General Chemistry
About the Course
This MOOC is a basic course of General Chemistry tailored to the needs of a 1st-year class of a Bachelor-level Science degree program, and is most suited to the biologically-oriented degrees (Biotechnology, Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, Agrarian Sciences, Natural Sciences). A rather simple language is used and only the fundamentals of Physics and Math are needed as a background. This means that proper actions were taken to flatten the main obstacles related to the mathematical treatment and the physical images. Matter, energy and time – and their interplay in matter transformation (the chemical reactions) – will be the main focus of the course. Understanding this interplay is crucial not only by itself, but mostly because it imparts man with a predictive power on the matter behavior. Man can therefore rationally operate to create new forms of matter on his own. This is the essence of CHEMISTRY: understanding matter properties and behavior to take profit of it for a number of needs, correct its malfunctioning (e.g. treating diseases) and produce new forms of it (e.g. materials and drugs).Science
Training hours58
LevelBeginner
Course ModeTutored
Italiano
Duration5 weeks
TypeOnline
Course StatusSelf Pacement
Course Agenda
Enrollments Start
Course Opens
Tutoring Starts
Tutoring Stops
Self Paced
Course Closes
Learning outcomes
The primary objective of this MOOC is to provide students with articulated knowledge on electronic structure of atoms, chemical bond, structure of molecules and ionic crystals, main classes of inorganic compounds and their reactivity, chemical balance applied to chemical reactions in solution. The student will also be equipped with the main tools to perform numerical calculations on quantitative ratios between species in reaction, with particular reference to acid-base balances. The student will be introduced to the main concepts of chemical thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium as well as to the factors that govern it and to the fundamentals of chemical kinetics and electrochemistry. The objective is to promote the understanding of the parameters that determine the structure and reactivity of chemical species and influence the course of a reaction in terms of quantity, energy and time.Background and Requirements
Basic concepts of Mechanics: rectilinear motion, vectors, force and motion, work and kinetic energy, potential energy and energy conservation, center of mass and momentum. Elementary algebra.Textbooks
- BERTINI-LUCHINAT-MANI, Chimica, Ambrosiana
- ATKINS, Chimica Generale, Zanichelli
- ZUMDHAL, Chimica, Zanichelli
- PETRUCCI, HARWOOD, Chimica Generale, Piccin
Course Format
The course starts from the modern and essential treatment of the fundamental concepts of atomic theory and the electronic structure of atoms, to pass through the concept of mole and then of chemical bond, developing in detail the methodology to interpret and predict the electronic-geometric structure of molecules. This will be followed by the discussion of chemical reactions focusing on the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects. The quantitative aspects of the reactions (stoichiometry) are also taken into account, with particular reference to the reactions in the gas and redox phase as well as acid-base in aqueous solution. The descriptive part of the chemistry of the elements is reduced to a minimum and will be taken into consideration in a specific course in Inorganic Chemistry.Certificates and Exam rules
Attendance Certificate
The certificate is issued to students who have viewed all the video lectures that make up the teaching units and passed the self-assessment tests proposed at the end of each section.
