Study Guide

Objective

After completion of the course the student has sufficient understanding of the most important concepts and phenomena in chemistry – as well as the concepts of physics needed to support them – and is thus able to solve relevant problems in his own study field, to apply this understanding as a necessary basis in later studies and to utilize it in future professional tasks.

Content

1. Real gases: combustion, emissions, simple material balances
2. The most essential quantities in thermodynamics: internal energy, entropy, Gibbs energy, entropy, and their application to practical problems
3. Deepening of the concept of reaction equilibrium and its applications:
- how to assess, whether a reaction is spontaneous or not
- buffer solutions
- etc.
4. Phases, phase equilibria, phase diagrams.
5. Basics of reaction kinetics
6. Introduction to surface and colloid chemistry.
7. Basics of electrochemistry.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

The student is able to define and describe the concepts and phenomena included in the course in a qualitative way and to compute straightforward problems.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

The student is able to understand and define or describe the concepts and phenomena discussed in the course in his own words; he also knows how to explain the origin and meaning of related equations and to critically evaluate the solutions obtained when solving related chemical problems.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student is able to characterize and model phenomena discussed in the course on the basis of reasonable assumptions, as well as to analyze, evaluate and modify solutions for related chemical problems and the underlying model when needed.

Prerequisites

Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 & 2
Laboratory safety as a part of Orientation studies

Further information

Laboratory exercises in physical chemistry, for instance the following:
- reaction equilibrium and equilibrium constant
- acids and bases, buffer solutions
- thermodynamics: calorimetry