At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate appropriate safety precautions while in the chemistry laboratory and when handling chemicals and equipment.
- Demonstrate skills in measurement and in clear communication of data and results.
- Describe the properties of solutions and how those properties change when solute concentration changes.
- Apply collision theory to explain how reactions rates may be changed and predict the rate of a reaction based upon conditions or changes in conditions.
- Explain the concept of chemical equilibrium and apply LeChâtelier’s Principle to determine how equilibrium shifts.
- Use equilibrium constants in equilibrium calculations.
- Calculate the pH of solutions of strong acids, strong bases, weak acids and their conjugate bases, weak bases and their conjugate acids, salts, and buffers.
- Perform calculations involving slightly soluble salts.
- Relate the chemical thermodynamics concepts of enthalpy, entropy, and Gibb’s free energy to heat of reaction, disorder, and spontaneity.
- Diagram electrochemical cells, explain the function of each component, and apply the Nernest equation to relate solution concentration to cell potential.
- Write balanced nuclear reactions for various nuclear processes and perform nuclear calculations.
1. Properties of Solutions
a. The solution process
b. Solubility
c. Solubility factors
d. Concentrations
e. Colligative properties
f. Colloids
2. Chemical Kinetics
a. Factors that affect reaction rates
b. Rate laws
c. Rate constants
d. Determination of rate laws from initial rate data
e. Change in concentration as a function of time (1st 2nd order, zero-order)
f. Collision model
g. Temperature effects
h. Arrhenius equation
i. Reaction mechanisms
j. Catalysis
3. Chemical Equilibrium
a. Equilibrium constants
b. Working with K
c. Law of mass action
d. Heterogeneous equilibria
e. Calculating equilibrium constants
f. Applications of equilibrium constants
g. LeChâtelier’s Principle
4. Acid-Base Equilibria
a. Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry acids/bases
b. Conjugate pairs
c. Kw
d. pH and pOH
e. pH calculations for strong acids, strong bases, weak acids, weak bases and salt solutions
f. Ka and Kb calculations
g. Structure and acid-base properties
h. Lewis acids and bases
5. Additional Topics on Aqueous Equilibria
a. Common ion effect
b. Buffers
c. Acid-base titrations
d. Solubility equilibria
e. Solubility factors
f. Selective precipitation
6. Chemical Thermodynamics
a. Spontaneous processes
b. Entropy
c. 2nd law
d. Entropy on a molecular level
e. Entropy changes
f. Gibbs free energy
g. Gibbs free energy with temperature and equilibrium
7. Electrochemistry
a. Oxidation states and redox reactions
b. Balancing redox reactions via half-reaction method
c. Voltaic cells
d. Standard cell potentials
e. Emf
f. Free energy and K
g. Nernst equation
h. Concentration cells
i. Batteries
j. Corrosion
k. Electrolysis
8. Nuclear Chemistry
a. Types of radioactivity
b. Radioactive decay
c. Balancing nuclear equations
d. Half-lives and radioactive decay rates
e. Fission and fusion