GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY I AND LAB EXPERIENCES M - Z

Module Module 2

The course aims to provide the fundamentals of stoichiometry and chemical calculation, in order to allow the student to become familiar and mastered with the chemical problems that will be the subject of the final written exam. This second teaching module, in concert with the first theory module, aims to provide the student with the tools for understanding chemical reactivity in relation to inorganic and basic chemistry, the processes associated with it, and the stoichiometric calculations necessary for the resolution of specific problems. At the end of the course the student will have acquired and matured the essential skills to face and solve questions relating to calculations on moles, concentrations of solutions and balancing of chemical reactions. He will also have learned the nomenclature of inorganic compounds and will be able to carry out exercises involving basic general chemistry concepts such as those relating to colligative properties, thermochemical reactions and gas laws. Laboratory exercises will be carried out to reinforce the concepts addressed in the classroom and to introduce the student in a practical way to a chemical laboratory. The student will learn to organize and carry out a chemical experiment and to use glassware and some simple laboratory tools. In addition, some basic knowledge relating to the correct disposal of chemicals as well as some basic notions on data processing will be imparted. All these notions will serve for the understanding of the subsequent courses, to which the subject is preparatory. The student, through the study of chemistry and through laboratory activities, will become aware not only of the fundamental role played by this discipline in various scientific-technological fields, but will also acquire experience with the fundamental principles underlying the scientific method.

The aim of the course is to acquire the reasoning ability necessary to face the study of chemical phenomena with analytical and numerical methods (applying knowledge and understanding).

Specific educational objectives of this course are:

know the electronic configuration of the elements of the main groups and the nomenclature of the main inorganic compounds;

knowing how to read and interpret all the information that can be deduced from the periodic table;

understand the mechanisms of chemical bond formation;

know the chemical interactions in solids, liquids and understand the state equations of gases;

know the behavior of the solutions, in terms of the balance of interaction forces and their effect on the physical properties of the solutions;

know the main thermodynamic and kinetic quantities involved in chemical reactions;

evaluate the conditions of the chemical equilibrium;

acquire the ability to correctly set up and carry out exercises on the various types of chemical reactions.

Furthermore, with reference to the so-called Dublin Descriptors, this course contributes to acquiring the following transversal skills:

Knowledge and understanding: Inductive and deductive reasoning skills. Ability to schematize a chemical reaction in qualitative and quantitative terms. Ability to set up a problem using appropriate relationships between physico-chemical quantities and to solve it with analytical methods.

Ability to apply knowledge: Ability to apply the knowledge acquired for the description of chemical phenomena using rigorously the scientific method. Capacity for quantitative calculation of reactants and products of chemical reactions.

Autonomy of judgment: Critical reasoning skills. Ability to identify the most suitable solutions to solve chemical problems. Ability to identify the predictions of a theory or model. Ability to evaluate the accuracy needed to be used in stoichiometric calculations.

Communication skills: Ability to describe a scientific topic in oral and written form, with properties of language and terminological rigor, illustrating its motivations and results.

 Information for students with disabilities and/or SLD: To guarantee equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on the educational objectives and specifications needs.

The course includes 62 hours in total. During the course there will be lectures on the preparatory topics for carrying out the exercises and the problems covered by the exam. In parallel, numerous classroom exercises will be carried out with simulation of problems and exercises completely similar to those that students will face in the final exam task. Finally, some (no more than 6) laboratory activities are scheduled during the course which will then have to be reported by the students and which will also constitute the subject of examination.

Basic mathematics, basic physics, basic chemistry. 
To attend the chemistry course in-depth preliminary knowledge is not needed.
However it will be necessary to follow the lessons regarding the various topics consistently, avoiding
to be left behind in the study. Chemistry is a discipline that is built gradually and it will not be
possible to understand it if it is not done a regular and constant study during the course. 
It will be very difficult to prepare it by yourself, because many topics need time to be well received 
and matured. Students are strongly advised to take the zero courses in mathematics that will be given before and/or during the courses.

EXERCISES ON:

1. ATOMS AND MOLECULES: Mole, molecular weight, minimum formula, percentages of elements present in compounds. Chemical nomenclature and external electronic configuration.

2. CHEMICAL EQUATIONS. BALANCE AND WEIGHT RELATIONS: Generalities on chemical equations, balancing of chemical equations, calculation of the number of oxidation, redox balance, the concept of acid and base, salts, oxidants, reducing agents, non-quantitative processes, reaction yield, limiting reagent.

3. GAS SYSTEMS: Definition of a gas system, volume, pressure and temperature, gas laws, density and determination of molecular mass, partial pressures and volumes, gas mixtures, degree of dissociation. Calculations on gas phase reactions. Exercises on the law of ideal and real gases and Graham's law.

4. SOLUTIONS - Calculation of the concentration of the solutions, mixing and dilution of the solutions, volumetric analysis, colligative properties of solutions and the effect of electrolytic dissociation.

5. CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM - Chemical equilibrium, equilibrium constants and their use in the calculation of the concentrations of species at equilibrium

6. THERMODYNAMICS - Enthalpy, specific heat, heat capacity, Hess's law, internal energy, entropy and free energy

7. CHEMICAL KINETICS - Factors affecting the reaction rate - Kinetic equation and order of reaction - Elementary reactions: step limiting the reaction rate - Activation energy - Catalysts -Arrhenius equation and collision theory

8. INTRODUCTIONS TO ACIDS AND BASES.

LABORATORY EXPERIENCES:

Determination of the molar volume of a Gas

Precipitation of a metal oxide and relative purification

Redissolution of copper oxides in diluted and concentrated acids

Atomic spectroscopy and flame assays

Chemical kinetics

Enthalpy of formation

1. Stoichiometry- B I Bhatt-S B Thakore

2. Chemical Reactions and Stoichiometry, R. K. Dave