Module Details
The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Code CHEM152
Coordinator Dr DL Cooper
Chemistry
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2008-09 Level One Second Semester 15

Aims

The main aim of this module is to equip students with an understanding of basic kinetics and thermodynamics as they relate to chemical reactions.


Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module students should be familiar with, and be able to make appropriate use of:

  • Basic ideas of energy changes in chemical reactions
  • Ideas relating to the rates of chemical reactions
  • Basic laboratory skills and report writing, including data and error analysis

Syllabus
all 

Lecture Material

Thermodynamics [mostly energy changes in chemical reactions]

  • ideal gas equation, including definitions/units of pressure, temperature, mole and standard conditions (& use of PV=nRT in context of le Chatelier, as in H&C, with "reminders" of Kc and Kp)
  • conservation of energy, including heat & work vs internal energy (state function)
  • definition of enthalpy, plus formation & combustion reactions, Hess' law cycles, and so on
  • qualitative idea of entropy (and of its variation from solid to liquid to gas) and the idea of a "natural" direction of change
  • definition of Gibbs energy, various examples of ΔG reactions, relationship of ΔG to K
  • temperature dependence of lnK (done graphically)
  • Nernst equation

Kinetics

  • Idea of rates of chemical reactions and of factors that determine them
  • Orders of reactions; 0th order 1st order and (simple) 2nd order reactions, including how data are manipulated
  • initial rates
  • half life, using traditional 1st order examples
  • activation energy barriers and temperature dependence, including Arrhenius equation & variation of lnk with 1/T (done graphically)
  • kinetic isotope effects
  • elementary step, rate-determining step & reaction mechanism
  • chain reactions
  • catalysis, including industrial examples

Tutorial Material

  • The lecture course will be supported by fortnightly tutorial (workshop) sessions designed to give students an opportunity to practice solving kinetics and thermodynamics problems

Laboratory Material

  • the lab-related workshop session will be devoted mostly to transferable skills: data and error analysis
  • in the subsequent 4 laboratory sessions, students will carry out two kinetics experiements, the Clark Cell experiement, and one thermodynamics experiment. These experiments will be designed so as to allow students to finish the experimental work in one three-hour session. Some of the analysis will then have to be completed in their own time, with a deadline before their next lab session, but they would be encouraged to make appropriate use of the demonstrators to deal with any questions/problems

Teaching and Learning Strategies

The module will consist of 13 lectures on thermodynamics, 13 lectures on kinetics, 5 tutorials (2 hour workshop sessions) and 4 laboratory experiments (3 hour sessions), and one lab-related workshop session (3 hours). There will be a class test part way through the course, to which students may bring their lecture notes.

All material is covered in the 3rd edition of Housecroft & Constable (H&C) and also in Chang's Physical Chemistry for the Biosciences. There are to be no integrations and no use of partial derivatives. In particular, students will subsequently be expected to be able to use various formulae [integrated rate laws, temperature dependence of rate constants and equilibrium constants, and so on] without ever having been shown derivations. In the laboratory sessions, a number of the thermodynamics and kinetics concepts will be illustrated by experiments carried under close demonstrator supervision. Some experiments will be conducted in pair s, so as to further interaction skills. The students will write (individually) a report on their experimental work, which will be assessed.

Students will have the opportunity in tutorial sessions (workshops) to work through problems that relate to the principles covered in the lecture course, with tutors available to help. Outline answers will be available in VITAL. The lab-related workshop session will begin with transferable skills, such as those related to data and error analysis.


Teaching Schedule
  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours 26

   10
Five workshops
20

   2
Class Test
58
Timetable (if known) Wed 12-1 (wks 1-11), Thurs 10-11 (wks 1-11), Fri 2-3 (wks 1-2 & 4-6)
  		  weeks 2,4,6,8,10 [& class test wk 6]
  		Lab-related workshop Tues or Wed 2-5 (wk 7). Practical work: Mon Tues Wed or Fri 2-5 (wks 8-11)
  		  Class test wk 6 [in the Wednesday noon lecture slot]
  		 
Private Study 92
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment
EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
written examination  2 hrs  2nd  60  August/September     
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
Practical Work and lab-related Workshop    2nd  20  none  Standard penalty for late submission applies - see Departmental handbook for details.  Some marking done in the student's presence to allow for immediate feedback. Anonymous marking impossible.  
Tutorials (workshops)    2nd  10  none    Much of the work is marked in the student's presence to allow for immediate feedback. Anonymous marking impossible.  
class test    2nd  10  yes    Students will have an opportunity to resit the class test in the final week of the semester. The maximum mark that will be awarded in the resit will be 40%  

Recommended Texts

Chemistry, C. E. Housecroft and E. C.Constable, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006.
Background reading: Physical Chemistry for the Biosciences, R.Chang, University Science Books, 2005.