Learning Outcomes

After studying this module you should have acquired the following knowledge and skills:Write down the names and symbols of more common elements together with an understanding of their properties, electron configuration and valency in relation to their position in the Periodic Table.

Show an understanding of the nature and variety of chemical bonds between atoms.

The ability to write down balanced chemical substances and concentrations both in units of weight and volume but also in molar form. Express the quantity of chemical substances and concentrations both in units of weight and volume but also in molar form.

Relate the structure of some simple organic compounds to their physical properties, such as boiling point, melting point and water solubility, using intermolecular Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding to explain.

Perform quantitative exercises in solubility, ionic equilibria and titrimetric analysis.

Define the nature of an acid, a base and a buffer solution. Define the terms acidity constant (Ka),pH pOH, pKw, pKa and pKb; calculate these values from provided data on acid/base ratios in the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation Sketch titration curves for weak acid and a weak base to show buffer regions, pKa and end-points. Understand radioisotopes their disintegration and release of energy.

The uses of radioisotopes in biomedical sciences research and medical diagnostic will also be discussed

The ability to relate the definition of oxidation and reduction to simple redox systems and write the appropriate half-reactions.

You should also have gained a thorough understanding of carbon chemistry and be able to identify the structures of important groups of organic compounds (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic) and be conversant with the nomenclature of the major organic functional groups; structural and geometric isomers, molecular shapes.

In the last segment you will gain an understanding of the relative reactivity of a series of related compounds and the use of functional group transformations to change one molecule into another and the mechanisms that apply to these reactions.