69076 - General Chemistry

Learning outcomes

The student acquires the fundamental knowledge on Chemistry and understands its importance as a central, useful, and creative branch of science. He also learns how to solve practical and numerical problems.

Course contents

Prerequisites: knowledge of mathematics and physics at the high-school level

Attendance : the course has compulsory attendance. Students can take the final exam only if at least 4/5 of all the lectures (first and second semesters) have been attended. It is compulsory to attend 4/5 of the lectures held in the first semester in order to attend the experimental activities of the Chemistry Laboratory course that is held in the second semester.

Course contents: the course is aimed at providing the basic chemical concepts and the skills to apply them to the interpretation of the macroscopic world. The topics dealt with in the course are summarized as follows.

 1. Introduction: Chemistry as a science that works at three levels

 2. Atom

2.1. Composition of atoms

2.2. Atomic Number, Mass Number, Atomic Weight and corresponding weight units

2.3. Atomic structure: Bohr theory and the quantum-mechanical model to interpret the hydrogen atom and the polyelectronic atoms (brief mention)

2.4. The Periodic Table and some physical properties of the elements

 3. Chemical bonds

3.1. Covalent bond: valence bond theory, some features of the covalent bond, electronic configurations, stoichiometry and structure of covalent compounds, dative bond, resonance, hybrid orbitals to interpret the shape of molecules, VSEPR model, and molecular orbital theory (brief mention)

3.2. Ionic bond: bond formation and composition of ionic compounds

3.3. Metallic bond (brief mention)

3.4. Intermolecular interactions

 4. Chemical formulas and the concept of mole

4.1. Isomerism, polymorphism, allotropy

4.2. Molecular Weight

4.3. Mole and Molecular Mass

4.4. Experimental determination of the chemical formulas

 5. Periodic chemical properties and chemical nomenclature

5.1. Prediction of the bond nature

5.2. Elementary chemical species

5.3. Binary compounds with oxygen

5.4. Binary compounds with hydrogen

5.5 Salts

 6. Aggregation states (brief mention)

 7. Solutions

7.1. Molarity and other means of reporting the concentration of a compound in solution

7.2. Solute-solvent interactions

7.3. Electrolytic solutions

7.4. Colligative properties

 8. Chemical reactions

8.1. Chemical equations and rules for balancing them

8.2. Redox reactions and rules for balancing them

8.3. Stoichiometry of the reactions that occur in solution

8.4. Quantitative relationships in chemical reactions

 9. Thermochemistry and thermodynamics (brief mention)

 10. Chemical kinetics

10.1. Reaction rate and kinetic equations

10.2. Reaction mechanisms

10.3. Activation energy

10.4. Factors affecting the reaction rate

 11. Chemical equilibrium

11.1. Equilibrium constant

11.2. Homogeneous and heterogeneous equilibria

11.3. Factors affecting an equilibrium state

11.4. Solubility equilibrium with particular regard for ionic compounds

 12. Acids and bases

12.1. Definition of acid and base

12.2. Amphoteric substances and autoprotolytic equilibria

12.3. Strength of acids and bases

12.4. Acidity of solutions: pH

12.5. Neutralization reactions and salt hydrolysis

12.6. Buffer solutions

12.7. pH indicators

12.8. Acid-base titrations

12.8. Extension of the acid-base concept

 13. Electrochemistry

13.1. Voltaic cells

13.2. Standard reduction potentials and their use

13.3. Electrolysis

13.4. Some examples of commercial voltaic cells

 

Readings/Bibliography

The topics dealt with in this course, which are fundamental for a first-level university grade, can all be found in any university textbook of General Chemistry. See, for example:

P. Atkins, L. Jones "Principi di Chimica", second or third edition, Zanichelli.

Teaching methods

General Chemistry is a compulsory, year-long course. It consists of both lectures on the basic concepts of Chemistry and problem solving activities that help the student identify structure and shape of common chemical species and tackle stoichiometric problems when applied to chemical reactions

Assessment methods

The final exam is aimed at verifying the acquired knowledge and skills. It consists of three partial written tests, each of two hours, followed by an oral exam.

Two of the three partial written tests are provided during the first semester. The third written test is provided at the end of the second semester. During these tests the student can use a calculator, his own notes and textbooks. Each partial test refers to the parts of the program illustrated in the corresponding period of the semester and consists of 8-12 questions on both chemical concepts and problem solving exercises. Each question is evaluated according to their difficulty and the maximum mark of each test is 33/30. To proceed the oral exam the minimum mark requested, as the average of the three tests, is 18/30. The corrected tests are shown to the students and each of them has the possibility to discuss individually with the teacher to understand his errors before the following test.

The students, who do not obtain the minimum mark in the partial tests or do not accept the obtained mark, must participate in a written test on the entire program that is provided at the end of the course. It consists of 10 questions on both chemical concepts and problem solving exercises. Each question is evaluated according to its difficulty and the maximum mark of the written test is 33/30. Also in this case to proceed to the oral exam the minimum mark requested is 18/30.

Only the students attended 4/5 of the lectures can proceed to the oral exam which has an average duration of 20-30minutes. It consists of two or three questions aimed at verifying if the student understood the errors made in the written test(s). The final evaluation is an average of the marks obtained in the written test(s) and in the oral exam.

The final evaluation of the integrated course Fundamentals in Chemistry with Laboratory is determined as the average weighted on the credits of the marks obtained in General Chemistry (9 credits) and Chemistry Laboratory (6 credits).

Teaching tools

Blackboard, overhead, personal computer, projector, power point presentations

Office hours

See the website of Margherita Venturi