learning goals explicitly pair symbolic math with submicroscopic and observable models, which is why sketches, particulate reasoning, and equations all show up together.
The later structure and redox material foreshadows organic, analytical, and upper-level chemistry, while the solution and equilibrium work strengthens the foundations those courses assume.
Common pitfall
Instead
Before calculating, decide whether the problem is about rate, equilibrium, acid-base behavior, solubility, free energy, or electrochemistry and write down the governing relationship.
Common pitfall
Instead
Revisit equilibrium logic during acids, buffers, Ksp, and thermodynamics so the same core idea shows up in multiple contexts.
Common pitfall
Instead
Chem 162 understanding is tested through worked problems, so convert each lecture block into several solved and self-checked examples.
Common pitfall
Instead
Check whether the answer's magnitude, sign, and units make sense for the chemistry before moving on.
46 open · College Avenue, C/D, Livingston
| Section | Status | Instructor | Meeting | Campus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0113789 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Monday 12:25 PM-1:20 PM at CI 101SC 135CI 101 | College Avenue | |
| 0213790 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Thursday 12:25 PM-1:20 PM at FH A3SC 135FH A3 | College Avenue | |
| 0313791 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 12:25 PM-1:20 PMSC 135 | College Avenue | |
| 0413792 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 2:15 PM-3:10 PMSC 135 | College Avenue | |
| 0513793 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Thursday 2:15 PM-3:10 PM at FH B1SC 135FH B1 | College Avenue | |
| 0613794 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at MU 210SC 135MU 210 | College Avenue | |
| 0713795 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at ED 025BSC 135ED 025B | College Avenue | |
| 0813796 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at CA A1SC 135CA A1 | College Avenue | |
| 0913797 | Open | Tuesday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Friday 8:30 AM-9:50 AM at SC 135; Thursday 7:45 PM-8:40 PM at FH A3SC 135FH A3 | College Avenue | |
| 2113798 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Tuesday 5:55 PM-6:50 PM at RAB 104HCK 138RAB 104 | C/D |
| 2213799 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Tuesday 9:35 PM-10:30 PMHCK 138 | C/D |
| 2313800 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 7:45 PM-8:40 PM at HCK 211HCK 138HCK 211 | C/D |
| 2413801 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 4:05 PM-5:00 PM at RAB 207HCK 138RAB 207 | C/D |
| 2513802 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Monday 2:15 PM-3:10 PM at HCK 214HCK 138HCK 214 | C/D |
| 2613803 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Monday 12:25 PM-1:20 PM at HCK 211HCK 138HCK 211 | C/D |
| 2713804 | Open | Langowski | Monday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Wednesday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Thursday 10:35 AM-11:30 AM at HCK 138; Friday 10:35 AM-11:30 AMHCK 138 | C/D |
Historical student surveys
Teaching
3.89
Course quality
3.33
Response rate
36.1%
Coverage
347 offerings · 2016–2025
| Instructor | Offerings | Teaching | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanhita Pramanik | 22 | 3.70 | 2.90 |
| Sangari Harpal | 21 | 4.36 | 4.07 |
| Chandima Abeywickrama | 19 | 3.20 | 2.92 |
| Hussein Hijazi | 18 | 4.03 | 3.09 |
| Kiranjot Sethi | 17 | 3.74 | 3.63 |
| Lipika Roychowdhury | 17 | 3.58 | 2.90 |
Catalog and planning context
Credits
4
Current campuses
College Avenue, C/D, Livingston
Current availability
46 open of 46
Catalog terms
Fall, Spring, Summer
Core codes
NS
Loaded terms
4
(01:160:161)<em> OR </em>(01:160:159)<em> OR </em>(01:160:163)<em> OR </em>(01:160:165)<em> OR </em>(21:160:115)<em> OR </em>(50:160:115)
No direct degree-list membership appears in the checked-in requirement index.