The learning outcomes for this unit are described below. These outcomes are built from the learning activities in lectures, tutorials, laboratory and independent study. Important attributes are:
- the ability to apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking to identify, define and analyse problem and create solutions: you will be expected to demonstrate these outcomes on problems drawn from the material presented in the course and to novel situations.
- the ability to evaluate your own performance and development and to recognize gaps in your knowledge: keep a portfolio of your progress using the 'self assessment tool'
- Generic Attributes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking to identify, define and analyse problems, create solutions, evaluate opinions, innovate and improve current practices
- gather, evaluate and deploy information relevant to a scientific problem
- disseminate new knowledge and engage in debate about scientific issues
- recognize the rapid and sometimes major changes in scientific knowledge and technology, and to value the importance of continual growth in knowledge and skills
- use a range of computer software packages in the process of gathering, processing and disseminating scientific knowledge
- make value judgements about the reliability and relevance of information in a scientific context
- evaluate your own performance and development, to recognize gaps in knowledge and acquire new knowledge independently
- set achievable and realistic goals and monitor and evaluate progress towards these goals
- appreciate sustainability and the impact of science within the broader economic, environmental and socio-cultural context
- present and interpret data or other scientific information using graphs, tables, figures and symbols
- work independently and as part of a team and to take individual responsibility with a group for developing and achieving goals
- actively seek, identify and create effective contacts with others in a professional and social context, and maintain those contacts for mutual benefit
- recognize the importance of safety and risk management and compliance with safety procedures
- manipulative equations and measurements with due regard for significant figures and unit conventions
- Laboratory Skills
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- perform careful and safe experiments
- accurately report scientific observations
- work as a professional scientist with due regard for personal safety and for the safety of those around you
- interpret observations in terms of chemical models with appropriate use of chemical equations and calculations
- perform calculations containing concentrations, moles and masses
- choose and use appropriate glassware for a given task
- choose and use balances accurately and appropriately
- present and interpret data or other scientific information using graphs, tables, figures and symbols
- work as a member of a team and to take individual responsibility within a group for developing and achieving group goals
- actively seek, identify and create effective contacts with others in a professional and social context, and maintain those contacts for mutual benefit
- Introduction to Chemical Energetics
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify the system and the surroundings in a chemical process
- identify the ways in which energy is transferred in a chemical process
- identify the sign of heat and work in chemical processes
- give examples of chemical reactions that do work
- calculate energies in Joules or Calories
- calculate the energy required to change the temperature of a substance using its heat capacity
- calculate the energy released or absorbed by a reaction from data obtained using a bomb calorimeter
- explain the origin of the heat of reaction
- understand the relationship between internal energy and enthalpy
- calculate ΔH of a reaction using Hess's Law of heat summation
- calculate ΔH0 of a reaction using tables of ΔfH
- appreciate the origin of heat release in net bond breakage
- explain the origin of gas expansion and heat transfer in terms of probability
- understand the microscopic definition of entropy in terms of the number of ways of arranging a system
- define both the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics
- predict the entropy changes between some simple chemical systems
- calculate ΔS of a reaction using tables of standard entropies
- calculate ΔunivS or ΔG of a reaction and predict spontaneity
- understand the relationship between ΔunivS and ΔG
- calculate &DeltaG;0 based on values of ΔH0 and ΔS0 or from values of ΔfG0
- explain the effects of temperature and pressure on ΔG0
- explain in principle how one maximizes the useful work obtainable from a chemical reaction
- Chemical Equilibrium
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- write down the expression for K for any reaction of known stoichiometry
- predict reactants or products dominate the equilibrium state from the value of K
- predict the direction of the spontaneous direction of a reaction based on the relative values of Q and K
- explain the relationship between K and ΔG0
- determine the relationship between Kp and Kc for gas phase equilibria
- write equilibria expression for equilibria involving pure liquids and solids
- perform calculations to determine equilibrium concentrations from initial concentrations and the value of K
- predict qualitatively the effects of changes in concentration, temperature and pressure on an equilibrium based on Le Chatelier's principle
- calculate the effect of a change in temperature on K based on its ΔH0
- explain how a catalyst speeds up the establishment of equilibrium
- understand the basis of heterogeneous equilibrium
- explain the experimental conditions of pressure, temperature and metal catalysed used in the industrial production of NH3
- Solutions
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- calculate concentrations in molarity, molality, mole fraction, % w/w and %v/v and perform dilutions
- predict qualitatively the solubilities of gases in liquids based on their chemical structure
- determine the sign of ΔH for the dissolution of a gas in a liquid from the temperature dependence of its solubility
- understand the effects of pressure on the solubility of gases
- explain the molecular origin of "The Bends" and the formation of limestone caves
- predict qualitatively the miscibilities of liquids based on their molecular structures
- identify solutes as strong, weak or non-electrolytes
- explain the origin of vapour pressure lowering and boiling point elevation of a solvent by a non-volatile solute
- estimate the vapour pressure of solutions of non-volatile and volatile solutes using Raoult's Law
- read a phase diagram
- explain the meaning of ideality for gases and solutions
