GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY I AND LAB EXPERIENCES A - L

Module Module 1

The course aims to provide the fundamentals of General and Inorganic Chemistry as an indispensable cultural basis for understanding the courses in physical, analytocal and organic chemistry, to which it is propaedeutic. The student, through the study of chemistry will become aware not only of the fundamental role performed by this discipline in different scientific-technological fields, but also it will become accustomed to the basic principles underlying the scientific method. The course of General Chemistry will provide the student with the first examples of chemical reactivity, in particular with the processes in gaseous phase and in aqueous solution. The concept of chemical equilibrium will also be treated as applied to the equilibria in aqueous solution. The first notions of atomic theory and chemical bond theory will be provided with particular attention to molecular geometries.

Lectures, excercises

• The composition of matter: molecules and molecular compounds, ions and chemical compounds, chemical nomenclature, constitution of the atom, atomic weight and molecular weight, periodic table of elements, groups and periods, periodic properties of the elements, diagonal relationships.
• Fundamental laws of chemistry: Dalton's atomic theory, Avogadro's principle, combination laws, discovery of electrons, protons and neutrons.
• Chemical reactions: the concept of mole, chemical equations, balancing simple reactions, definition of oxidant and reducing agent, oxidation number and redox reactions, definition of acid and base, acid-base reactions, quantitative meaning of chemical reactions, at equilibrium and irreversible.
• Structure of the atom: Electromagnetic radiation, hints of quantum mechanics: Planck, photoelectric effect, atomic spectra, Bohr, de Broglie, Heisenberg model, Schrödinger equation, monoelectronic atoms, polyelectronic atoms: spin and quantum number of spin, orbital energies of polyelectronic atoms, Pauli, Aufbau's exclusion principle and Hund's rule.
• The chemical bond: covalent bond according to Lewis, Molecular geometry and VSEPR theory, Valence bond theory, Molecular geometry and hybridization, Multiple bonds, Outline of molecular orbital theory, electronic configuration of homopolar diatomic molecules of the second period, non- covalent, ionic bond, hydrogen bond, metal bond.
• The gaseous state: laws of gases, equation of state for ideal gases, molar volume, density of gases, diffusion law of gases, real gases, van der Waals equation for real gases, molecular meaning of pressure and temperature, hints of kinetic theory of gases.
• State transitions: Gas-Vapor-Liquid, critical pressure and temperature, state diagrams, equilibria between phases.
• Notes on the solid state: metallic and ionic solids, molecular solids and covalent lattice solids, lattice energy, Born-Haber cycle.
• The liquid state and solutions: role of non-covalent interactions, vapor pressure of liquids and boiling temperature, solvation of solutes, concentration of solutions, Raoult's law, deviations from Raoult's law, notes on the distillation of liquids, properties colligative, cryoscopy and ebullioscopy, osmotic pressure, strong and weak electrolytes, degree of dissociation, solubility of gases in liquids.
• Kinetics and chemical equilibrium: equilibrium reactions, speed of a chemical reaction, order of a reaction, activation energy and Arrhenius equation, kinetic deduction of the chemical equilibrium, equilibrium constant, influence of concentration, pressure and temperature on chemical equilibria, catalysis, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts.
• Hints of thermodynamics and thermochemistry: definitions and system-environment relations, state functions, I principle of Thermodynamics, molar thermal capacities, measurement of heat, Hess's law and reaction enthalpies, II principle of Thermodynamics, III principle of Thermodynamics and entropies of reaction, free energy, relationship between free energy and the equilibrium constant.

R.H. Petrucci, W.S.Harwood, F.G. Herring, CHIMICA GENERALE (Principi e moderne applicazioni), Piccin

Kotz-Treichel-Townsend (ed edizioni precedenti) - Chimica- EdiSeS M. Speranza-Chimica Generale ed Inorganica-Edi-Ermes
P. W Atkins, J. Loretta - Chimica Generale - Zanichelli
M Schiavello, L. Palmisano - Fondamenti di Chimica - EdiSes

N. J. Tro - Chimica Un approccio molecolare - Zanichelli

P. Silvestroni- Fondamenti di Chimica- CEA

M. Speranza-Chimica Generale ed Inorganica-Edi-Ermes

The final exam consists of a written exam (the day of the exam is the one indicated on the official calendar), based on exercises similar to those faced in the classroom during the course, and in an oral interview (date and place will be indicated by the teacher) based on on all topics of the program and on laboratory experiences.

The exam tends to ascertain the level of overall knowledge acquired by the candidate, his ability to critically address the topics studied and to relate the various parts of the program. The exam consists of a written test and an oral exam. The written exam consists in solving simple stoichiometry problems related to nomenclature, chemical reactions, gas transformations and the study of chemical phenomena in aqueous solution, thermochemistry. This test tends to verify the possession of the basic notions of the discipline. The written test will be considered passed if the student has solved exactly more than half of the assigned exercises. During the written exam, students will be able to use the periodic table and calculator, but not cell phones.

Passing the written exam is a necessary but not sufficient condition to pass the final exam.

The oral exam will consist of questions relating to the various parts of the program to ascertain the overall level of knowledge acquired by the candidate.

Criteria for awarding the final grade:

The mastery shown in the qualitative and quantitative arguments, the critical vision of the topics addressed during the course and the ability to correlate the various parts of the program will contribute in equal measure to the formulation of the final grade.

The teacher, during the course, faces various types of problems that will be the subject 

of the written test. Exercises and exam assignments (previous years) will be disseminated 

on studium. All teaching topics are possible exam questions (eg Nomenclature,

 Lewis structures of model molecules: energy diagrams, molecular geometry according to VSEPR 

and central atom hybridization, Stoichiometric calculations, Colligative properties, 

Chemical equilibria, acid-base reactivity , 

Balancing redox reactions, 

The periodic table, Electronic configuration of the elements, chemical bond, hybrid orbitals. 

Thermodynamics and kinetics)