General Chemistry II

Recommended Prerequisites

Secondary school Chemistry (preferably 12th year) and basic English.

Teaching Methods

Teaching is based on lectures, encouraging student participation and discussion of topics, and exercice-solving classes aimed at analysing and obtaining the solution for problems while encouraging, once again, the participation of students, now gathered  in smaller groups.   

Learning Outcomes

This course provides the foundations to be developed along the course in later issues.

Establishes the scales (from microscopic to macroscopic) of the relevant systems, and defines, in a simple way, their relationship.

Promotes a reasoning aiming at integrating complementary subjects.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Introduction to Chemical Thermodynamics

Energy and the 1st law of Thermodynamics. Work, heat and energy. Internal energy and enthalpy. Thermochemistry. Entropy and the 2nd law. Free energy

2. Chemical Equilibrium

Nature of equilibrium. Equilibrium constant. Energy, equilibrium constant and temperature

3. Acids and Bases

Acid-base reactions in aqueous solution. Mono and polyprotic acids. pH and pK. Acid-base titrations. Indicators. Buffering effect

4. Solubility and precipitation of salts

Solubility of salts. Precipitation. Common ion effect and ionic strength. Selective precipitation

5. Oxidation-reduction reactions

Redox reactions. Electrochemical cells. Normal potential. Nernst equation. Potential and equilibrium constant. Titrations. Electrolysis

6. Complex ions

Structure. Formation constants. Complexes and solubility. Complexometry

7. Chemical kinetics

Rate laws and constants. Order of recation. Activation energy. Colision theory. Transition state theory. Mechanism. Catalysis.

Head Lecturer(s)

Alberto António Caria Canelas Pais

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

1. R. Chang, Chemistry, 8th Ed., McGraw-Hill (New York, 2004);

2. P. Atkins and L. Jones, Chemical Principles: the quest for insight, 5th Ed., Freeman (New York, 2010).