- predict deviations from ideal gas behaviour
- calculate the pressure of a real gas using the van der Waal's equation
- explain the molecular origin of positive and negative deviations from Raoult's Law
- explain the principles underlying fractional distillation
- predict which combinations of solvents would be expected to be ideal and which non-ideal
- understand the concept of activity
- calculate expected freezing point depressions of solutions
- calculate expected solution osmotic pressures
- estimate molar masses from colligative property data
- estimate the degree of dissociation of electrolytes from colligative property data
- explain the origin of osmotic pressure and how it can be measured
- Acids and Bases
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- explain the advantages of the Bronsted-Lowry acid-base definition over the Arrhenius definition
- understand the relationships between pH, pOH, pKa, pKb and pKw
- predict qualitatively the excess species in weak conjugate acid-base pairs at a given pH
- calculate the pH, pOH, [H+] and [OH-] for aqueous solutions of strong acids and bases
- predict qualitatively the relative acidities of strong acids
- calculate the pH, pOH, [H+] and [OH-] for very diluite solutions of strong acids and bases
- calculate the pH, pOH, [H+] and [OH-] for aqueous solutions of weak acids and bases
- calculate the pKa of a weak, monoprotic acid from the pH of its solution
- predict the sequence of strengths of acidities of weak, polyprotic acids
- predict qualitatively the pH of salt solutions
- calculate the pH of solutions of hydrated metal ions
- identify Lewis acids and bases
- explain the origin of buffering action
- calculate the pH change for addition of acid or base to a buffer
- choose an appropriate buffer for any pH value
- explain how to prepare a buffer solution
- explain the buffering action of HsCO3 / HCO3- in the blood
- explain how to perform an acid-base titration
- selection an indicator for the titration of any combination of acid and base
- predict the charge of an amino acid and its direction of migration in electrophoresis given its pI
- explain the origins of positive and negative charges on a protein
- predict qualitatively the change in solubility of a protein with changing pH given its pI
- Solubility
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- convert between concentration units of molarity and ppm
- write solubility product expressions
- calculate Ksp from solubility data
- calculate solubility from Ksp
- calculate the effects of a common ion on solubility
- predict whether or not a precipitate will form at a given concentration of salt solutions
- explain why iron storage proteins are required for iron
- Complexes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- define complex, ligand and coordinate bond
- recognize that hydrolysis of metal ions in aqueous solutions gives rise to acidic solutions and predict their relative acidity
- recognize chelate ligands, their donor atoms and the stability of their complexes
- name coordination complexes and compounds using IUPAC nomenclature
- identify isomers including structural, geometrical and optical isomerism for tetrahedral, square planar and octahedral complexes
- write down the form of the stability constant, Kstab, for a complex
- recognize and predict how the formation of stable complexes can increase the apparent solubility of salts by combining Ksp and Kstab expressions
- Redox Reactions and Introduction to Electrochemistry
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- relate the sign of the electrode potential to the direction of spontaneous change
- combine half cells to produce balanced redox reactions and to calculate cell potentials
- identify the species which are being oxidzied and those being reduced in a redox reaction
- write down the cell notation for a Galvanic cell including ones involving inert electrodes
- use the Nernst equation to calculate the effect of concentration on the cell potential
- relate the electrode potential and the reaction quotient
- relate the standard electrode potential and the equilibrium constant
- use Faraday's Laws of Electrolysis to relate the amount of product to the electric current applied
- Chemical Kinetics
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- determine the rate law from experimental data, including the rate constant and its units
- identify the reaction order from the rate law
- use the integrated rate law and half life for 1st order reactions
- recognize the effect of temperature on reaction rates and be able to use the Arrhenius equation in calculations
- recognize that chemical reactions result from multistep processes called reaction mechanisms
- recognize the role of activation energy and collision frequency in determining rates
- work out a rate law from a simple proposed mechanism
- draw reaction profile diagrams for multi-step reactions with appropriate activation energies and intermediates
- calculate Ea and A from the temperature variation of the rate constant
- know how catalysts effect the rate of reactions without altering equilibrium constants
- explain the Michaelis-Menton mechanism of enzyme catalysis
- use the steady-state approximation to derive the rate law for a multi-step reaction involving a reactive intermediate
- Radiochemistry
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- recognise nuclear reactions, including the major spontaneous decay mechanisms.
- define and distinguish between nucleons, nuclides and isotopes, X-rays & gamma rays, decay series and daughter isotopes.
- balance nuclear reactions
- recognise stable and unstable nuclides
- predict the decay mechanism for an unstable isotope
- explain the main factors that contributes to effective radiation dose, including penetrating power, activity and energy
- explain the main mechanism of biological damage by ionizing radiation.
- explain the use of radioactive isotopes in medical imaging, and distinguish the information obtained from X-rays
- explain how isotope generators produce isotopes such as 99mTc for medical imaging, and give some examples of its use.
- explain PET, the generation of radioisotopes by a cyclotron, and know the kinds of isotopes produced
- Introduction to Colloids and Surface Chemistry
By the end of this topic, you should be able to
- identify the characteristics of a colloid
- classify a colloid according to the nature of the continuous and dispersed phases
- explain the electrostatic and steric stabilization of colloids
- understand the chemical nature and action of surfactants and detergents
- explain the main mechanisms of coagulation of colloids, including the role of electrolytes
- explain the molecular origin of surface tension
- describe the function and chemical structure of biological membranes