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Technique is part of the chemistry
In 171, a correct idea can still produce bad results if glassware is read poorly, masses are recorded sloppily, or the written procedure is ignored.
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01:160:171 · Chemistry · School 01 — New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
Introduction to Experimentation is Rutgers' one-credit general chemistry lab on basic chemical methods. The department describes it as a laboratory course in basic methods, and recent syllabi show a sequence built around measurement, density, chromatography, hydrates, ionic reactions, empirical formulas, metal reactivity, titration, gas-volume work, thermochemistry, and magnetic behavior.
How hard?
Students rate teaching
SIRS · 8,630 responses · 2014–2025
Spring 2027
39 open in snapshot · 1 instructor
When it meets
Livingston
Checked-in sections · current seat counts are unavailable.
AI-generated overview
Higher means more demanding · AI summary
5 units · topic sequence may vary by instructor
The opening labs establish how the course wants you to work: careful measurement, correct significant figures, and turning raw observations into a physical property such as density. This is less about abstract chemistry theory than about learning the habits that make later quantitative experiments trustworthy.
Chromatography and water-of-hydration style exercises show that composition is something you infer from evidence. These labs push students to connect visible changes, mass changes, and component behavior to the underlying idea that substances can be separated or characterized by physical and chemical differences.
The middle of the course moves from observation into reaction accounting. Net ionic equations, empirical-formula work, and metal-reactivity comparisons make students translate bench chemistry into particle-level or formula-level reasoning.
Titration and antacid-analysis labs are where many students start to feel the course become more genuinely analytical. You are not just mixing chemicals; you are using a controlled procedure to infer concentration or neutralizing capacity from measured volumes and reaction endpoints.
The closing labs broaden the picture from wet-lab calculations into gas laws, enthalpy, and magnetic behavior. The through-line is still experimental interpretation: collect data carefully, then decide what that data says about molecular amount, energy change, or material properties.
Public Rutgers discussion usually treats 171 as a relatively manageable chemistry lab when students prepare before showing up, but the same threads also warn that mistakes in procedure or unclear grading expectations can make an otherwise short lab feel frustrating.
In 171, a correct idea can still produce bad results if glassware is read poorly, masses are recorded sloppily, or the written procedure is ignored.
Density, hydration, ionic reactions, and titration all ask students to connect what they can measure directly to something molecular they cannot see.
Rather than staying inside homework problems, mole ratios and formulas show up as tools for explaining actual experimental outcomes.
The important move is not just filling blanks, but showing how measurements, calculations, and observed changes support the conclusion you write down.
Common pitfall
Instead
Read the experiment before lab, especially the safety rules, data tables, and calculation setup, so the bench work does not become guesswork.
Common pitfall
Instead
Slow down on balances, meniscus readings, sig figs, and unit tracking because these routine details often determine whether the final answer looks chemically reasonable.
Common pitfall
Instead
Know what quantity each step is trying to determine while you are collecting data, not only when you start writing the report.
Common pitfall
Instead
If a value seems off or a step behaves unexpectedly, ask the TA immediately; small procedural errors can ripple through the whole write-up.
39 open · Livingston
| Section | Status | Instructor | Meeting | Campus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0113852 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 050BE 050 | Livingston |
| 0213853 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 051BE 051 | Livingston |
| 0313854 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 052BE 052 | Livingston |
| 0413855 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 053BE 053 | Livingston |
| 0513856 | Closed | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 152BE 152 | Livingston |
| 0613857 | Closed | Vitarelli | Monday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 153BE 153 | Livingston |
| 0713858 | Closed | Vitarelli | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 050BE 050 | Livingston |
| 0813859 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 051BE 051 | Livingston |
| 0913860 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 052BE 052 | Livingston |
| 1013861 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 053BE 053 | Livingston |
| 1113862 | Open | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 152BE 152 | Livingston | |
| 1213863 | Open | Vitarelli | Monday 2:00 PM-5:00 PM at BE 153BE 153 | Livingston |
| 1313864 | Closed | Vitarelli | Tuesday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 050BE 050 | Livingston |
| 1413865 | Closed | Tuesday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 051BE 051 | Livingston | |
| 1513866 | Open | Vitarelli | Tuesday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 052BE 052 | Livingston |
| 1613867 | Open | Vitarelli | Tuesday 10:20 AM-1:20 PM at BE 053BE 053 | Livingston |
Historical student surveys
Teaching
4.24
Course quality
4.12
Response rate
42.5%
Coverage
820 offerings · 2014–2025
| Instructor | Offerings | Teaching | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Vitarelli | 473 | 4.15 | 4.13 |
| Danielle Slomko | 38 | 4.18 | 4.11 |
| Brynn Bean | 30 | 4.70 | 4.33 |
| Milton Williams | 28 | 4.05 | 3.91 |
| Rijo Urakath | 27 | 4.58 | 4.27 |
| Tracy Chen | 26 | 4.34 | 4.03 |
Catalog and planning context
Credits
1
Current campuses
Livingston
Current availability
39 open of 45
Catalog terms
Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
Core codes
None listed
Loaded terms
3
(01:160:159)<em> OR </em>(01:160:161)<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.